SadAndStressed4TooLong
New Member
Hi everyone:
I'm glad that I found this forum, but so sorry that so many of us are each dealing with such heart-breaking situations.
I'll try to be as brief as possible with the background:
Me: 53, diagnosed with PTSD, Social Anxiety, etc ALL after and due to difficult child (son age 26) suicide attempts in 2008 and 2009, plus subsequent issues. I also have rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, IBS, etc. I have been unable to work for the past year, and was approved for SSDI as of 5 months ago.
husband: 51, he is my children's step father. No kids of his own; basically has treated my sons as his own. He works as a global electronic engineering manager. Works M-F, 9-5, makes decent money. He has paid for the boys' college tuition and books, they both lived at home and commuted.
difficult child Son, 26: Was born an extremely happy and content baby, and was the same way until he started to get bullied in school when we moved to a new state when he was starting 4th grade (age 9). Looking back, he started smoking pot and drinking in high school. This child, now a man, has never been a typical discipline problem. Has never, even to this date, thrown a tantrum, yelled, been destructive physically except to himself. He's soft-spoken and polite. He was deemed "disabled" as of 2008 but we didn't know that he should apply for disability until 2010. He was approved immediately, and has been on SSDI (social security disability insurance). He qualified for this because of his age; he had earned enough work credits to qualify because he worked from age 16 - 20.
Dropped out of college twice; basically never went to class.
He is not a disruption at home until things are missing (jewelry, small electronics, cash from his brothers room, etc).
He has no self discipline; he will eat food all night long, even food he shouldn't be touching. It's as if he has no sense of consequence when he's in the moment.
He usually will confess, and says he doesn't know why he continues when he knows he will be found out.
easy child Son, 23: Excelled in school, had good group of friends all through school, extremely motivated. Graduated from University in 2013 and immediately found a paid internship in his field. Now a year and a half later, he is still with that company, having been given 2 promotions already. He is well liked and well respected by his friends and co-workers.
All of his life experiences have helped him become the person he is now; when he was young he was diagnosed with Asperger's but it has never been an obstacle that he couldn't overcome. Since age 5 he has pushed himself beyond his comfort level, a tiny step at a time. We are very proud of him.
He has a slight superiority complex.
Sorry, I tried to keep that brief. I failed.
There is so much more to our story, but the reason I am writing tonight is because an acquaintance of difficult child came to the house today claiming that difficult child stole some personal property the other day when they were out somewhere. difficult child has never been arrested or in trouble with the law. He has stolen my jewelry and other items of value to sell for drugs (he is not currently addicted to hard drugs but smokes pot). We are home together all the time; he is stealing to fund his pot purchases and to fund his hobby which is playing the card game "Magic The Gathering".
I guess I'm not asking for advice, just upset that he is still stealing. Is this a conduct disorder of some sort? He is seeing a new therapist since the one that we both had been seeing died last spring. We both miss that man dearly. He helped my son overcome his feelings and actions of attempted suicide. In 2009 he nearly succeeded and was in ICU for several days.
Ugh..this is really long. That's it for now. Thank you, if you read this far.
I'm glad that I found this forum, but so sorry that so many of us are each dealing with such heart-breaking situations.
I'll try to be as brief as possible with the background:
Me: 53, diagnosed with PTSD, Social Anxiety, etc ALL after and due to difficult child (son age 26) suicide attempts in 2008 and 2009, plus subsequent issues. I also have rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, IBS, etc. I have been unable to work for the past year, and was approved for SSDI as of 5 months ago.
husband: 51, he is my children's step father. No kids of his own; basically has treated my sons as his own. He works as a global electronic engineering manager. Works M-F, 9-5, makes decent money. He has paid for the boys' college tuition and books, they both lived at home and commuted.
difficult child Son, 26: Was born an extremely happy and content baby, and was the same way until he started to get bullied in school when we moved to a new state when he was starting 4th grade (age 9). Looking back, he started smoking pot and drinking in high school. This child, now a man, has never been a typical discipline problem. Has never, even to this date, thrown a tantrum, yelled, been destructive physically except to himself. He's soft-spoken and polite. He was deemed "disabled" as of 2008 but we didn't know that he should apply for disability until 2010. He was approved immediately, and has been on SSDI (social security disability insurance). He qualified for this because of his age; he had earned enough work credits to qualify because he worked from age 16 - 20.
Dropped out of college twice; basically never went to class.
He is not a disruption at home until things are missing (jewelry, small electronics, cash from his brothers room, etc).
He has no self discipline; he will eat food all night long, even food he shouldn't be touching. It's as if he has no sense of consequence when he's in the moment.
He usually will confess, and says he doesn't know why he continues when he knows he will be found out.
easy child Son, 23: Excelled in school, had good group of friends all through school, extremely motivated. Graduated from University in 2013 and immediately found a paid internship in his field. Now a year and a half later, he is still with that company, having been given 2 promotions already. He is well liked and well respected by his friends and co-workers.
All of his life experiences have helped him become the person he is now; when he was young he was diagnosed with Asperger's but it has never been an obstacle that he couldn't overcome. Since age 5 he has pushed himself beyond his comfort level, a tiny step at a time. We are very proud of him.
He has a slight superiority complex.
Sorry, I tried to keep that brief. I failed.
There is so much more to our story, but the reason I am writing tonight is because an acquaintance of difficult child came to the house today claiming that difficult child stole some personal property the other day when they were out somewhere. difficult child has never been arrested or in trouble with the law. He has stolen my jewelry and other items of value to sell for drugs (he is not currently addicted to hard drugs but smokes pot). We are home together all the time; he is stealing to fund his pot purchases and to fund his hobby which is playing the card game "Magic The Gathering".
I guess I'm not asking for advice, just upset that he is still stealing. Is this a conduct disorder of some sort? He is seeing a new therapist since the one that we both had been seeing died last spring. We both miss that man dearly. He helped my son overcome his feelings and actions of attempted suicide. In 2009 he nearly succeeded and was in ICU for several days.
Ugh..this is really long. That's it for now. Thank you, if you read this far.