1st Meltdown Post psychiatric hospital (jinxed myself)

Alisonlg

New Member
I knew it as soon as I did it. I opened my datebook today and counted the weeks since M's last psychiatric hospital admit (3 1/2 weeks- WOOHOO! A new record!) and as soon as I rejoiced and commented to myself- out loud- that we've been meltdown-free the entire time, I knew I jinxed myself! Doh!

M got off the bus from his Summer Program at his theraputic school and when asked how his day was, gave me his standard "good" answer. Shortly after he got home, the neighborhood kids started showing up, one by one, until we had three of them here. They went downstairs to play and M was clearly on edge and easily aggitated by EVERYTHING...every sound, every comment, every thing! I eventually told M that perhaps it would be better if he took a break from his friends and have them go home for a while. I went upstairs to use the bathroom and by the time I was out, his friends were gone and M was on the couch wrapped in a blanket with his forehead all tense.

Then he started telling me about how angry he was and I asked him how long he's been feeling angry and he said all WEEK..wednesday, tuesday, and monday (he started the Summer Camp Program on Monday). He went onto the floor and started with his comment about how his body felt funny (which he sometimes says before he goes into a full blown rage) and then started kicking and rolling around and going on and on about how he had to stop going to the camp. He shared a few things like how some of the other kids kick and bang on the walls which really annoys him and makes him angry and how because the camp makes him angry he thinks he'll get sent back to the hospital. He also said that his class size is larger than his typical class size...10-15 as opposed to 7, which he feels is too many kids, which he also thinks is making him angry.

So, after about 20-30 minutes of him going on and on, I was able to talk to him and I told him that we had a couple of options...if he feels there are too many kids in his class at camp, then I will call the school tomorrow morning and talk to someone and see if anything can be done about maybe getting an adult to work with him more one-on-one or check in with him throughout the day to see how he's feeling and I asked him how he felt about that...he said that sounded good and he wants me to call FIRST THING in the morning! LOL Then I said the second option was that if that wasn't enough and he was still feeling really angry, then perhaps his medication wasn't helpful enough or at the right doses, so we could call the psychiatrist and get an appointment to talk to him about how he's feeling and see what psychiatrist says (we don't have a therapist appointment until late next month yet). He said OK with tears in his eyes. I grabbed his hand and told him that I was glad he told me how he was feeling and that I was SO proud of him for how well behaved he's been at camp and that we were going to work hard to make sure that he feels better.

I *SO* hope this is not the begining of a downward spiral...that it's just a blip...a bump in the road...a wrinkle that can be ironed out.
 

totoro

Mom? What's a difficult child?
Alison-
Oh I hope it is just a blip... :future:

It is pretty amazing that he was able to identify his feelings and let you know without just reacting and falling apart!
Isn't it nice, even though our kids still can't control everything, they can "see/feel" things change at times and verbalize their fears.

I have fingers crossed for him!!!
 

Wiped Out

Well-Known Member
Staff member
I agree it's good he was able to talk to you about what is bothering him! Hoping this is just a blip!
 

oceans

New Member
At least he was talking about his anger, and open to suggestions that might help. That sounds like an improvement from before, even if things are not quite right..
 

busywend

Well-Known Member
Wow - his being able to explain his feelings is amazing! My difficult child still can not do that at 16!

I hope there is a resolution to his problem so he sees how talking can solve things.

:thumb:
 
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