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Replies to '11/23 Schizophrenia'
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November 23, 2005, 10:42 pm PST
 Quote From: mimi_barb3
Hello Everyone! I want to find out if anyone had a diagnois at age 8 as Schizophrenia? My daughter called me the other day after my grand daughter's appointment with a pyschriatrist. All the art papers were sent to him for analysis, plus her medical records since birth. Kaytie is a beautiful long haired beauty with the biggest blue eyes. Most of all her heart is very loving and kind. She's knows that her Mimi (me) loves her and would do anything for her.
Kaytie is only 8 years old. Yes, she's had some problems at night. Cutting, wanting to hurt hereself, she has been diagnoised having OCD (complusive disorder) which probs her to put things back and straight, causes her to pick things up from the floor and put them away instead of having fun in art class or with friends. She picks at her toes and fingers to the point of bleeding. She has rocks to hold when has those feelings. It seems to help in a small way. She is talking to someone now that does not exist. At first we felt it was only her invisible friend and just ignored it. Now she is screaming at the friend to go away and leave her alone. She draws pictures of them. Not pictures that a typical 8 year would draw. She now sees the dark side of these friends that we don't see. She hears voices and tells them to go away and leave her alone. She has a flashlight and bells on her door at night to keep the bad ones away.
As her grandmother, I feel utterly helpless. I love Kaytie and would do whatever I need to do for this child to find peace and happiness again. She was diagnoised this week as being Schizophrenia. I'm at a loss, what do I pray for, how can this beautiful innocent child full of God's love have this disease. After all she's been through medically, now for her to go through this mentallly is just too much for this sweet child to contend with. I want her to feel safe and I cry just thinking of her feeling these "friends" are real when they are not. I want to take it all away but I can't. I don't know what to do. Since she's been born health problems gave her heart problems, gastro problems, colon problems, many many operations over her 8 years of life. She has problems not sleeping, not eating, not able to focus or concentrate until recently with the help of a medicine perscribed for her to use at night. She now can sleep through the night soundly. And now this. All I can say is that my daughter was given to Kaytie to be her mother. God knew that Kaytie needed a mother that would take good care of her, love her, keep her safe, and give her a happy life. Her mother does all that and more. She has worked hard to make sure Kaytie would have a good life. My daughter is a wonderful Mom, a real loving and devoted Mom that loves her Kaytie more than anyone I've ever seen before. I'm thankful for that. Kaytie is scared of change, scared of any loud voices, of things she doesn't know, her anxiety level is alway on high speed. My question is .......she's 8 years old, diagnoised with Schizophrenia and on medication. I'm so afraid for her. I want her to have the best treatment and find out what the problem is that is causing this. What can a grandmother do to help? I never see the type of behavor that my daughter sees in Kaytie. We live in another state away so we have fewer chances to be with her. BUt what can I do to help my little Kaytie ?
Thank you for listening and taking time out to read this, Barb So sorry to hear about your granddaughter. From what I've read, schizophrenia tends to surface after stressful event(s) in a person's life. Her physical problems may be the trigger that caused it to come to the surface. It also seems to hit people with above-average intelligence. My mom's schizophrenia began after the birth of my brother 50 years ago. Rex |
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November 24, 2005, 12:23 am PST
Quote From: mimi_barb3
Hello Everyone! I want to find out if anyone had a diagnois at age 8 as Schizophrenia? My daughter called me the other day after my grand daughter's appointment with a pyschriatrist. All the art papers were sent to him for analysis, plus her medical records since birth. Kaytie is a beautiful long haired beauty with the biggest blue eyes. Most of all her heart is very loving and kind. She's knows that her Mimi (me) loves her and would do anything for her.
Kaytie is only 8 years old. Yes, she's had some problems at night. Cutting, wanting to hurt hereself, she has been diagnoised having OCD (complusive disorder) which probs her to put things back and straight, causes her to pick things up from the floor and put them away instead of having fun in art class or with friends. She picks at her toes and fingers to the point of bleeding. She has rocks to hold when has those feelings. It seems to help in a small way. She is talking to someone now that does not exist. At first we felt it was only her invisible friend and just ignored it. Now she is screaming at the friend to go away and leave her alone. She draws pictures of them. Not pictures that a typical 8 year would draw. She now sees the dark side of these friends that we don't see. She hears voices and tells them to go away and leave her alone. She has a flashlight and bells on her door at night to keep the bad ones away.
As her grandmother, I feel utterly helpless. I love Kaytie and would do whatever I need to do for this child to find peace and happiness again. She was diagnoised this week as being Schizophrenia. I'm at a loss, what do I pray for, how can this beautiful innocent child full of God's love have this disease. After all she's been through medically, now for her to go through this mentallly is just too much for this sweet child to contend with. I want her to feel safe and I cry just thinking of her feeling these "friends" are real when they are not. I want to take it all away but I can't. I don't know what to do. Since she's been born health problems gave her heart problems, gastro problems, colon problems, many many operations over her 8 years of life. She has problems not sleeping, not eating, not able to focus or concentrate until recently with the help of a medicine perscribed for her to use at night. She now can sleep through the night soundly. And now this. All I can say is that my daughter was given to Kaytie to be her mother. God knew that Kaytie needed a mother that would take good care of her, love her, keep her safe, and give her a happy life. Her mother does all that and more. She has worked hard to make sure Kaytie would have a good life. My daughter is a wonderful Mom, a real loving and devoted Mom that loves her Kaytie more than anyone I've ever seen before. I'm thankful for that. Kaytie is scared of change, scared of any loud voices, of things she doesn't know, her anxiety level is alway on high speed. My question is .......she's 8 years old, diagnoised with Schizophrenia and on medication. I'm so afraid for her. I want her to have the best treatment and find out what the problem is that is causing this. What can a grandmother do to help? I never see the type of behavor that my daughter sees in Kaytie. We live in another state away so we have fewer chances to be with her. BUt what can I do to help my little Kaytie ?
Thank you for listening and taking time out to read this, Barb Hello.
I was so grateful for the show today on schizophrenia, especially when I saw the two sisters whose mother and grandmother (I believe) suffered from this very confusing disorder. I am a 48 year old female. My mother, her mother, and two of her sisters (my aunts), have struggled with this disorder. I have spent a lifetime plagued with fear of becoming schizophrenic myself. I had a very confusing childhood living in the home of a schizophrenic mother. My mother died in 1989 after an agonizing battle with the side effects of lupus.
I have struggled with deep feelings of shame because I tried to hide her from social settings because of her inappropriate behavior. I loved her, yet was tramautized by the taunts and stares of strangers when she was out in public and making a spectacle of herself. When I was young, and didn't understand how sick she was, I believed the things she told me. Needless to say, I was a very confused child.
I have worked hard to overcome many obstacles in my past, but there is still this underlying fear that one day I will slip into the same darkness of my mother's, grandmother's, and aunt's psychosis. I hate it!
Anyway -- I am just grateful that Dr. Phil produced a show dealing with this particular topic. I suppose the one thing I gained from the show is that there are others "out there" like me who have lived a very muted existence when it comes to talking about members of their family. It is so strange that when I dream about my mother, she always appears in my dreams with a sane mind. I suppose that even 16 years after her death, I'm still trying to make a connection with her because I could never do that while she was living.
Joy
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November 24, 2005, 5:38 am PST
Quote From: mimi_barb3
Hello Everyone! I want to find out if anyone had a diagnois at age 8 as Schizophrenia? My daughter called me the other day after my grand daughter's appointment with a pyschriatrist. All the art papers were sent to him for analysis, plus her medical records since birth. Kaytie is a beautiful long haired beauty with the biggest blue eyes. Most of all her heart is very loving and kind. She's knows that her Mimi (me) loves her and would do anything for her.
Kaytie is only 8 years old. Yes, she's had some problems at night. Cutting, wanting to hurt hereself, she has been diagnoised having OCD (complusive disorder) which probs her to put things back and straight, causes her to pick things up from the floor and put them away instead of having fun in art class or with friends. She picks at her toes and fingers to the point of bleeding. She has rocks to hold when has those feelings. It seems to help in a small way. She is talking to someone now that does not exist. At first we felt it was only her invisible friend and just ignored it. Now she is screaming at the friend to go away and leave her alone. She draws pictures of them. Not pictures that a typical 8 year would draw. She now sees the dark side of these friends that we don't see. She hears voices and tells them to go away and leave her alone. She has a flashlight and bells on her door at night to keep the bad ones away.
As her grandmother, I feel utterly helpless. I love Kaytie and would do whatever I need to do for this child to find peace and happiness again. She was diagnoised this week as being Schizophrenia. I'm at a loss, what do I pray for, how can this beautiful innocent child full of God's love have this disease. After all she's been through medically, now for her to go through this mentallly is just too much for this sweet child to contend with. I want her to feel safe and I cry just thinking of her feeling these "friends" are real when they are not. I want to take it all away but I can't. I don't know what to do. Since she's been born health problems gave her heart problems, gastro problems, colon problems, many many operations over her 8 years of life. She has problems not sleeping, not eating, not able to focus or concentrate until recently with the help of a medicine perscribed for her to use at night. She now can sleep through the night soundly. And now this. All I can say is that my daughter was given to Kaytie to be her mother. God knew that Kaytie needed a mother that would take good care of her, love her, keep her safe, and give her a happy life. Her mother does all that and more. She has worked hard to make sure Kaytie would have a good life. My daughter is a wonderful Mom, a real loving and devoted Mom that loves her Kaytie more than anyone I've ever seen before. I'm thankful for that. Kaytie is scared of change, scared of any loud voices, of things she doesn't know, her anxiety level is alway on high speed. My question is .......she's 8 years old, diagnoised with Schizophrenia and on medication. I'm so afraid for her. I want her to have the best treatment and find out what the problem is that is causing this. What can a grandmother do to help? I never see the type of behavor that my daughter sees in Kaytie. We live in another state away so we have fewer chances to be with her. BUt what can I do to help my little Kaytie ?
Thank you for listening and taking time out to read this, Barb The best thing for your granddaughter right now is that she has been diagnosed. WIth proper treatment and therapy her chances of living a productive life are more so than someone who goes through childhood not being diagnosed until an adult.
My daughter is bipolar and is now 15. She was diagnosed 3 years ago. She has many of the same symptoms as your granddaughter.
Education is the key for her family to help them understand. I would go to a search engine, like google.com and search childhood schizophrenia and see what comes up.
I would also look at a book store or library or at amazon.com for books to help educate ont he symptoms, treatment, and how to help. I have all kinds of books that I have read for bipolar.
Also if she doesn't have one already I would start the process for special education plan, IEP that will give her some classes if she needs but also other tools to help her get through her day at school. FOr example my daughter is allowed to leave the classroom to go to a private office if having a panic attack. She also has to see the school social worker one time a week for half hour for "therpy". Special education doesn't just mean classes, but they provide special services to accomodate children who need a littl ehelp to get through the day. My daughter did fine in school until she went to middle school, where she was changing classes every hour. It was too hard on her to switch gears so often. RIght now she is high school ninth grade and had to be placed into a self contained classroom where she stays all day and is doing so much better at school. You mentioned a scared of change, sop this is something to keep an eye once she moves into middle school where change is happening every 40-60 minutes. It was eye opening for us and what really led to my daughters diagosis.
If you woudl like to talk through email please feel free.
Tammy
mommaoof2@yahoo.com
Good luck and best wishes
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