My 15 year old son is failing school and refuses to speak to me, his teachers and other adults. He just clams up and will not respond to anything that is said. Things have gotten progressively worse, this has been happening since he was 8 years old. He just stares blankly and will not give an inch. This morning he would not respond to any teacher or adult and was sent to the nurse"s office. He has been seen by a psychiatrist and diagnosed with ADHD and was given Wellbutrin. It didn't seem to do much good and it was difficult to get him to take it. Last week we had a meeting with his pediatrician. Again in the meeting he talked freely but then stopped talking and would not respond. I have an appointment with a therapist this week. Please help!
Q: My 15 year old son is failing school and refuses to speak to me, his teachers and other adults. He just clams up and will not respond to any question or punishment since he was 8 yrs old.
Thank you for your question and welcome to ADHDCentral.com.
I am sorry you are having such a difficult time with your son. I know this must be very hard for you.
I am not a medical professional and would not be able to give you medical advice. I would suggest, however, speaking with the therapist about this and requesting a complete evaluation. Sometimes, when treatment isn't working, the diagnosis is incorrect.
See: When Treatment Isn't Working
Hopefully a therapist will be able to get through to your son.
Eileen
Hi there
I am wondering if there is some other issue involved other than ADHD? Has he been diagnosed with anything else including depression...which is quite often a co-morbid condition of ADHD. Do you think he is fearful of the medications or that he is failing school?
I know you must be so worried. I would take advantage of any time you have with professionals to ask what else may be going on and how to treat it. It is difficult for us to give much advice on our end as we don't know the full story or what all has been tried.
We really wish you the best of luck. Please let us know what happens next. If it helps to share here...please keep talking to us.
Hey there
Thanks for writing back. I am so sorry all this is happening. It must be very hard for the both of you. Sometimes that silence can mean the person is angry or...they may feel like...why bother talking if they are feeling depressed or helpless.
I want to give you the link to our depression site...I am the community leader and a writer over there and you may get some additional perspective from members there.
Yes please keep in touch and let us know what happens next. We are here for you.
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Thanks for the responses. He had his first appointment with a psychologist last week. Apparently though there is a confidentiality paper that had to be signed which concerns me because I want to know what is happening with my son.
His teachers and school counselor think he may be depressed. We'll see what comes out of the outside therapy. My therapist thinks that he's angry and is keeping it buried, doesn't realize it and can't let it out.
When all of this started 7 years ago his father left us. He's still in the picture very part time but it was devastating to me for many years and I didn't function well. I'm sure it's a combination of things.
Stay tuned and thanks again.