[brotherbear]

Hello everyone,

My little brother, age 17 is going to college next year. I'm very proud he manage to get into UC Berkeley however I extremely worried about his social life. He has always been forgetful in petty things, like groceries, chores and everyday instructions yet he at his best when coming to test or studying. He seems always lost in his own world, almost oblivious of his surroundings, he doesn't notice much about the outside world (here, I mean out of his school). He doesn't have much friends and when he talks, it doesn't really get to the point. He can write essays perfectly fine but has a lot of trouble in talking normally. What's even more troubling is that he does know a lot from reading news and surfing the net but when it comes to communication, he completely fails.

This could really cause him trouble at college, especially a big public one. I'm worried since being so ignorant, he might get paranoid from trying drugs or even get someone pregnant by accident.

This situation has been carried on for years, ever since he was a young boy. Our family told him to take more notice of what's happening inside the family because he doesn't even know the name of our relatives despite all the family gatherings in his life. He has trouble in most basic and instinct human characteristic: simply to care for others or to be proactive.

I know that deep inside him, he wants to become more socially active and take care of the family. But sometime, he just got stuck into his own little world again and become almost deaf when we talk to him. Or he just simply forgot. Plus, he has a hard time to think out of the box - we can order him around and he would follow the EXACT directions no more or no less. For example, we sent him to buy some oranges. The oranges were bad and out of season yet he bought them anyway, without a second thought.

One more thing, we already have him medically check and he has no symptoms of brain damage or whatsoever.

In overall, does my description fit to any mental disorder?
If so, are there any treatments?

If not, are there any advice for him to be more proactive? or simply to be more open?

Thanks

[amandalouise]

Originally Posted by brotherbear

Hello everyone,

My little brother, age 17 is going to college next year. I'm very proud he manage to get into UC Berkeley however I extremely worried about his social life. He has always been forgetful in petty things, like groceries, chores and everyday instructions yet he at his best when coming to test or studying. He seems always lost in his own world, almost oblivious of his surroundings, he doesn't notice much about the outside world (here, I mean out of his school). He doesn't have much friends and when he talks, it doesn't really get to the point. He can write essays perfectly fine but has a lot of trouble in talking normally. What's even more troubling is that he does know a lot from reading news and surfing the net but when it comes to communication, he completely fails.

This could really cause him trouble at college, especially a big public one. I'm worried since being so ignorant, he might get paranoid from trying drugs or even get someone pregnant by accident.

This situation has been carried on for years, ever since he was a young boy. Our family told him to take more notice of what's happening inside the family because he doesn't even know the name of our relatives despite all the family gatherings in his life. He has trouble in most basic and instinct human characteristic: simply to care for others or to be proactive.

I know that deep inside him, he wants to become more socially active and take care of the family. But sometime, he just got stuck into his own little world again and become almost deaf when we talk to him. Or he just simply forgot. Plus, he has a hard time to think out of the box - we can order him around and he would follow the EXACT directions no more or no less. For example, we sent him to buy some oranges. The oranges were bad and out of season yet he bought them anyway, without a second thought.

One more thing, we already have him medically check and he has no symptoms of brain damage or whatsoever.

In overall, does my description fit to any mental disorder?
If so, are there any treatments?

If not, are there any advice for him to be more proactive? or simply to be more open?

Thanks

if you google these symptoms you wrote about you will find that these things could be any mental disorder or no mental disorder depending on any other symptoms or problems he may have.

the only thing I can tell you for sure is that if "he" thinks he has a problem he can contact the colleges nurse and mental health office and they can refer him to a psychiatrist for diagnostic testing. we cant diagnose him here and he is an adult so you cant drag him off to be tested. Also it may be better not to try and self diagnose him with any mental disorder as you may end up self diagnosing him with the wrong things, when nothing may be wrong with him or something other than what you find on line is wrong with him. new diagnoses are being recognized every day and not all of them are found on line or through on line support groups.

if you thin he has a problem you can kindly suggest to him the problem areas you see and ask him if he would like to get tested but other than that, thats all you can do,

[Skully]

It could be but only a doctor can diagnosis this. See if he is receptive to seeing a psychiatrist.

Possibly some sort of neurological imbalance?
Could be physical--hormonal, or lack of certain peptides necessary to think "outside of the box"???

I'd try a good Psychiatrist, and get a referral to a neurologist.....theo

[Ithinkimpsycho]

I dunno about this one. I'm not a doctor but it sounds like an austim spectrum disorder, something that I know a lot about. Talk to a doctor, he can help you better than I certainly can.

[brotherbear]

Thanks a lot everyone, are there any more suggestions? The more the better!

Thank you!

brotherbear

My suggestion is to have your brother referred to a psychiatrist for an evaluation and any appropriate treatment.

Good luck.

[Yoda]

Some of the symptoms sound similar to Aspergers/autism. Here is a link to a quiz that your brother can take and take the results with him when he visits a psychologist/psychiatrist.
http://psychcentral.com/quizzes/autism.htm

I think you should look past your brother's minor faults and not try to label him with a mental disorder.

I don't understand how you go from he forgets groceries to he might be dumb enough to get someone pregnant by accident..like he's smart enough to get into college but not pass sex ed. Or maybe I just fail at understanding your post. I didn't understand the "take care of the family" part.. he's 17..who does he need to take care of besides himself? Sounds like pressure for something.

Also.. could be other medical reasons for being forgetful. For instance, people with thyroid issues have problems remembering things when their medication is off. Stress can cause someone to go shopping and forget what they went for.

If he's one of those computer/video game people..they're known for being in their "own little worlds".