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Depersonalization....
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<blockquote data-quote="barneysmom" data-source="post: 379026" data-attributes="member: 1872"><p>Kjs,</p><p></p><p>Your post is making me think about a lot of what my younger difficult child (he was 12 then -- 13 now) went through this past year. He was very traumatized by the cycle of violence at our home when older difficult child was ill -- raging, unpredictable, violent. Then older difficult child was gone to juvie, then psychiatric hospital, then Residential Treatment Center (RTC) -- and younger difficult child is left. His ordeal began. </p><p></p><p>He has always been a "picker" with scabs on his arms; these got bigger. He said he could feel nothing -- "I'm in a blank." That's what we called it -- "The Blank." He wouldn't do homework. We set it in front of him -- nothing. I don't think he could do it. He began to fail all his classes. He didn't care. </p><p></p><p>He had already developed encopresis. He started showering every 20 minutes -- "it helps me get ahold of myself." He couldn't sleep and was unbelievably hyper at night -- "I don't have the energy to control myself at this time of night." (I have my notes from this time). He never went out -- just sat -- no TV. He started restricting food and got skeletal. He had panic attacks. And all this time he remained in The Blank. At one time he let me feed him food he liked when he was a baby -- yogurt, applesauce -- with a spoon (our therapist suggested) and played "So big" with me. He would have died before doing this before The Blank. </p><p></p><p>There's a lot more that sounds like your difficult child but I can't remember it all. </p><p></p><p>He felt no pleasure, or even pain. "It's like I look at that man and dog over there, but I can't really feel anything about them -- I'm just looking." His voice sounded different on the phone -- friends noticed. It was like a baby voice. Our therapist said it was a dissociative-type trauma reaction. </p><p></p><p>I can't say that any medications helped him. We tried quite a few over the months. We did go to our therapist -- she's a trauma therapist. I can't remember if she did EMDR with him at that time, but he's had it before over the violence issues, and so have I. It was helpful.</p><p></p><p>Over time we just supported him. Went to the trauma therapist weekly. Sometimes I stayed, sometimes I left for part of the time. girlfriend is adopted, so he already had trauma issues to begin with. So our family problems compounded them tenfold. He gradually came around. </p><p>He got stronger and gradually started to be able to feel his emotions. He's still recovering.</p><p></p><p>Thank you for writing about your difficult child. I'm still trying to figure out what happened with our difficult child -- he sounded just like yours. He got better. It took awhile. He remains a very anxious boy, and still vulnerable.</p><p></p><p>Your difficult child is going to get better. I'll be praying for him. It's very hard. It was just as bad as the violence. </p><p></p><p>Jo</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="barneysmom, post: 379026, member: 1872"] Kjs, Your post is making me think about a lot of what my younger difficult child (he was 12 then -- 13 now) went through this past year. He was very traumatized by the cycle of violence at our home when older difficult child was ill -- raging, unpredictable, violent. Then older difficult child was gone to juvie, then psychiatric hospital, then Residential Treatment Center (RTC) -- and younger difficult child is left. His ordeal began. He has always been a "picker" with scabs on his arms; these got bigger. He said he could feel nothing -- "I'm in a blank." That's what we called it -- "The Blank." He wouldn't do homework. We set it in front of him -- nothing. I don't think he could do it. He began to fail all his classes. He didn't care. He had already developed encopresis. He started showering every 20 minutes -- "it helps me get ahold of myself." He couldn't sleep and was unbelievably hyper at night -- "I don't have the energy to control myself at this time of night." (I have my notes from this time). He never went out -- just sat -- no TV. He started restricting food and got skeletal. He had panic attacks. And all this time he remained in The Blank. At one time he let me feed him food he liked when he was a baby -- yogurt, applesauce -- with a spoon (our therapist suggested) and played "So big" with me. He would have died before doing this before The Blank. There's a lot more that sounds like your difficult child but I can't remember it all. He felt no pleasure, or even pain. "It's like I look at that man and dog over there, but I can't really feel anything about them -- I'm just looking." His voice sounded different on the phone -- friends noticed. It was like a baby voice. Our therapist said it was a dissociative-type trauma reaction. I can't say that any medications helped him. We tried quite a few over the months. We did go to our therapist -- she's a trauma therapist. I can't remember if she did EMDR with him at that time, but he's had it before over the violence issues, and so have I. It was helpful. Over time we just supported him. Went to the trauma therapist weekly. Sometimes I stayed, sometimes I left for part of the time. girlfriend is adopted, so he already had trauma issues to begin with. So our family problems compounded them tenfold. He gradually came around. He got stronger and gradually started to be able to feel his emotions. He's still recovering. Thank you for writing about your difficult child. I'm still trying to figure out what happened with our difficult child -- he sounded just like yours. He got better. It took awhile. He remains a very anxious boy, and still vulnerable. Your difficult child is going to get better. I'll be praying for him. It's very hard. It was just as bad as the violence. Jo [/QUOTE]
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