As some one who went through the exact same thing as the second set of parents, I have to tell you that I thought the way the whole thing played out was very misleading. I agree that the mom needs a lot of help, she isn't coping well and dad is no back-up, he just sits there like an ostrich with his head in the sand! The truth of the matter is it is not that easy to get help with these kids. Thank heavens Dr. Phil has the connections and deep enough pockets to get theses girls help! My daughter was diagnosed as being bi-polar and manic depressive at 13yrs old. I fortunately had mental health coverage and was able to put her somewhere for a couple of weeks to get us started on the right track. Of course, when we reached our maximum for the year, it was too bad, we can't help any more. Don't kid yourself either, you can hold a job or spend weeks or months fighting with the system to get help. Oh yeah, if the mom thinks she can just walk away to try to save her own sanity, wrong! See, the laws are funny...once your child is 17, they can leave and you can't do anything about it. BUT, put your kid out at 17 and you've broken the law.
When at 16 my daughter decided to no longer take her meds because she decided I made the whole thing up & she didn't need them, our lives became a living hell. Once after we went to court with her for beating me so badly crime seen had to come out to take pictures to document it, we asked the courts to commit her to someplace so she could get help and were told until she commits a felony, she was our problem. My husband asked the judge if he had to wait to come home and find me dead first and the judge simply said let's hope it doesn,t go that far.
Well, at 17 she had a baby that she would use as leverage to try to get money from us. Pay up or her and the baby would disappear. I couldn't get custody because the baby was not abused & well cared for by me. Finally when her heroin addicted boyfriend that she had disappeared with beat her so badly that she was in the hospital, I got the baby. Now, my daughter sits in jail waiting to be sentenced on her state charges before she faces her federal charges. The grandbaby sits in her little Pre-K4 class and cries everyday because she misses her mom. Christmas was awful for her because she cried all the time missing her mom. Help for a little one like her is few and far between, especially living in a place where we don't even have a third of our medical care back in place since the storm.
So, when telling people to seek help and learn to cope, also let them know, unfortunately it is not always readily available or affordable. As for any one who has a child heading down this path, I'll be happy to forward my daughter's address so their kids can become a penpal with some one who has truly lost everything and had the fun of spending her 21st birthday in jail and is missing her child growing up because she could take care of herself and didn't want to live in the hell she thought my house and rules were. By the way compared to the freedom level she's at now, she thinks my rules weren't that bad. Amazing isn't it?
As a final note, don't sell the parents too short...as you can see, it's a domino effect that trickles down and affect (or infects, take your pick) everyone around these kids.
(Original Air Date: 10/16/06) Imagine your pregnant teen daughter running away to be with her baby's father -- an older man whom she met online. For Heidi, this became reality when her 15-year-old daughter, Brittney, went missing for five weeks. Dr. Phil put private investigator and former FBI agent Harold Copus on the case to find the missing teen. See the confrontation when Harold finally locates her and her 34-year-old boyfriend. Then, find out why Brittney becomes even more upset when she learns what is in store for her. Two months have passed. Has Brittney's relationship with her mother improved? Next Kim, 15, has run away six times in the last year, most recently making it halfway across the country to be with her married boyfriend. Why didn't her parents look for her, and why does she say she'll do anything to get away from them? Can this family learn to get their relationship back on track? Share your thoughts here.
