General Any Advice For Parents Welcomed!

[clare]

I believe my ten year old son has ptsd as well as epiliepsy. Although neither has been formally diagnosed, he's been receiving counseling/evaluations and assessments for almost two years with little improvement. He's had two grand-mal seizures and numerous petit-mal, but his neurologist still thinks the seizures could be behavioral manifestations of extreme anxiety due to repeated trauma. A phychologist who tested and counseled him assessed that his anxiety was mostly likely due to his seizure disorder and referred back to neuro. His pediatrician diagnosed depression and suggested melatonin to help him sleep. Overall he's become more introverted to the point of phobic, he won't go to school, has violent mood swings, panic attacks and physical rage coupled with a very low self esteem, letheragy and physical(somatic?) complaints including nausea, headache and numbness. I wish there was a group or IOP program for children in my area but I've yet to find one and then I'm afraid inpatient could traumatize him further, he says he wants to die and if I try to hospitilize him, he will. Now I feel he's just slipping away and all I can do is watch, I miss the happy, fun little boy I used to have and I 'm feeling pretty helpless.

Thanks for listening,

clare

 

[pebbels]

Hello Clare:hello:Oh i so feel for you, I dont know what to say except keep searching to get the right answers, the right people dealing with your boy, at 10 years old and wanting to die is ringing bells for me, you say you are watching him slip away so going hard out and getting the right help is either going to be a blessing or not from what your 10 year old is saying to you. I wish you all the best and sorry i couldn't be of more help:Hug_emoticon:

 

[Claire]

Hello, I dont understand your post I'm afraid. Could you explain it to me a bit more please? Why do you think your son has PTSD? do you the mean from the trauma from the seizures or another trauma you haven't mentioned?

 

[clare]

Hello, I dont understand your post I'm afraid. Could you explain it to me a bit more please? Why do you think your son has PTSD? do you the mean from the trauma from the seizures or another trauma you haven't mentioned?

Sorry,

A psychologist did a four hour evaluation and said he scored moderate/high for PTSD amonst other things but that was a year ago. he's worse now. When he was six he was repeatedly sexually assaulted at school, though we filed a complaint, the perpetraitor was never found. His therapist insisted that this was a serious case of sexual trauma and that although his symptoms improved over summer vacation, they could worsten upon his return to school, they did. Child welfare/DSS beileves his syptoms may be related to his seizures, a chaotic home environment (because of the sexual assault and its aftermath my husband and I fought alot), or possibly his having to witness my epileptic seizures-all of which they summarized as parental neglect. In the past year my husband and I have cooperated fully with DSS, repeatedly attempted to get more help for our son, ie., therapy and possible medication but nothing yet.

Because I'm in moderation, you know, my posts are delayed. Yesterday we brought my son to the ER. A crisis team evalution recommended inpatient hospitalization, but we decided on partial since inpatient would mean my son would be sharing a room with a teenage boy. They had no beds available for children, only adolescents. Here again, I'm afraid I'm being neglectful-DSS would probably say "put him in with the teenagers", but it was a teenage boy who molested him and I fear this would be damaging. I know there are better places for my son but we have no money so we can only take what the state is willing to provide.

Sorry to go on so long.

Thanks for caring,

Clare

 

[becvan]

Hello Clare.

I am a mother of a son with PTSD (he's 13 now but he wasn't diagnosed till he was about 10) and I'm also a sufferer of PTSD myself.

You need to find someone who specializes in PTSD in children and it's not easy to find either. It will be the only way that you can diagnose PTSD or rule it out. Medical doctors know NOTHING about PTSD, please do not waste your time on them. Most therapists, psychiatrists and psychologists don't know much about it either. You need someone who specializes in it, especially when it comes to children.

I would begin by asking these professionals that you have seen, if they know of anyone or any program dealing with children and trauma. (Here in Canada, they are most commonly found in the drug and alcohol rehab centers.)

Also begin reading about PTSD on here. It will help you understand it a bit. However, children react differently to PTSD compared to adults. So if he does have PTSD, his symptoms although somewhat similar, won't be the same at all.

bec

 

[clare]

Thanks everyone,

Like many new here, I'm learning. Being your own advocate can be hard when you feel unqualified, but that's where sharing comes in. My connections to community are practically non-existant. I'm hoping to regain a sense of trust and confidence in order to be a better advocate for my son and myself.

Best wishes,

clare