It might be worth looking into traits of gifted youth, to see if he seems to fit that mold. Gifted children do tend to end up more stubborn than their peers - they often require less sleep, pick up on things scary quickly, may read people better, etc. (which leads to the stubbornness because they can see when you will break) If his inability to cope seems more extreme than usual kids his age, HopperFan may be on to something.
A great example is the neurotypical 1 year old who falls asleep asking for a toy, he wakes up 2 hours later with no memory of it. The advanced child may fall asleep, then wake up hours later again asking for it. The sort of babies who seem to almost be born with object permanence. And I don't mean random fluke; there are kids who seriously don't forget and break all the "rules" of raising kids. It is a very different sort of child to raise, and difficult to discuss because the complaints can sound like bragging to those who haven't had to manage it. But it may give you new strategies to try.
