Bare with-me...I'm new

mari7413

New Member
How many of you guys have experienced your child hallucinating? I'm new to this, and it brings me to tears every time my difficult child does this. How commen is it? Is it dangerous? Help...
 

smallworld

Moderator
Is your difficult child on any medications? If so, what and how much? Some medications can cause hallucinations, and in that case, should be discontinued. In other cases, hallucinations are part of BiPolar (BP) and need treatment with atypical antipsychotics.
 

JJJ

Active Member
Well, I'd rather help while clothed :smile:

My daughter hallucinates. It was dangerous in her case because she would respond to the hallucinations with violence. She's on an AP to stop them. What has your psychiatrist tried to get them to stop?

Welcome,

 

mari7413

New Member
I live in po-dunk AR, I'm still trying to find a doctor TO treat him. Just recently has a doctor diagnosis him as bipolar. He has all the signs, and a super strong family history, but no one around has ever dealt with an early onset bipolar.

So, it's not from medications. And he doesn't react to them other than sometimes getting scared. And it's usually when he's really manic or mixed.
 

TiredSoul

Warrior Mom since 2007
I have no experience in this area at all. I am curious to know some examples of the tpye of hallucinations your difficult child has had. I just read the following to familiarize myself:

"A hallucination occurs when environmental, emotional, or physical factors such as stress, medication, extreme fatigue, or mental illness cause the mechanism within the brain that helps to distinguish conscious perceptions from internal, memory-based perceptions to misfire. As a result, hallucinations occur during periods of consciousness. They can appear in the form of visions, voices or sounds, tactile feelings (known as haptic hallucinations), smells, or tastes."

also:

"Hallucinations, particularly as described in the adult psychiatric literature, have been viewed as synonymous with psychosis and as harbingers of serious psychopathology. In children, however, hallucinations can be part of normal development or can be associated with nonpsychotic psychopathology, psychosocial adversity, or a physical illness (1). The first clinical task in evaluating children and adolescents is to sort out the most serious and worrisome hallucinations from those that are less pathological... The content of the hallucination may be relevant in understanding the underlying psychopathology and issues in the child’s development"

Not sure if any of this helps - could you provide any more info?
 

Sara PA

New Member
My son occassionally hallucinates because of his partial seizure disorder. Sensory hallucinations can be a manifestation of temporal lobe epilepsy. We had a rather disconcerting conversation about why I didn't answer the phone. Because it wasn't ringing. Then there was the time I had to go search the house for the gasoline he smelled that was so strong he was afraid the house would blow up.....gasoline which didn't exist.

On another board I post to, there was a thread where people, most of whom did not have diagnoses, were talking about the hallucinations they had. Apparently hallucinations are a whole lot more common than I ever imagined and many people who are quite sane, even normal, have them. On friend of my son has always heard voices of people who aren't there. He knows they aren't real so he just doesn't pay attention to them. He goes to college, lives on his own, and is pretty much a normal college student/computer geek.
 

TiredSoul

Warrior Mom since 2007
Wow- very interesting. I hope you can find the answers you are looking for. What type of professional diagnosis'd your son? My son was just diagnosis'd ADHD and ODD, I think he may have some depression and anxiety too. We are trying to decide about medicating but I think I would like a more thorough evaluation first. You posted previously that he was on ADHD medications when he was 4 and 5 and it was terrible. How did he react to them? That is what scares me (to find out later there is something else wrong and the medications could actually make things worse). Our psychologist also mentioned a possibility of bi-polar, so I am interested in hearing about your experiences.
 

MaryEL8775

New Member
I am new to the boards. Here is my situation. My 10yr old son has been diagnosed as ADHD and BiPolar. He is on the following medication: Abilify 2xs daily 2mg each, and Strattera 60mg 2xs daily. When he takes his medication he is easier to handle. However, one skipped dose and all trouble breaks loose. He has other allergies and right now we are working on getting him the help that he needs. He sees a counselor and a psychiatrist.

He takes fits of rage and anger out on myself, his 9yr old sister, and sometimes his father. He can get very aggressive and hard to control. Not to mention that he is 150lbs. So his weight is also being an issue.

Right now I am going thru depression myself but money is so tight that I can barely afford the services to help my son. I end up spending $108. a month on medicine just for him. There are no support groups in my area. I wouldn't even know how to start one to be able to have that support.

I have child services involved in our home but they don't even seem to be helping. He acts out whenever he is with us. When he is at school, or out in public, he acts like a good little boy when we are around other people. But when we are alone he acts out. He has a case of severe sibling rivalry with his younger sister. He is abusive to us, but no one has ever come to our aid.

I know this is alot for my first message, but I'm hoping to find some help or support. Please help us.

ME - Mary 32yrs old diagnosed as a borderline Psychotic, depression, adhd and bipolar

husband - Eric 34yrs old no major problems, but hates counselors.

DS - Tyler 10yrs old - Allergies, asthma, ADHD and BiPolar Medications are as follows: Strattera, Abilify, Singular, and Fexofenadine

daughter - Samantha 9 yrs old - mood disorder undiagnosed and untreated so far.
 

mari7413

New Member
Most of the time he sees some sort of angry figures, and most times they're armed with a sword or some other almost midevil wheapon. This last time it was three dogs, or a three headed dog...I'm not sure.
 
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