Frustrated and exhausted

First of all I'm not a psych nurse, but I want say I'm sorry you and your daughter are going though this. I'm sure you'll get some good advice.

I'd say that you could get info about support groups at her pyschiatrist's office. Or from the centers she recieved inpatient care from.

Another thing I'd investigate is there any possibility she has or is being abused by someone and is afraid to tell you?

Schizophrenia?

There was athread about Ablify not too long ago. If you do a search you'll be able to read about it.

Good luck

Noney

I just bumped the thread up for you. It's called "new med"

Click on taday's active thhreads and it should be close to the top.

Noney

Sending you a hug and a pat on the hand ... {{{{Shorty}}}}

I'm dealing with a similar situation with my sister (she's 20 years younger than I am) - you can see my thread "Seeking advice - dealing with 17-year old". I'm a student, not a psych nurse, so I can't offer anything on the merits of different meds.

It IS exhausting and painful - please remember to take care of yourself as well. I sincerely hope you & your daughter find some peace.

Leigh

I don't have any reall advice either. I went to the boards on http://www.Bolt.com for a whie to try to talk to some of these young people that do this to try to gain some insight just because I was curious, I also have a 15 year old stepdaughter she was abused as an infant her and her sister who is now 13 and they both have a lot of problems from this and I was afraid for a while that one or both of them may begin ths type of behavior. It is really wierd these young people just feel completely overwhelmed in the world and don't feel that there is any hope. I mesaged with many of them and offered to be a sounding board or shoulder to lean or person to talk to via email etc and they really just don't even seem to want to try to break the cycle.

It is very scary both of my girls are in therapy and one was diagnosed as borderline personality and the other as bi-polar. They are continuing to talk to thrapists and seem to be doing better but they are still very hateful and hurtful at times.

Good Luck with your situation

Does your daughter have an official diagnosis--not that a dx is the be-all and end-all, but it helps categorize her behaviors and helps direct her therapy. What Bipolar meds did you try? It might be worth it to try again in a very systematic way. Do you know if she was compliant with her meds? Did her blood levels reach therapeutic range?

There is a website by the Child and Adolescent Bipolar Foundation, http://www.bpkids.org, that might be helpful to you and your daughter whether she actually has bipolar disorder or not.

There is a book you should read called "Cutting" by Steven Levenkron. I haven't read it in years and seem to recall that it may be a little out of touch with current research about cutting behaviors, but it can give you some good insight into why people self-harm. I did a lot of research on cutting several years ago for a paper I was writing. While many people think that self-mutilation is a direct symptom of borderline personality disorder, I tend to think that it is a maladaptive coping mechanism that can be present in other psychiatric illnesses as well. One thing to keep in mind is that cutting can be an addictive behavior due to the release of endorphins in response to pain.

There is a program called SAFE (Self-abuse Finally Ends) that has been successful in many cases. You might want to look into that. If I remember correctly, the focus is more on developing better coping mechanisms instead of stopping the self-abuse. In my experience, the more attention that is paid to the results of self abuse, the more likely the abuser is to continue. But there are different reasons for self-abuse and different reactions to it. Some do it for attention, some do it to release unacceptable feelings, some do it when they feel they are becoming dissociative...

I work with this population and I certainly feel for you. I hope you can find some better answers soon.

luci

You MUST get this child into therapy.

I agree with luci about meds and the cutting- No it's just not BPD.

I hate to say this but you need to be sure she is not on street drugs. They will only make things worse in the long run, but she may turn to them for immmediate relief.

I have also seen young people both boys and girls cut whentheyve sexual identity issues

hi - i just want to let you know it doesnt always last forever, i had the same exact problems going on in my life for quite some type at around the same ages u described. i put my family, freinds, and myself through absolute hell for quite some time, even into adulthood somewhat, i was on every drug imaginable, and every new one that would come out always seemed to be toted as the new miracle drug that would be the answer. its embarrassing now for me to really go into detail about cutting myself and all that, but at the time it was so easy for me to do, currently i take no meds whatsoever and am maried with children, and have been very successsful in the working world (knock on wood)... i have so much more to tell you but will do so via an email or whatever option this site allows, i just want to point out that your situation is not hopeless as frustrating as it may seem, i am living proof, when i look back now it really doesnt seem like that big a deal to me, because i am secure with myself and all that, even with the scars...

have pmed u