This is a follow up post to Seeking Help for Our Explosive Child which was a follow up to Meet My Explosive Child.
In our post Seeking Help for Our Explosive Child, I shared the steps we took to get started toward seeking help for our son.
The dentist said there were no issues.
The pediatrician said there were no issues.
The therapist we saw initially said he couldn’t help us.
The child psychologist assessed our son; it was only three visits before he fell off the face of the earth.
The first visit was a visit with all of us to review family history, current concerns, etc. When you do an intake for a psychologist or psychiatrist, there is a lot of paperwork so there was that.
The second visit was just Blake and the doctor for the assessment. The third visit was again a family visit for him to tell us that Blake had severe ADHD and that there could be more laying under the ADHD but the ADHD was so severe, he couldn’t tell.
He then fell off the face of the earth. Never to be heard from again.
Next was the child psychiatrist.
Our first visit with the child psychiatrist included a full assessment with Blake.
At this point, I had gotten pretty used to having to shell out all the family information, along with all my personal mental health issues. It goes with the territory. An assessment involves the entire family and family history.
The psychiatrist diagnosed B with anxiety (something I have known since he was much younger.)
She indicated that he may have ADHD but that it was not the main concern. She stated that his anxiety was so severe that we should focus his treatment on his anxiety.
And we did.
We left our first appointment with the psychiatrist with a prescription for an anti-anxiety medication.
I am not going to get into the reasoning behind my choosing to medicate my 6 year old. I have heard the judgment, I have heard the praise. I know what I did for my son was the right thing and I will share more about my decisions in another post. Until then, know that you need to make a decision based on what is right for you, your family and your child.
We got Blake to take his [low dose] anti-anxiety medication and then met with the psychiatrist again 3 weeks later.
The difference in Blake’s behavior really was night and day.
He no longer had aggressive behaviors (apparently a behavior that children use to display their anxiety). He no longer screamed and cried. He didn’t yell at us about how we hated him.
In fact, he became cuddly and lovable. I had my baby boy back.
Unfortunately, while his home behavior had improved immensely, his school behavior was getting worse.
We talked to the psychiatrist about it and she gave us the option of medication for the ADHD. Something I wasn’t 100% ready to give in to at that time.
It was but a couple weeks later that we were calling her and asking her for a prescription.
Blake had gotten kicked off the bus for 3 days due to behavior and his teacher kept saying that his behavior was out of control – that she could see him trying to control it, but that he just couldn’t.
His comments about his friends not liking him because he was annoying because he made noises broke my heart.
Blake has been on his ADHD medication now for almost 2 weeks and we received the following home:
Right now we are taking it day by day and seeing what happens.
He is still taking his anti anxiety medication and his ADHD medication. It is a step in the right direction for the time being, while we monitor him and his behavior, as well as seek therapy for him.
Note: I am a firm believer that medication and therapy go hand in hand. Some people can do therapy alone and that is great for them. But those that need that extra help with medication need to pair it with therapy as well.
As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to email me at leila@experiencingparenthood.com
Please know, this is not the end. There has been much more to our journey and I will be sharing!
As parents, we have to be out child’s advocate. Good for you to not only notice the problem but to take action. I know we have been dealing with some pretty hefty issues with our daughter in the anxiety, panic attack department for several years now. It is such a struggle to know the “right” way to treat mental health. You hate to have them on meds, but if they cannot cope without or are miserable…it is definitely worth the alternative! Congratulations. I’m sure you are relieved to see your son so much happier and peaceful. 🙂
Thank you! It’s so hard as a parent because you feel like you are in a lose lose situation no matter what you decide to do!
We are our child’s biggest advocate! I love this line in your post, it says it all, ” know that you need to make a decision based on what is right for you, your family and your child.”
I admire the decisions you made for your child. It’s not easy for us parents to see our child having the slightest discomfort so what more if the trouble runs even deeper? I agree that medicating your child in such a young age is an uncommon, if not questionable. But yes, if it helps your child cope, then so be it! Thanks for the great read!
Thank you for the supportive comment!
I lost 20 years not knowing what to do and trying to figure it out myself. I met someone and they recommended I see someone and consider meds. I wasn’t totally against meds, but I wasn’t for them either. Two to Four weeks in, after finding ones strong enough and the symptoms have vanished. Maybe closer to 90% of them, but the remaining 10% I shluff off because of the confidence my other 90% has gained. Ten years has passed and still going strong. If I stop my doses – which I have by accident – the symptoms are right there to pick things back up again. They will never be gone, they will always be waiting. But they are powerless against the meds. Psychotherapy? I’d agree with you. Good for some. Not for me. Their strategies made sense I guess, but their strategies were no match. They got laughed out of the ring. I cannot imagine anyone wanting to put their child on meds. Well, I don’t want to pull weeds or pick up after my dog when we are on walks, but we do what we do and we make our choices as best we can and we live with the results.