Q. I have a 13 year old son who has a dx of ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). He is on dextrostat mg two tabs in the am and at noon, at 4pm he takes one tab, he is also Zoloft 100mg qd, at bedtime he takes clonidine 0.1 mg one and a half tabs for sleep. I was given the book Biological Unhappiness by a friend at work, and discovered the BPD. I started researching the site now I am not to sure if my son might have BPD, please help me out here.

My son can not keep on tasks at all. He continuously forgets to do his chore, is having a very hard time in school with his grades. He is very quick tempered. It almost seems as if he is fine as long as he gets to do what he wants to do, If you ask him to do something or interrupt what he is doing he will become very angered. He feels that no-one likes him and that everyone hates him, and states this. At times he will hit himself saying that he is just a bad boy and that no-body loves him. He also picks at his skin sometime he will pick at a bump and other times there might not be any thing there he will just start picking. I thought this was a nervous habit but now I have to wonder.

I have set up an appointment today with a counselor for him to start seeing, and have an appointment with his medical Dr. this afternoon. His behaviors just seem to be getting worse and worse. There are no drugs or alcohol involved.

His father and I are divorced and have been for several years. He is always waiting for that phone call from his dad and gets very upset he has no contact with him.

 

A. I'm glad to hear that you are helping your son deal with these issues. Unfortunately, not all parents are as willing to seek answers and professional help when emotional/psychological issues surface in one of their children. From your description it does sound as if anxiety or mood problems may be co-occurring with your son's ADHD. Fortunately, effective assessment and treatments are available and again, I'm glad to see that you have made an appointment with a counselor. At this time, it doesn't seem to me that the diagnosis of bpd would be accurate or warranted. While many of the symptoms you have described are somewhat similar to the symptoms of bpd, it is more likely that they are due to a mood or anxiety disorder coupled with your son's ADHD.