difficult child is in psychiatric hospital

klmno

Active Member
I got him there (to ER) but it sure was an adventure!! He's been in before- 2 years ago, and that was difficult too. This time, local mental health couldn''t/woouldn't help because they thought he was not an immenent danger- difficult child was "shut down" in bed at time I called them. Ok, I agree I had to "stretch" that definition a bit- I went to difficult child and said I might have to call police - he said he's not going anywhere- I said what would you do if police came, would you kill them- he said yep, I might, but I'm not going anywhere. I call that a threat to do bodily harm to someone else, or at least until I knew he was being admitted. Am I bad? (Don't get me wrong, I could clearly see this was headed for a disaster if medication changes weren't made quicker and with more supervision from a psychiatrist- I just stretched the definition of "potential harm to someone else" because they don't seem to blink an eye for a difficult child making decisions that could harm themselves.

Anyhoooo- I told difficult child he had to choose between detention or psychiatric hospital (like that was either of our choices- but then, his choices will determine a lot of the outcome of his life, you know?). He said he'd go to psychiatric hospital- so I JUMPED at that opportunity. I took him to ER where they have inpatient plus day treatment that I've been looking into. psychiatrist said they should admit him. Then, calls PO and finds out about current charges for going into shed and tearing up school computer. That does it for them- they WILL NOT take a child in who has current legal charges. HUH?? They were not violent acts. Well, then a couple of hours were spent with them looking into state psychiatric hospital out of this region. I start having second thoughts about that- like- how long would he be there? difficult child starts asking then if that means he would be in there with all the real violent criminals who have issues. psychiatrist says well, she's decided he should be admitted and if I don't agree, she'll tdo him. Oh, me not agreeing would look great to gal, po, and judge- so I say I'll agree. So, leave it to the agency who decides if state will pay for this- this lady says "he does not need to be sent to out of region psychiatric hospital and have state get involved in all this" and she gets difficult child in the psychiatric hospital he had been in before. OK!! YIPEE!!

So, this whole process took from about 10:30 am to 8:00 pm. How's that for a full day? They cut monitor off difficult child's ankle, so he feels ok. He was shutting down so much- I think he'll appreciate this break in the long run. The people at the psychiatric hospital (once admitted) agreed that he just needed some quick medication adjustments. They did blood work though and his lithium and depakote levels were in therapuetic range- good sign I thought because regular psychiatrist was in the park with dosages, I didn't screw these medication dosages up, and difficult child must have been taking them (not hiding them in cheek). He's looking at a 3 to 7 day stay- depending on medications to be changed.

I was reading a post in another thread and have a question about day treatment now. They all aren't the same are they? That post sounded like it was a place one step away from juvy. I'm looking for a place that works with bipolar issues- under the assumption that bad behavior is an effect of medications not working and difficult child not having strategies for himself and me and sd not having strategies and support systems that are currently working. Am I being too idealistic here? Are some day treatments addressing issues like this? Are those the day treatments that insurance cos. are paying for instead of sd? I don't think difficult child or I either one could take him being in a place where juvy was used as a continuous threat- he already is living with that.

Thanks for reading all this!!
 

smallworld

Moderator
My son's day treatment program in a psychiatric hospital had absolutely nothing to do with juvy (in fact, my son has never been in trouble with the law). His was only about observing him, refining dxes, overhauling medications and providing individual and group therapy. His day treatment program also made plans for what would occur after he left the program (educational and therapeutic options).

I hope your son's psychiatric hospital stay makes a positive difference in his life. I also hope you're able to get some time to rest and recuperate. It's been a long haul for you.
 

Hound dog

Nana's are Beautiful
I don't think you were stretching the definition of threat to self or others by all that much, especially when you knew from experience that things were deteriorating. difficult child is where he needs to be to get medications straightened out.

Take some down time for yourself while you have the chance.

Hugs
 

Christy

New Member
I hope the psychiatric hospital visit will be productive and they can get your difficult child stabalized. Try to take care of yourself and rest.
Best wishes,
Christy
 

klmno

Active Member
Thanks, Lisa! Smallworld, your idea of day treatment is what I'm shooting for- hopefully, it will come as a recommendation from the psychiatric hospital. Also, the PO needs to back off a little on dictating the punishments that I am to use at home- I think she pushes her authority a little too much. It is times like that when I'm glad a gal is on board to consider other aspects- like this kind of punishment/discipline just makes difficult child worse. The po does not know what triggers difficult child, that "forever" types of losing priviledges probably isn't a good idea with a manic difficult child who's 13 yo, etc,

I feel like my avatar looks right now- I hope difficult child can get some sleep- he just asked before I left if I'd come to every visitation that I could... (I always have!) The staff there was the same- that was good because they remebered him and remebered that he had been compliant with medications and all- never caused any problem- and pointed out that they knew I understood what was going on and that they knew I was doing what I felt I had too- and of course, that they thought he needed some medication changes on an in-patient basis. I hope that the sd can get a clue now. The day treatment people told me that they figure out what is needed and send the difficult child back to their sd with a valid iep in hand when they go back to regular school- I think that is great because the iep isn't written around what the sd wants to provide- it is written the way it should be- based on what difficult child needs to thrive.

I just hope their day treatment doesn't have the same rule about any charges- I could understand if there are places where they won't allow violent offenders, but difficult child is not a violent offender (that aggressive side only comes out at home- and fortunately, I've never been hurt and he's never hurt our animals or anyone else, etc.- most people agree that even though he rages and gets destructive at home when he isn't stable, he is actually a bigger threat for self-harming.)
 

Star*

call 911........call 911
klmno,

Sorry and sending hugs for your days.

We had a difficult time trying to convince anyone locally that Dude should be in a day treatment program. Most here are run by ARC and not for kids with normal IQ's and behavior problems.

The best we could get for a while was an alternative school and a shadow. When it got really bad - we got a 1/2 days school teacher to come to our home. She was a semi-retired sped teacher. Once she felt he could handle more time - he was sent back to self-contained classes. No shadow - and eventually got sent home -AGAIN.

Hang tough
Hugs
Star
 
B

butterflydreams

Guest
Hugs to you! You did what you had to get your difficult child the help he needs. You knew he would just continue to get worse. I hope he is able to get the help he needs. Good luck on the day treatment. Remember to take some time for just you!

Christy
 

totoro

Mom? What's a difficult child?
I HOPE he gets some help... calm, rest for you. You did good! Hang in there, relax for a few moments.
 

klmno

Active Member
Thank you all for the support and well wishes!! I just got back about an hour ago from visiting. difficult child says they gave hime no medications last night and took blood at 5:00 am this morning (I hope the "no medications" last night was intentional- to monitor blood levels- and not a mistake). He said they gave him his medications this morning- including the zyprexa, which I had been giving him during the evening because it made him sleep so much. He said he took two naps today during "must stay in room time". I hope they are aware that he was in there sleeping so they don't think he can take zyprexa in the mornings then go to school and function and have normal sleeping habits at night. Let's just say- he definitely can't do it at home.

The lady at the nurse's station questioned why seroquel wasn't tried before zyprexa (by regular psychiatrist) because she says it is not as hard on the system. difficult child is very jittery but I think that is the higher dose of lithobid- which is why regular psychiatrist added zyprexa with hopes of lowering liithobid or removing it completely.

Of course, I don't think this short psychiatric hospital stay will solve all problems, but difficult child was having too difficult time functioning and with so many legal people involved, I couldn't sit here banking on it getting better the way we were going. And, hopefully, the psychiatric hospital staff can make suggestions for iep and aftercare that will be useful. I go up tomorrow for the first meeting about that kind of stuff.

Oh, it sounds like difficult child is having to explain over and over to different people that "no, he really has no intention or plan to attack or kill a cop". Oops- sorry son- I tried to clarify to them last night that I really didn't think this statement was too serious. But you know, you had been walking around on the roof, and look at what you did to the landscape stuff and house.....and, think about how much you had shut down and couldn't really function..
 

susiestar

Roll With It
I totally believe you did the right thing. Chances are the admission people heard what they wanted to hear anyway. I know the short stay psychiatric hospital here never really heard anything. But they did get medication changes done, and some respite for me.

Make sure you take some time to recuperate while he is in psychiatric hospital. It is important to recharge YOUR batteries.

hugs,,

susie
 
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