Does my daughter have anxiety issues?

[thalassa]

Re: Does my daughter have anxiety issues?

Third, autism spectrum disorders are not "scary," unless "different" is automatically "scary."

I think its more "scary" because its unknown, than because its different...what most of us know about something like autism, or even ADHD or depression or other disorders that make their way into the public and the media is far more cursory than what a parent or a person with the disorder knows about it. Quite honestly, parenting is scary period, without adding something else to worry about in the mix.

[lillywolf]

Re: Does my daughter have anxiety issues?

I have,and still am going through this with my now 9 year old son. He has been diagnosed with anxiety dissorder BUT he doesn't have ADHD or any of the other dissorders. He headbutts the floor, picks on his little sister, has hit me and thrown things at me and at time I have had to restrain him to prevent him hurting himself or anyone else. He went through a phase when we lived in the UK of school refusal and when the teachers tried to take him in to school he attacked them so I then started to home school. I know the reason why my son is like this though, his father was abusive to me and my 2 eldest kids whitnessed this, we then fled and moved in to a refuge for battered women and that is when he got really bad.

Not only does he have the anxiety but he stammers too and when he is stressed etc he cannot string a single scentance together. I too found the internet to be all doom and gloom, so I gave up with that in the end and just went with my gut.
I found once I relax, then so does he and when he kicks off I try to ignore him, let him calm down and then go from there but the one thing I found you cannot do is get sucked in to what they are doing because that makes it so much worse. If you start to feel anxious then you need to walk away from the situation and calm down....you might find some of what she is doing is pure attention seeking and if you don't bite it will stop.

Good luck ! xx

[WinterTraditions]

Re: Does my daughter have anxiety issues?

I have,and still am going through this with my now 9 year old son. He has been diagnosed with anxiety dissorder BUT he doesn't have ADHD or any of the other dissorders. He headbutts the floor, picks on his little sister, has hit me and thrown things at me and at time I have had to restrain him to prevent him hurting himself or anyone else. He went through a phase when we lived in the UK of school refusal and when the teachers tried to take him in to school he attacked them so I then started to home school. I know the reason why my son is like this though, his father was abusive to me and my 2 eldest kids whitnessed this, we then fled and moved in to a refuge for battered women and that is when he got really bad.

Not only does he have the anxiety but he stammers too and when he is stressed etc he cannot string a single scentance together. I too found the internet to be all doom and gloom, so I gave up with that in the end and just went with my gut.
I found once I relax, then so does he and when he kicks off I try to ignore him, let him calm down and then go from there but the one thing I found you cannot do is get sucked in to what they are doing because that makes it so much worse. If you start to feel anxious then you need to walk away from the situation and calm down....you might find some of what she is doing is pure attention seeking and if you don't bite it will stop.

Good luck ! xx

I don't want to diagnose, but from what I've seen through my mom's work (She's an educational assistant) and my sister, I would guess that your son has a form of Autism. Perhaps Asperger's? My younger sister, now 13, was diagnosed with it at age 10. Her symptoms include erratic behavior (Such has pulling at her hair, hissing like a snake or other animal), biting, pinching, scratching, anti-social tendencies, a fixation on a particular thing (Drawing dragons), writing disabilities (Low writer and typer) and delayed cognitive reasoning (the difference between right and wrong, ect).

If you worry about the safety of your child or your family, I would get him in to see a child psychiatrist.

[kijani]

Re: Does my daughter have anxiety issues?

Dez, it sounds to me like if you and your mom both had anxiety or have anxiety issues, that could be a possibility for your daughter. Stuff like that does tend to run in families, and it might be worth looking into, even if it is scary. Just know that we'll all be here if you need to talk, and hopefully you can get this whole thing figured out. <3

[lillywolf]

Re: Does my daughter have anxiety issues?

I don't want to diagnose, but from what I've seen through my mom's work (She's an educational assistant) and my sister, I would guess that your son has a form of Autism. Perhaps Asperger's? My younger sister, now 13, was diagnosed with it at age 10. Her symptoms include erratic behavior (Such has pulling at her hair, hissing like a snake or other animal), biting, pinching, scratching, anti-social tendencies, a fixation on a particular thing (Drawing dragons), writing disabilities (Low writer and typer) and delayed cognitive reasoning (the difference between right and wrong, ect).

If you worry about the safety of your child or your family, I would get him in to see a child psychiatrist.

He has had all the tests done by the professionals and he has come back clear. He has suffered trauma but the main reason for his behavior is my guilt for putting them through a situation that was not even my fault so I need to get myself strong and thanks to my partner I am getting better and since moving to Finland he has improved but we still have some "issues"

[thalassa]

Re: Does my daughter have anxiety issues?

He has had all the tests done by the professionals and he has come back clear. He has suffered trauma but the main reason for his behavior is my guilt for putting them through a situation that was not even my fault so I need to get myself strong and thanks to my partner I am getting better and since moving to Finland he has improved but we still have some "issues"

There is a book, called "The Explosive Child" which I really recommend with any kiddo that acts out in such a way. My munchkin is a bit too young yet to really *get* it (but it has still helped quite a bit), but as a 9 yo, your son should be good---my mom recommended it after reading it and working with my brother, when he was 10 or 11.

[lillywolf]

Re: Does my daughter have anxiety issues?

There is a book, called "The Explosive Child" which I really recommend with any kiddo that acts out in such a way. My munchkin is a bit too young yet to really *get* it (but it has still helped quite a bit), but as a 9 yo, your son should be good---my mom recommended it after reading it and working with my brother, when he was 10 or 11.

Thank you I will see if I can find that book, it sounds like it will be helpful xxx

[Dez]

Re: Does my daughter have anxiety issues?

That sounds really rough, lillywolf . My daughter is a very sturdily-built child...near the top of height and weight for her age. It's hard to make sure she doesn't hurt herself or others when she lashes out. I can't imagine a ten year old.

As an update on my situation: I started medication for depression and anxiety. It's been a few months, now, so dosage has been adjusted, and I'm doing much better then I have in a long time.

I've found that what I saw before as miss A and I riling each other up is pretty accurate. If I'm able to stay calm and comfort her when she's worried, she calms down much faster. So much less drama. There are still rough days, especially if I'm having issues with panic attacks, but the self-harming behaviors are extremely rare now.

Not going to count my chicks before they hatch, but I finally got a job offer this week. That should also make things better.

[kijani]

Re: Does my daughter have anxiety issues?

Good to hear that things are looking up a bit, Dez. And good luck with that job. Keep us posted, okay? *hugs*