Q. Dear Dr. Heller,
Our 16-year-old son was recently diagnosed as having BPD. The description fits him very well. We have, indeed, been walking on eggshells for sometime around this very hostile, belligerent, violent and self-destructive person. We couldn't get anyone to tell us what was wrong, since he always puts on a good face and blames us for everything. Finally, after various calls to the police and a couple of hospitalizations, a very sharp doctor put all of the pieces together. Now here is the question: We are now certain that he has been "huffing" for about 15-18 months. This has coincided with the absolutely worst behavior. Before that, he suffered from depression and did not fit in well, but he managed. Do you think that inhaling these chemicals damaged his brain and caused the BPD?
A. Whether inhaling solvents caused the BPD isn't known and will never be known, but it clearly worsened the situation. Solvents essentially dissolve the brain.
The individuals I've treated who inhaled solvents all had the BPD, and were experiencing dysphoria - anxiety, rage, depression, despair - when they used the solvents. The solvents were inhaled in an attempt to stop the dysphoria.