Drug and alcohol addiction and abuse. Recognition. Prevention. Treatment
20/20 Parenting. Recognizing and mitigating early vulnerabilities and risk factors.
Letters to Kerry
Stories of Victory, Struggle, Tragedy, & Workplace Concerns
September 23 , 2005:
Thank you again.. never enough for sharing your heart.. and knowledge with me.. struggling to keep my kid well... he is bipolar.. he is convinced that is the trouble..
When I was with him in Vancouver.. he was terrified of [being a] danger to me.. as well as to him.. paranoia.. he used to close and draw all the blinds.. and lock and chain the doors.. and he was afraid I would be harmed by his friends or so called people who were watching him and therefore me, while I was with him.. he urged me to stay away for my safety.. I know it was all paranoia... he seems better about this.. except sometimes he still looks over his shoulder.
He did self-medicate with crystal meth.. as he was taking ritalin.. prescribed by a doctor while he was in graduate school... and when he graduated.. changed ritalin with crystal meth from the clubs he went to to help with the loneliness he was feeling.. he says he feels very alone.... so the people help him alleviate this... so sad....
He talks and talks and talks... so much.. sometimes I don't know what he is really saying.. he was a gifted kid while in school.. so it all sounds like profound things.. but it is almost too profound to me.. or like a lot of thoughts .. disengaged floating around his head... scary....
His dad is coming home at the end of the month and if he is not in a residential place he will be disinherited. I cannot make him go.. he is thinking of going to Maple Ridge.... he knows what is at stake if he doesn't... myself..I am just worried about his health.. and it breaks my heart to see him in agony...
Stay well.. and love, Cathy
