Dear Michelle,
I enjoy reading your column in our local newspaper. It is fascinating to think that clues to our personalities can be found in our handwriting, which leads me to write to you for help.
We have a son who just turned 18. He lives at home. As a youngster he wasconstantly doing things he shouldn't -- "stupid things" -- not that heis stupid at all, just his reasoning and judgment skills were not normal. Hehad trouble playing by himself. Things were always getting broken. Teachersin the early grades complained about his behavior. Somewhere in his earlyteens he started using drugs. This year (senior) he progressed to harddrugs. He currently is in outpatient treatment and trying to finish highschool. But, he is still not doing what he should be doing. I thinksometimes he wants to straighten out. But he ends up messing up again.
I asked him to write something for you. He wrote the enclosed sentence. Irealize that this isn't much writing. But, I'm lucky I got that much. Iwrote to you praying, hoping that maybe, in his handwriting, you could see aglimpse of something, anything. Is there any hope for him?
Dear Heartsick Mother,
Your son's handwriting slants far to the right. People who lean theirwriting extremely rightward are inclined to be emotional, impulsive andoverly sensitive.
He also makes the loops of his "d," "t," "h," "l," "y," and "p" so tightthat they barely exist. These squeezed and retraced loops indicate that herepresses his emotions.
Your son is an emotional person who desperately wants to deny his emotions.This conflict between his emotions and his need to repress them has him sowound up, that he feels trapped and unable to cope. To escape, he turns todrugs.
He needs an outlet to express these bottled up emotions and treatment tohelp him cope with stress. Your son and your family might benefit from aprogram like Multidimensional Family Therapy for Adolescents, which offersoutpatient drug abuse treatment for teenagers and their families. Treatmentincludes individual and family sessions focused on improving communicationand coping skills.
Finally, you asked if there is hope for your son. Even though his words say"leave me alone," the fact that he wrote me a short letter shows that hewants help. With your encouragement, appropriate treatment, and a littleluck, let's hope he finds his way sooner rather than later.
