So before

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flutterbee

Guest
difficult child only mentioned that she had periodically heard her name whispered.

Tonight she heard a voice saying, "Quiet", while she was in the bathroom. She's not hearing the voice in her head, but from outside her head. From what I've read that is the distinction between hallucination and ear problem.

She was obviously distressed and demanded to know what I was going to do. I explained the process I have been going through to get her into a psychiatrist. She thinks a psychiatrist is stupid because "what can a psychiatrist do for paranoia?"

She insists that paranoia is the diagnosis and I explained that it can be just a symptom. She didn't like that idea because she's already decided what it is. She completely rejects anxiety and depression out of hand. And she's terrified of schizophrenia (she reads too much). So, I think this is her way of making herself feel secure, Know what I mean??

The problem is, she's going to reject out of hand whatever the psychiatrist says if he doesn't say it's paranoia. I'm going to have to talk to him beforehand and give him a heads up so he can weigh his words with her.

I'm so out of my league on this one.

ETA: I'm still not ruling out dissociation (I know I'm not a doctor). She was in and out of her calmness today and it was such a dramatic difference between the calmness and the not. If that makes any sense.
 

Wiped Out

Well-Known Member
Staff member
Heather,
I hope you are able to find a psychiatrist soon. I'm sure it must be scary to see her in such different states. I think it is definitely a good idea to talk ahead of time with the psychiatrist.
 

klmno

Active Member
I hope you find somebody soon, too. I could be wrong, but I think paranoia could stem from anxiety and I wouldn't be shocked to find that anxiety/panic could cause "hearing voices", even though more severe MI could cause it too.
 
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butterflydreams

Guest
I hope you find someone soon too. This has to be scary for both of you. I know when my son was having hallucinations and was hearing whispering sounds, it was very terrifying for all.

On the topic of difficult child reading too much, my daughter is the same way. She reads way too much and then when the doctor doesn't agree with her, she wigs out. She hasn't done this with her mental health issues YET, but she did it when she had abdominal pain and she felt the ER doctor and nurses were wrong and she threw a fit when they gave her prescriptions and said she was ready to go. I really thought they were going to call security because she was throwing such a fit refusing to leave (she was diagnosed with a ovarian cyst). She doesn't even remember throwing the fit now.
 

timer lady

Queen of Hearts
All I can offer is redirection. When difficult child is escalating with anxiety & other situations, redirect her if you can.

The same with her researching & reading about all the mental illness symptoms. While it's okay for an adult a young teenager might not be able to process the information in the way it's given ~ especially via internet.

For kt, I've had to limit where & when she gets on the internet. Research for school is one thing; research about her disorders means an adult is there to help explain & break down the information.

Mostly, I redirect for any anxious behaviors ~ move it from books or the computer to the kitchen to bake cookies; to watch a movie with popcorn. The last couple of weekends we've had together I helped kt build a fort in the living room because she was too anxious to fall asleep in her room alone. (husband was always just one door away in his office as kt was falling asleep.)

Positive thoughts that help comes through soon.
 
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