<p>I feel for you and your S. Have seen them actually in college, having trouble and you have even less power to help. Hopefully, a good FAMILY psychologist can help, but usually they treat the entire family so they understand the dynamics. From your post that might be critical.</p>
<p>I will second the idea of sports. Maybe running in A.M as a family, before school and work? I know it requires a lot of self motivation, but it can do wonders!
And again, althought you know it - when they say they are going to kill themselves believe them 100% and talk about it constantly!</p>
<p>Keeping you and your family in my thoughts and prayers.</p>
<p>"Can the MD get him tested sooner for bipolar via a blood test? "</p>
<p>No.</p>
<p>“Is the ADHD diagnosis new? Most often once the diagnosis is made, psychological treatment is started to teach cognitive & social skills and address issues of self esteem.”</p>
<p>This would be great but is rare in my neck of the woods.</p>
<p>WHat is the REAL dynamic between father and son…if that is when the problems are, why isn’t that addressed much…all the oneous is on the boy here with little on the father and how he is acting is acting…that seems unfair and irresponsible</p>
<p>I have a suspision that there is more to the father/son relationship here, that there may be some other “hidden” reasons behind the young man’s behavior</p>
<p>straight forward question, could your son be gay and is afraid? I ask that because several of the areas of difficulty presented here are signs of a child who is hidingwho he is, can’t be himself, is afraid what will happen if people “find out” etc</p>
<p>Please be honest and look at the father son relationship…is your H kind and open, is he responsive, does her try with your son, does he do things with him?</p>
<p>No point in all these drugs, and treatment, etc if the home environment doesn’t change</p>
<p>Udate on my son:</p>
<p>He is doing very well. Had his first appointment with the psychologist and I think he likes him. Said he was ok and didnt talk about feelings the whole time. Said he actually wanted to know about him and his likes/dislikes.
Just hope he likes his pshychiatrist as well.</p>
<p>Dad is going to the next visit for a short time.</p>
<p>What good news–thanks for the update.</p>
<p>Another volunteer opportunity you might want to consider for your son is serving as a foster parent to animals from the Humane Society or shelter. </p>
<p>Thanks, too, for the update. Warmest wishes to you and your family.</p>
<p>Bobbers…you are on the right track. How well we CC parents know what you mean..it is hard to feel “up” if your child is struggling. Focus on your son’s strengths, teach him how to talk and speak about his feelings, keep your spirits up…many of us have bipolar and depressive histories in our families and you are most definitely not alone. NAMI is a very good organization…and may we all speak about depression in a forthright manner in our lives as you have. There is power in your direct approach to reaching out to your son. I am impressed. Life is very tough, and all of our kids have challenges.</p>
<p>The first step we should take as parents is to get our kids a full physical complete w/ blood work and hormone level check. Please do this. I wish we had. It would have saved us 3 years of he**.</p>
<p>If you family doesn’t mind pets, a volunteer activity that may fit your son is to become a puppy raiser for Guiding Eyes for the Blind (GEB). This is a time consuming activity with an animal that needs and adores you, but also has the service elelment. There are required weekly classes for all the volunteers that will get your son involved with other people (our group had three 15-year old boys, including my son, and six adult couples). He will need to take the puppy places to socialize him, both on his own and with the group. I particularly liked taking ours to the football games (S was playing so the puppy became mine for those activities), but the puppy also went to baseball games, the park, PetSmart and all kinds of other places. A lot of people come up to you when you have a service puppy in hand.</p>
<p>I will note that it takes cooperation from the whole family to raise a puppy and is equivalent to having a two-year old in the house again, so depending on your family’s situation it may not be doable. But for the right family, it is a wonderful experience.</p>