childhood depression

stephw01

New Member
I just adopted my step-son and he is really struggling he is in therapy and they think he has childhood depression I have never dealt with anything like this and could use someone to talk to who has been or is going through this
 

stephw01

New Member
He is only 4 years old. My biggest concern with him is that he doesnt make friends I would say he is grumpy like 98% of the time. He has a very bad temper. I think it stems from confusion with his biological mom he was removed from her when he was 2 because of exposure to drugs and neglect. He and his sister had to go to foster care before my husband could get legal gaurdianship of him (my husband is not his biological father, he is the biological father of my sons sister so we fought to keep my son) for awhile his bio mom was getting visitations but she did a lot of comming and going. My son does know she is in jail now and that she basically isnt his mom anymore, but that I am. Which he is ok with, but now he keeps asking me if I am going to leave him. I worry he is going to get kicked out of day care because he is always biting,hitting and scratching other kids. I am emotionaly drained and I dont know what to do anymore. :(
 

AnnieO

Shooting from the Hip
Welcome stephw01!

Therapy is good so far. It does sound like your son is really worried that you might leave him - and time will help this. We had a similar issue with my stepson before we got custody.

I don't have much I can tell you. But - lots of hugs! You're in the right place. There are lots of people here with great advice & ideas that will point you in great directions.

However - if he was exposed to drugs - is it possible he has ingested them, or his bio mother was using while pregnant? This may have a big impact on behavior.
 

SRL

Active Member
Does he have interest in having friends and it's the behaviors that push other kids away or is he not showing much interest in friends?
Has his speech always been on target?
Is he sleeping well?

Are there any diagnosed mental health issues in either biological parent?
 

stephw01

New Member
I have younger cousins that he is friends with but it has taken him almost 2 years to get to that point. He goes to a preschool at his therapy center 3 hours a day and they are telling me that the kids are starting to regect him because when they try and play with him he puts on this tough guy face and tells them to leave him alone, they say he just plays by himself and has no intrest in making friends. His speach is fine infact his vocabulary is a little to advanced (he tends to be a big swearer at times) and he is an amazing sleeper. right to sleep at 8:00 everynight and he sleeps until 6:30 or 7:00 without waking up at night. his mom has borderline personality disorder but from what I have heard that is not genetic.
 
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SRL

Active Member
What kind of therapy center is it? What kinds of specialists have seen him--ie is it only a counselor type therapist or have there been other specialist involved in assessing and treating him?
 

stephw01

New Member
It is a place called the XXXX they only see kids under 7. As of right now he is only seeing a therapist he has an appointment with a
Psychiatrist on May 21st to get an official diagnosis. The teachers of the preschool are all undergrad therapist and then his regular therapist observes and interacts with him as well.
 
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SRL

Active Member
From years of hearing parents report on their experiences, we really encourage parents of younger children to seek out assessments beyond therapists and child psychiatrists. There are certainly places for them in treatment but parents are reporting more thorough and often more accurate diagnostic results when they schedule with developmental pediatricians and/or pediatric neuropsychologists. It's not unusual for a psychiatrist to diagnose and offer medications after seeing a child for an hour or so whereas a pediatric neuropsychologist might spend 8 hours with a child of this age. Did they mention those speciality areas at all?

(I took a peek at the website of the center you mentioned and now I'm going to edit out the name for the sake of your familiy's privacy)
 

stephw01

New Member
I appreciate that,and I will look into pediatric neuropsychologists this. I have just never had to deal with anything like this I am very glad I found this website.
 

SRL

Active Member
Yeah, check it out. We have a lot of parents of older kids come through wishing they had done more extensive evaluations when their kids were younger. You'll be much more equipped to make decisions on treatments by having a big picture than through a short evaluation.

Also, just to let you know, whenever we hear of young children who are having big time social problems we encourage parents to familiarize themselves with signs of Autistic Spectrum Disorders. The lower functioning (nonverbal, non interactive) children are obviously picked up pretty quickly but the higher functioning kids can easily slip under the radar. You would be looking for things such as avoiding eye contact, lining up toys or other household objects in straight lines or formation, speech delays or conversely more advanced, adult sounding speech, really obsessive interests--often not typical of their peers, overly sensitive to sensory stimuli such as lights, loud sounds, food textures, clothing, etc.

It would be good for you to pick up a copies of two books: The Explosive Child by Ross Greene and What Your Explosive Child is Trying to Tell You by Douglas Riley. Also, check out the thread at the top of this board on The Explosive Child.
 

stephw01

New Member
I am going to look into all the info you have given me. The autistic thing is interesting when my son was in foster care the foster parents voiced concerns about that.
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
He really needs a through neuropsychologist evalatioin. I wish I'd known about NeuroPsychs when my son was small. I feel we wasted time with regular therapists and even our psychiatrist. They did no testing and misdiagnosed him. He could have autistic spectrum disorder and attachment issues--both which do poorly in the long run without early EARLY intervention. Talk therapy and school couneslors simply are not enough.
 
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