AboutDr Billy Levin Expertise All questions related to medical diagnosis ,treatment ,councilling ,remediation and monitoring medication in ADHD and co morbid conditions.
Experience
Past/Present clients Mainly children, some Adults with ADHD and co-morbid conditions, country wide.
Expert: Dr Billy Levin Date: 7/8/2008 Subject: Our son has ADD
Question Hello
Our son has ADD. He is 17. He was adopted. He had no problems until he turned age 15, which he then became more and more angry. We finally learned, last week, that he has a lot of anger and rage toward his father for abandoning him at birth. He tells his girlfriend about his anger. He will not tell us about it. And he does not tell his counselors about it. They know that there is something he is hiding inside, but he refuses to tell anyone about it.
How do we deal with this. If we tell the counselors he will stop telling his girlfriend about his fears and anger. And we do not know why he has such anger for his father. He was our son's mother's boyfriend, temporarily. We only know his name on the birth certificate we got from the adoption agency. He never was even around when our son was born, and abandon at the hospital. Our son does not have any feelings toward his mother, as he tells his girlfriend. She died when he was 4 years old. He never meet her either. We adopted him at age 18 months. What should we do about this?
Answer This is an extremely difficult situation made more so by the ADD. Or is it ADHD? It could make a big difference. Apart from his inherited neurological condition (ADD/ADHD ) he is in a rebellious age and adopted.
Many adopted children have ADD/ADHD inherited from one of the biological parents, usually the father. A hasty, reckless, impulsive and irresponsible father with ADHD could unfortunately father a child with the same condition. At a rebellious age resentment and anger is common, made worse by untreated ADD/ADHD.
What I would need to know as well is, at what age was he told he was adopted and when was his ADD/ADHD recognised and was it treated medically? You state he was fine until the age of 15. But he was born with ADD/ADHD! Did it not show from an early age? How did he cope at school? Is he still on medical treatment now for his ADD?
Does he smoke and is there any possibility that he uses Cannabis or other illegal drugs?
A counselor under these difficult conditions is never enough. Medical intervention in the form of correct effective optimal medical treatment is essential.
With more information I might be able to offer some help.
