I'm glad I found this forum, I already found a lot of useful insight in PTSD that will help me in our everyday life.
Background:
I got married two years ago, and a couple of weeks later my husbands two boys moved in with us. The kids grew up with their mom who is diagnosed with schizophrenia. Due to sabotaging from their mom the boys only had sporadic contact with their father growing up. We knew they were having some issues when they moved in, but we had no idea how severe it was until we got to know them better.
The only thing we are sure of about their past is that the boys have been neglected. The have very few memories - at least memories they want to share. They both hear voices, disassociate, are anxious and totally disconnected from their physical body's and their emotions. They are now both on medication, and it seems to take the worst edge of their paranoia, anxiety attacks and the most negative voices. They both still feel suicidal in periods, but are now able to talk about it.
They are almost grown men, but both their emotional and their skill development is more like 5 year old's, and if they are not watched almost 24/7 they "collapse". If they are not told to do something (like shower and brush teeth) they wont.
Finding the right treatment has turned out to be a big problem on the insurance we have - but I finally at least found a therapist and psychiatrist I feel we can work with. Unfortunately they have no expertise in PTSD. The last therapist we had kept telling me to get a "reality check" - "sometimes there is nothing we can do, and we have just to make the best out of it" (!!!). I would love to try out CBT - specially Narrative exposure therapy (NET) to see if it could help.
Until we get them in the right treatment (whatever that might be) I need to figure out how to deal with their daily struggles myself. Which is why I'm so grateful to everyone here who share their feelings and stories, helping me understand what's going on when the kids are doing things I just don't get. Thank you everyone!
Love,
Stepmom
Background:
I got married two years ago, and a couple of weeks later my husbands two boys moved in with us. The kids grew up with their mom who is diagnosed with schizophrenia. Due to sabotaging from their mom the boys only had sporadic contact with their father growing up. We knew they were having some issues when they moved in, but we had no idea how severe it was until we got to know them better.
The only thing we are sure of about their past is that the boys have been neglected. The have very few memories - at least memories they want to share. They both hear voices, disassociate, are anxious and totally disconnected from their physical body's and their emotions. They are now both on medication, and it seems to take the worst edge of their paranoia, anxiety attacks and the most negative voices. They both still feel suicidal in periods, but are now able to talk about it.
They are almost grown men, but both their emotional and their skill development is more like 5 year old's, and if they are not watched almost 24/7 they "collapse". If they are not told to do something (like shower and brush teeth) they wont.
Finding the right treatment has turned out to be a big problem on the insurance we have - but I finally at least found a therapist and psychiatrist I feel we can work with. Unfortunately they have no expertise in PTSD. The last therapist we had kept telling me to get a "reality check" - "sometimes there is nothing we can do, and we have just to make the best out of it" (!!!). I would love to try out CBT - specially Narrative exposure therapy (NET) to see if it could help.
Until we get them in the right treatment (whatever that might be) I need to figure out how to deal with their daily struggles myself. Which is why I'm so grateful to everyone here who share their feelings and stories, helping me understand what's going on when the kids are doing things I just don't get. Thank you everyone!
Love,
Stepmom
