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New to Forum/difficult child home from inpatient tonight
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<blockquote data-quote="BusynMember" data-source="post: 333435" data-attributes="member: 1550"><p>Hi there. I'm sorry you are having such a hard time.</p><p></p><p>I've had over thirty years in the mental health system and I can tell you right now that psychiatrists can be wrong about adults, let alone seven year old kids. It took me over ten years to get the right sort of mood disorder diagnosis and didn't get my most pressing diagnoses (borderline personalty disorder) until I was 56...lol. Not ONE professional figured it out. I had to do it and now everyone listens to my explanation of my old behaviors and says, "Oh, yes, it was obvious!" Lots and lots of therapy and two great medications had changed my life already, but not one doctor had ever figured out what the raging and freaking out had been about. They helped the symptoms, but never figured out the core disorder. I'm not even sure it's that important as long as you are getting adequate help for the symptoms.</p><p></p><p>Your psychiatrist is assuming that because your boy's father is incarcerated that he has a higher chance of becoming antisocial. While that's true, it also isn't the bottom line. I have four adopted kids. Two of the kids have parents who are incarcerated. These two kids are the best, sweetest kids on the face of the earth. Biology CAN factor in (kids can inherit the personality characteristics that tend to cause criminal behavior) however it is not written in stone. Whoever pretty much said that your child is a hopeless case already may think it's true, but that doesn't make him right.</p><p></p><p>I strongly suggest that you take your little guy to a neuropsychologist to see if he has any underlying deficits or disorders that are causing his behavior. A lot of things look like ODD/CDish behaviors. At that age almost all disorders mimic one another. Another thing I caution you on is that Straterra is famous for making violent kiddos even more violent. It can take a month or two before the violence kicks in (it takes a while for the drug to build up in the system), but I'd never put my kids on Straterra...nor any violent kid of any stimulant either. He sounds more severe than ADHD. If he needs interventions in school for concentration in my opinion that's better than having his moodswings and violence.</p><p></p><p>Besides the neuropsychologist evaluation, which many of us feel is the best diagnostic tool there is (6-10 hours of intense testing), I'd find a new psychiatrist. I had one psychiatrist tell me about my adopted son, "There is no help for THESE kids." He was sure the boy had fetal alcohol problems and he said it right in front of my kid as if he weren't a person. </p><p></p><p>My son dodoged the fetal alcohol bullet and although had some late development problems and is on the high end of the autism spectrum, he is the sweetest, kindest teenager I know. He is also on the honor roll and the psychiatrist was 100% wrong about him. </p><p></p><p>Every diagnosis is just one opinion. This opinion wasn't very helpful. I'd get a fresh perspective from other professionals who don't know this man. I wouldn't tell them what was already diagnosed either. I'd let them draw their own conclusions. We did this many times with my son. The older he got, the easier it was for them to see the Asperger-like behaviors and they stopped saying he was defiant because he isn't anymore. He had a lot of school interventions and that helped TONS. </p><p></p><p>I hope you give someone else a chance with your son and hope things improve for your family. And sorry for the tough times...I know how it is, trust me.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="BusynMember, post: 333435, member: 1550"] Hi there. I'm sorry you are having such a hard time. I've had over thirty years in the mental health system and I can tell you right now that psychiatrists can be wrong about adults, let alone seven year old kids. It took me over ten years to get the right sort of mood disorder diagnosis and didn't get my most pressing diagnoses (borderline personalty disorder) until I was 56...lol. Not ONE professional figured it out. I had to do it and now everyone listens to my explanation of my old behaviors and says, "Oh, yes, it was obvious!" Lots and lots of therapy and two great medications had changed my life already, but not one doctor had ever figured out what the raging and freaking out had been about. They helped the symptoms, but never figured out the core disorder. I'm not even sure it's that important as long as you are getting adequate help for the symptoms. Your psychiatrist is assuming that because your boy's father is incarcerated that he has a higher chance of becoming antisocial. While that's true, it also isn't the bottom line. I have four adopted kids. Two of the kids have parents who are incarcerated. These two kids are the best, sweetest kids on the face of the earth. Biology CAN factor in (kids can inherit the personality characteristics that tend to cause criminal behavior) however it is not written in stone. Whoever pretty much said that your child is a hopeless case already may think it's true, but that doesn't make him right. I strongly suggest that you take your little guy to a neuropsychologist to see if he has any underlying deficits or disorders that are causing his behavior. A lot of things look like ODD/CDish behaviors. At that age almost all disorders mimic one another. Another thing I caution you on is that Straterra is famous for making violent kiddos even more violent. It can take a month or two before the violence kicks in (it takes a while for the drug to build up in the system), but I'd never put my kids on Straterra...nor any violent kid of any stimulant either. He sounds more severe than ADHD. If he needs interventions in school for concentration in my opinion that's better than having his moodswings and violence. Besides the neuropsychologist evaluation, which many of us feel is the best diagnostic tool there is (6-10 hours of intense testing), I'd find a new psychiatrist. I had one psychiatrist tell me about my adopted son, "There is no help for THESE kids." He was sure the boy had fetal alcohol problems and he said it right in front of my kid as if he weren't a person. My son dodoged the fetal alcohol bullet and although had some late development problems and is on the high end of the autism spectrum, he is the sweetest, kindest teenager I know. He is also on the honor roll and the psychiatrist was 100% wrong about him. Every diagnosis is just one opinion. This opinion wasn't very helpful. I'd get a fresh perspective from other professionals who don't know this man. I wouldn't tell them what was already diagnosed either. I'd let them draw their own conclusions. We did this many times with my son. The older he got, the easier it was for them to see the Asperger-like behaviors and they stopped saying he was defiant because he isn't anymore. He had a lot of school interventions and that helped TONS. I hope you give someone else a chance with your son and hope things improve for your family. And sorry for the tough times...I know how it is, trust me. [/QUOTE]
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