Jamal's experience with anxiety

Jamal is a 16-year-old boy whose parents have noticed a sudden change in their son’s behavior and they are worried he might be using drugs. Jamal was always an outgoing, bright, and friendly kid.

In the last couple of months, however, he has started avoiding his friends and family; he dropped out of rugby, and now spends hours in the bathroom or locked in his room. Jamal is highly secretive about what he is doing, snapping at his parents whenever they ask him what is going on. His parents have noticed Jamal seems to take more showers than usual and they are frequently running out of soap and toilet paper.  Things finally came to a head last week when Jamal insisted that his parents install a lock on his bedroom door so that he can lock his room when he is at school. His parents feel terrible that they enforced a room search on Jamal, and although they didn’t find any drugs, they are worried that something bad is going on with their son.