Grumpy 15 yr. old | ADHD Information

Our soon-to-be 15 year old son gets like this at times.  It is more evident when we are on vacation or away from home.  He becomes sullen, grumpy, and less tolerant of others in general.  I think that it maybe just has something to do with the age?  I remember going thorough a phase like this,  but I think that I was a little younger.My 15 yr old son is basically intolerant of his little brother,dissaproving of his big sistr,and disgusted by me! But just when I begin to despair of ever seeing or hearing a glimpse of my boy,he will come into my room at night,sit on the end of my bed,play my guitar and talk,talk,talk--I'm learning with him that I have to allow him to approach conversation,that I can't expect the big hugs and smiles of younger years right now.It does hurt,but I am convinced its just a normal phase and a result of the big changes in hormones,body,etc.I can live for a week on just one genuine smile!

Is this a common 15 year old behavior or ADHd??  Went skiing all last week, and every time he saw us he would be grumpy when we asked more than one question.  My 12 year old got mad at him several times, and said noboby likes you because your mean and grumpy all the time.  All the children hung around together to ski, or play.  He would stop being grumpy and negative when I threatened to take ski time away, but he just couldn't seem to stop himself.  It just made it so we didn't want to talk to him at all.  I don't get it because he had a great time skiing all day.  He's less tolerant with his sister and father, and less grumpy with me, but still, it pushes people away, and I know he doesn't see it this way.  Maybe its just a new phase????  Any suggestions?

Has anything changed at school, home?

graciepoints wrote:
This moodieness is something to keep an eye on though, especially if you are medicating for ADHD, what with the recent concerns over meds causing depression and suicidal thoughts in kids

Depression can happen as a result of having Adhd and for those who have severe depression, suicidal thoughts can prevail but I don't know depression and suicidal thoughts to be a side effect of Adhd medication. If the child is taking Adhd medication but a diagnosis of bipolar disorder is missed, stimulant can exacerbate the symptoms of bipolar disorder. However, for the child that has Adhd standing alone and is receptive to Adhd medication,side effects do not include depression and suicidal thoughts.

I agree, pretty common 15yr behavior.  I remember 14-16, and that was pretty much how I acted, and I didn't have ADHD. 

This moodieness is something to keep an eye on though, especially if you are medicating for ADHD, what with the recent concerns over meds causing depression and suicidal thoughts in kids.  Plenty of kids without ADHD go through teenage depression (I think it's 1 in 4 or 5 now) as part of normal growing up, hormones raging and all that, you just need to be tuned in to the difference between being a regular teenage brat ;) and being seriously down and depressed.

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The concern in the news over suicidal thoughts in kids is directly related to Strattera, which the FDA just added an additional warning to for this.  It's really rare, but IMHO dealing with this kind of thinking in kids, especially in the teen years, when they are already at high risk for depression, is something that parents should pay special attention to.  As far as other ADHD meds, FDA is doing a review of the stim ADHD meds early this year, but given the history (much longer than Strattera) they've got, I highly doubt anything will turn up.

I'm not anti-meds by any means, in fact, my DS is on Strattera and hasn't experienced any side effects beyond stomach discomfort.  Meds have been a godsend for us because of DS's constant behavior issues.  It's just a side effect we kept an eye out for, especially because he had comorbid depression.

Anyway, here's the FDA bulletin for more info http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/news/2005/new01237.html

I totally agree with luvmykids02, I have a 15yr ADHD  'grumpiness is just normal teenage stuff' ad can seriously affect a childs life at school and other surroundings. If your child treated everthing in life with the same attitude than you have cause for concern, be it depression or whatever. My son only talks to anyone happily about sony games etc, i think he sometimes gets too involved with them and talks to us as if they are real. He's out of school never to return all because of the way he talks to people, he doesn't know he does this half of the time, if not all the time because it is never his fault!!!!! Teenagers breed to be embarrest of their parents no matter what their back ground

In addition, I think every time a child exhibits behavior that gives the parents or anyone else cause for concern, many times the blame is placed at the doorstep of Adhd. There are a multitude of reasons that a child might be acting out and many times Adhd has nothing to do with it. This is why many of of stress on this board that if the parent has real cause for concern, seek out a professional. Some behaviors are normal stages of development but some arent. If the childs behavior is affecting his quality of life in general, thats a real cause for concern but as Lillian pointed out, it could be a common preteen issue and grumpy is not part of the diagnostic criteria for Adhd.

Age 15 is a rough age as there are serious hormonal issues going on. You know your child best and if you think your childs behavior is having a negative impact on his life in general....ie....school performance and social problems, seek out a professional opinion.

I guess this is a new behavior I need to crack down on.  I'm glad he likes his room alot.  I was thinking Boy what a spoiled brat.  He was great other than the grumpiness.  He even stuck to a whole day of snowboard lessons.  We all were surprised he didn't quit.  Then the next day we rented a snowboard for a half day, so I guess you've got to take the good with the bad.  The intolerance he has for those that love him most gets on my nerves though.  He saves the worst for his sister.  Brat kid.    I'll also warn him ahead of time, like Koko suggested.   Thanks everyone for your responses.Hi Momiss,
That is a good question. I have two sons. One has adhd, one doesn't. I have to ask the one who has adhd a lot more questions, because he is forgetful, so I have to make sure he hands things in at school, etc. When he comes home, I have to ask him more questions about his homework, or he may forget to do something. My other son, who is older, I just don't have to ask - he manages his stuff fine.

My adhd son has noticed that I ask him more questions, so now it bothers him for me to ask him more than one question. He is only twelve, though. I think the adhd makes him get angry faster - the impulsiveness issue.

My older non-adhd son is almost 14. He is great unless I talk to him in front of his peers. Moms aren't supposed to need information in public from their children apparently. This is not cool. I have talked to my teenager ahead of time when I had to take him somewhere like high school orientation because I know from experience that he will act like I don't exist. I said, "I am bringing you here and I HAVE to be here, so I expect you to not walk away and pretend we are not related. We will need to talk about what classes to go to etc, and other students will be here with their parents, so you need to BE NICE." You know what? He was nice, and we actually enjoyed the experience.

Talk with your son about it when no one else is around. Then if you know another situation like this may come up, talk to him about what you expect ahead of time. I think a lot of it is teen behavior. Sometimes it creeps up on you, and they act like creeps!

[QUOTE=Koko]Hi Momiss,
My older non-adhd son is almost 14. He is great unless I talk to him in front of his peers. Moms aren't supposed to need information in public from their children apparently. This is not cool. I have talked to my teenager ahead of time when I had to take him somewhere like high school orientation because I know from experience that he will act like I don't exist. I said, "I am bringing you here and I HAVE to be here, so I expect you to not walk away and pretend we are not related. We will need to talk about what classes to go to etc, and other students will be here with their parents, so you need to BE NICE." You know what? He was nice, and we actually enjoyed the experience.

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No changes.  He's always a little grumpy, but this was worse than usual.  Maybe its because of the change of environment-from home to going somewhere else for a week.Was he grumpy when you got home?I think it is a common preteen and teenage behavior, on occasion.  I do not think "grumpiness" is part of ADHD.  I find that my son gets grumpy when he feels out of control of the situation. I also see this quite a bit in teens - moodiness. They want to call the shots, but they know they still need us. Do you think the intolerance of questions is ADHD?  I don't know, but my twleve-year-old, soon to be thirteen-year-old, son hates to be asked a lot of questions.