Dr. Phil: Can This Out Of Control Son Get Help?
Dr. Phil has been talking to a man named Tim and his wife Karen, who are the parents of an out of control adopted son named Adam. Adam is 24, addicted to drugs, and out on bail from a felony charge. Tim wants to cut Adam off completely. Karen is hanging onto hope.
Dr. Phil heard from Adam’s ex-girlfriend Kristin. He also gave advice to Tim and offered Adam the chance at getting real help for his problems. (Narathorn / Shutterstock.com)
Adam has been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder, anxiety, ADD, and ADHD. Dr. Phil asked him if he thought he should find out why he is behaving the way that he is. Adam said he’d love to.
Dr. Phil: Why Did This Father Give Up On His Son?
Dr. Phil asked Tim why someone would do something that didn’t generate positive results for them? In that kind of situation, something has to be distorting their reasoning. Dr. Phil said that Tim should be asking why Adam is the reasoning this way. Tim said he’s done with this because he’s tried to get Adam help. He said he didn’t know how to get Adam to go down the right road.
Dr. Phil said, “If I have a child that is lost in the dark, I am going to look for him how long? I’m going to look for him until. I’m not going to look for him a week. I’m not going to look for him a month. I’m not going to look for him a year. I’m not going to look for him six years. I’m going to look for him until I find him. You don’t stop looking. You look until. That doesn’t mean you have to lead with your chin. It doesn’t mean you don’t put up precautions. It doesn’t mean you don’t protect yourself and your wife. But it does mean you look until you find them.”
Well said, Dr. Phil. Dr. Phil went on to say that this is a problem that goes beyond parenting. He said Adam is a “worthy human being” and he’s worthy of unraveling of whatever it is that’s got him having these bad behaviors.
Dr. Phil: What Does His Girlfriend Say?
Adam’s ex-girlfriend Kristin also weighed in. She came on Dr. Phil’s stage to talk about Adam’s problem with violent anger. They dated for about 14 months. Kristin said that when Adam got angry, he would get really violent, screaming in her face, throwing things, and slamming doors. She said she was worried he would hurt her. Adam slammed a door on her finger once, but he never hit her.
Kristin said she felt like Adam was a “ticking time bomb.” She felt like she always had to think about what she was going to say before she said it because anything would set him off. Kristin said she’s filed a police report on Adam because she wants a restraining order. Adam pulled out a crumpled up piece of paper, which was a police report he started to fill out against Kristin before he changed his mind. Dr. Phil told him that if he had anything else in his pocket, he wanted to know what it was.
Dr. Phil: Will He Accept Help?
Dr. Phil said that Adam has a lot of rage and chaos, but there’s something behind the anger. He said if you could look in his head, it would “scare you to death and break your heart.”
Dr. Phil said that Adam is trapped in a cycle of bad choices. He makes one bad choice and makes another bad choice to try to make up for it. Dr. Phil called this “auto-exacerbating.”
Dr. Phil said that since Adam is eight days sober, he wanted to give him help to get off drugs. He also wanted to see what was going on for Adam neurologically. Dr. Phil offered Adam a chance to go to the dual diagnosis program at Origins Recovery Origins. Adam accepted.
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