Patient question: Hello, I am a 17 years old teenager, since I was a little girl I’ve always been fragile and sensitive, and by that I mean extremely sensitive, and I cry for everything and nothing, I cry over ridiculous things and for the stupidest reasons and it seems like I can’t do anything about it, at first I thought just because I was a kid, kids cry a lot, and it will disappear eventually when I grow up, but it never went away, it grew up with me, that resulted me having social anxiety, I don’t like to talk or interact with others, because I constantly have the feeling that they would judge me and that they won’t like me, and I always have the fear of their judgement if they ever saw me crying for no reason, I also avoid social interactions because I’m afraid I would get myself in a situation where I would cry, it’s so easy to get me to cry, all it takes is few hurtful words, or seeing another person crying and I will instantly cry even if I don’t know who is that person, and generally my reaction to anything or any emotion is crying, when I am angry I cry, when I am happy I cry, when I am scared I cry… I tried hundreds of times to resist the urge to cry and stop my tears but every time it was a fail, it seems like no one really understands me, not even my family, I tried to talk about this with my family members, but it was a disaster I ended up crying and my family yelling at me and telling that what I am saying is ridiculous and that I’m weak, I considered seeing a therapist before but my family won’t let me, they think that anyone who goes to the therapist is insane, I tried different ways to avoid any situation that possibly would make me cry, like avoid certain types of movies, sad or not, or any videos that shows heartwarming situations like kind acts, I always try to watch comedy, or anything that makes me laugh, or jokes but the only thing that I can’t do anything about it is my thoughts , sometimes, without realizing it, I would imagine some scenarios, or remember some memories not necessarily sad, and I would instantly cry, at the moment I’m just using temporary solutions that doesn’t solve the problem, it just retards it, is it a mental issue? Would I ever be normal? Is there a way for me to stop crying? Or is it just that I’m weak? (From Algeria)

Distorted part: Hello, I am a 17 years old teenager, since I was a little girl I’ve always been fragile and sensitive, and by that I mean extremely sensitive, and I cry for everything and nothing, I cry over ridiculous things and for the stupidest reasons and it seems like I can’t do anything about it, at first I thought just because I was a kid, kids cry a lot, and it will disappear eventually when I grow up, but it never went away, it grew up with me, that resulted me having social anxiety, I don’t like to talk or interact with others, because I constantly have the feeling that they would judge me and that they won’t like me, and I always have the fear of their judgement if they ever saw me crying for no reason, I also avoid social interactions because I’m afraid I would get myself in a situation where I would cry, it’s so easy to get me to cry, all it takes is few hurtful words, or seeing another person crying and I will instantly cry even if I don’t know who is that person, and generally my reaction to anything or any emotion is crying, when I am angry I cry, when I am happy I cry, when I am scared I cry…
Dominant distortion: Magnification
Secondary distortion: Mind Reading