9 Year Old Boy with ADD Is Lashing Out, Throwing Tantrums, Being aBully in School

My little brother was recently diagnosed with ADD and has been on medication for about two or three months now, but it doesn’t seem like it’s really doing anything, to be quite honest. He still freaks out and throws tantrums like nothing I’ve ever seen. When he’s being bad, my parents just go with it and leave him alone because if he’s sent to his room he’ll throw a fit and start breaking things. When he does get mad to the point that he breaks something, he’ll turn to one of us and say “you made me do it! It’s your fault that I broke it!” And from his tone I think he really believes that. At school, he’s being a bully to his best friend, and it’s getting to the point that his friend doesn’t even really want to be around him anymore. The things my brother is doing are, in his mind, meant to make the other laugh and smile, and he doesn’t understand what’s going wrong and just keeps at it day after day.

The thing is, he really is a good kid. Outside these episodes, he’s such a sweetheart who loves everyone and everything. But when he has one of these episodes, it’s like he’s a totally different person. We don’t know what to do to help him and put a stop to this behavior. What can we do?

Here's a link to an article from the PsychCentral archives on the treatment of ADHD in children:

https://psychcentral.com/disorders/c...d-in-children/

(Note the links to additional articles at the end of this one.)

Also, here's a link to an article on ADHD & bullying on the newlifeoutlook ADHD website. It also offers links to additional information.

The third resource I can suggest is PACER... an education & advocacy program for parents & children with disabilities that is located in the Twin Cities. They sponsor PACER's National Bullying Prevention Center. Here's a link to that website:

PACER's National Bullying Prevention Center

Hopefully some of these resources can be of some assistance.

Sounds like the medication he is on is either not the right one for him or not the right dosage. It is a trial and error thing to get meds right. My son has ADHD and Autism. It took us 3 years before we found something that worked well. Now that he is on the correct med for him he is a totally different child.

Hello,
Welcome to PC. I am sorry your brother and you and your family are going through this challenge. If your brother is not in therapy it would be beneficial for him and your parents to get therapy. It will help teach your brother how to deal with the ADHD and teach your parents how to help him manage his behavior and set appropriate limits and deal with his explosions. There are multiple types of medication for ADHD and some people will respond to some while some will respond to others. If you would not feel comfortable recommending therapy for your brother to your parents, maybe recommend that they talk to the school social worker or counselor about ways they can get him help, which will hopefully lead to a recommendation from them for him to get therapy if he is not already. With an ADHD diagnosis he may qualify for special education supports at school if he needs them. Having a sibling with behavioral and mental health issues (really any issues) can be very challenging. It sounds like you are a very caring older sibling and he is lucky to have you.