== > I’ve commented throughout your email below:
Hi Mark,
A couple of weeks ago I bought your program. Well things are getting worse …my seventeen year old son is out of control.
== > As you may recall from watching the first few Instructional Videos, things do tend to get worse before they get better. This is not uncommon and should be viewed as “progress.”
On June 25 one of his co-workers committed suicide (my son worked with him and knew him well) my son worked with him that day. Since then my son has started drinking while on medication for anger - anxiety …two weeks ago the rage hit with his 23-year-old brother home from out west on vocation. It was really bad as he raged for three hours. Smashing stuff fighting with whoever would be in his way. A full-blown rage of no other kind. I told him in a calm state that the next time this happened I would call the police.
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Today it happened again... he had been at the beach drinking and became agitated this carried home to a full blown rage where kitchen table was upset, coffee tables etc.... you get the picture. I called the police as he would not settle down. The officer with the help of friends was finally able to arrest him. He smashed the side window out of my truck as I tried to leave the gateway shattering glass all over me. Tonight my worst nightmare is true my son is in a youth centre.
== > Good for you for calling the police. He may benefit from both a grief counselor as well as a drug/alcohol program.
Since he required stitches he was taken to the hospital by the police. The officer asked if he should be admitted and given an evaluation but was told by the doctor that was not necessary.
== > Uh Oh! He definitely needs a comprehensive psychiatric evaluation.
Tomorrow my son will be released with no repercussions only a bruised ego about being arrested (which he blames me for)… my son is a good kid except that he has always had anger issues. I have begged him to go to a counselor to no avail. What next and how do I deal with this… could he be bipolar?
== > This is why he needs an evaluation. A psychiatrist will need to rule out certain things before a proper diagnosis is found.
Tonight he told me after being arrested that it was my fault because I got him to take this medication and that He hates me because I called the police. As you know I love my son dearly and only want help for him. Please advise as soon as possible.
== > I’m guessing that he has been over-indulged for his entire life – and now that you are shifting to a more assertive parenting style, he is having difficulty adapting.
PS you said to find humour in the worst situations, well I did when the officer and my son were wrestling around on the pool deck. The officer was trying to get a grip on my son to hand cuff him when both of them ended up in the pool... imagine the scene. I figured that america's home video would have loved it. Other than that humour I need direction immediately.
== > You should be in week #2 of the program. You’ve got 2 more weeks to go. Watch ALL of the Instructional Videos – and keep up the tough love. Oh …and make sure your son gets an evaluation.
