Pathways and Triggers Brought to Life 59Danny with Ritalin several years previously, but Danny
had remained moody, rigid, and explosive. A psychiatrist
had subsequently prescribed an antidepressant, but this
medication caused Danny to become significantly more
agitated and hyperactive.
“Danny can be in what seems to be a perfectly pleas-
ant mood and then—bang!—something doesn’t go quite
the way he thought it would, and he’s cursing and hit-
ting,” his mother reported. “I don’t know what to do. The
other day he and I were in the car together and I took a
wrong turn. Danny suddenly became very agitated that it
was taking us longer to get where we were going than it
should have. All of a sudden, I had a ten-year-old kid
punching me! In the car! While I’m driving! It’s insanity!
“I’m tired of people telling me this behavior is occur-
ring because I’m a single parent. My ex-husband is still
very much involved in Danny’s life, and there hasn’t been
any of the back stabbing that takes place with some di-
vorces. I will say I think his dad tries too hard to be
Danny’s best friend. Anyway, these explosions started
way before there were problems in our marriage, al-
though, I must admit, he’s a lot more explosive when he’s
with me than he is when he’s with his father.”
In conversations with his new therapist, Danny
seemed genuinely contrite over the behavior his mother
had described. He said he’d been trying very hard not to
be physically or verbally aggressive but didn’t seem to be