My nephew is 21 and exhibiting bizarre behaviors. I need advise on what to do for him.

Todd's background ~ His parents were serious drug users. He lived with them until around age 10, at which time his grandparents acquired guardianship of him. They tried to provide him with opportunities to excel, as well as sporadic counseling. He was successful in karate and playing the drums. He struggled academically throughout his school years.

Since then, he has taken money from his grandparents to go to a technical school; he never attended. He tells them he has a job, leaves the house, parks his truck at the work site, but goes with a friend. He gets money for various activities and blows it within a day. He says he is going on a date, but doesn't really have a date. He tells me he is coming to my house and never shows up. All the while, he puts on a happy face and seems like such a nice young man who is going places. He's very convincing. Apparently, when in therapy, he is able to convince the therapists that he is perfectly fine. I do know that he uses marijuana a couple of times a day. He claims that he is down and sad because of a girlfriend who broke up with him around a year ago. His dad is in prison and his mom is much better, but still struggling with drug use.

Todd's grandparents have asked my opinion on what to do. I just want to get some input on this issue.

Thanks!

I have a couple of thoughts about poor Todd. First, a child born of a woman who is a substance abuser is often himself born neurologically damaged in some way from slight to severe. Secondly, living in an environment with toxic parents to the age ten does a lot of damage to a child that you can't see... the emotional harm is really unsurmountable.

From your description, he sounds like he has grown up to have anti-social personality disorder. You may want to read about that by googling to see the various characteristics of these people. Of course, I'm not a psychiatrist.



Take good care,