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Melissa

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Viewing 8 posts - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)
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  • in reply to: 17 year old daughter’s mental health not improving #412681
    Melissa
    Participant

    Merry Christmas. Thank you for the good thoughts. I am still pretty confused by my daughter. She had magnetic stimulation for depresson and ever since  it seems like she is more cheerful and relaxed but she sleeps 12-14 hours a day and doesn’t seem to have energy to face the future. She is hiding out from life is how it feels. Today she felt very low almost paralyzed it seemed and I had to cook for her. I don’t mind cooking but first I have to think of something acceptable as nothing sounds good to her. It’s exhausting like a small fussy child. But she has stopped mentioning suicide so I feel hopeful. I am reading books like “failure to launch” and “stuck in the sick role” to try to figure out what to do to avoid enabling her. Seems so simple but it really is not for me because I am scared she cannot handle the simplest things. That is the vibe in this house. But it is a better vibe than constant crisis mode. So I keep going. – Melissa

    in reply to: 17 year old daughter’s mental health not improving #409446
    Melissa
    Participant

    Also, Roberta, they have “in case of spiritual emergency” at my library so I will try to read that, thank you. -Melissa

    in reply to: 17 year old daughter’s mental health not improving #409445
    Melissa
    Participant

    Thank you for the many thoughts and kind thoughtful ideas. My daughter has seemed a bit better for a few days. She went to a yarn store with me one day and actually went along to my buddhist service I go to sometimes. I felt very happy having her with me there. I took a mental snapshot for my memory banks.  It was peaceful just sitting by her in the silence.

    I thought about the theory Anita raised that she may be angry at me and seeking to get a lot of attention now… and I think that rings true. I know I am a good enough mother but not perfect…it turns out that she had lots of anxieties growing up that we were not aware of. She was not able to express them so we did not know. She seemed happy on the outside, healthy, had friends. But inside she was anxious…she is not able to explain it all to me but I will keep trying to understand and I told her I’m sorry I wasn’t able to delve into it when there were no clear symptoms. It’s not my fault but I feel guilty. But maybe I can atone for the unawareness now by trying to listen and  apologizing in subtle ways when I don’t understand her feelings as they are often confusing and  I keep trying to understand. Once at the beginning  I even tried to take notes but she hated that very much.

     

    Also, I wish I could hug her or rock her but she does not like anything like that. She will let me hug her for a second occasionally but I try not to because she prefers not to be touched. She does not like a lot of sensory things like certain noises, fabrics, food textures…I have to be careful about all that.

    I don’t understand how to get her to do anything. People suggest ideas but I’ve quite given up on telling her ideas. I invite her places I’m going  or suggest fun things she might like for example yarn shopping… but I cannot compel her to exercise, get a job, go on walks, volunteer. She is so tired. I did get an appointment for her doctor to recheck all her labs in a couple weeks and ask about a sleep study in case she has sleep apnea. She will take a nap and wake up tired.  I will tell her doctor my concerns about that.

    I know there are a lot more parents having a very hard time as well. I went to a support group and was staggered by the long term suffering of parents over 20-30 years. Humans are amazing in our care for others. Thank you for caring to read this!

    in reply to: 17 year old daughter’s mental health not improving #409143
    Melissa
    Participant

    Thank you, I will need a few days to process this. I appreciate the ideas and new ways to think about it. Today is a new day.

    in reply to: 17 year old daughter’s mental health not improving #409105
    Melissa
    Participant

    Thank you Roberta,

    When her depression first started we saw her GP who actually checked on several vitamin levels. Then as she gained weight from one of her meds she began to starve herself to lose weight. So we took her to a dietician. She gradually could eat again but it’s hard.  Her labs were nomal the last time we checked… I do need to get her back into her GP to check her labs again. We try to keep fresh fruit and veg. And the rest of us eat it.  But she prefers comfort food. I wish she would eat better but I don’t say anything.

    My update is that it is hard. Tonight she says she needs help and is in crisis. At times tonight  she laughs uncontrollably.  She says she wants to go to the hospital. “To get help” We have avoided this because the hospital is crowded and she will be miserable there. Or that is what we her parents think.  Her doctor said only go if she cannot be safe. She is 18 now so it is scary to think how she will be treated, we have heard horror stories.

    She does come to me for comfort a lot  and I am not sure what to say. Thank you, Anita also for checking back. I feel useless, confused and tired. I will go to her now again. I will try to be strong. – Melissa

    in reply to: 17 year old daughter’s mental health not improving #408748
    Melissa
    Participant

    Dear Anita,

    I think what you said is very interesting and it helps.  I tried it a last night and it seemed to help diffuse tension…However, I don’t think I really am “type a” after reading about it more. I don’t think I’m much of anything, I feel most of what “personality” I have is a reaction to the person I am with in the moment. When I was a kid it was my “job” to emotionally caretake my mother and keep her proud of me and cheer her up…. So I mostly identify as a caretaker with others. My type a traits/behaviors are due to my belief that I need to survive by having a job, making money, taking care of my family. I also have creative life force energy that needs an outlet. I’m going to try painting I think.

    When my daughter is suicidal it triggers strong fear and urge to take action, problem solve, come up with alternate ideas…I don’t say these things outloud anymore because I know giving advice to depressed people is wrong but the fear of what is happening to her is so strong I have to fight it internally  to stay in this world and keep doing my day to day jobs.

    Anyway I’ve tried several therapists but feel more intrigued by what I read here. Thank you so much.

    Sincerely,

    Melissa

    in reply to: 17 year old daughter’s mental health not improving #408711
    Melissa
    Participant

    Hello,

    My daughter is still doing terrible. She says I am not validating her enough. I am scared if I agree the situation is hopeless she will kill herself. She has thoughts of suicide a lot but says she can stay safe for now after we discuss it… I feel like no matter what I do it is wrong and not helping. She is trying magnetic stimulation for depression. She is trying a new med. She has side effects to everything and no benefit. She barely moves and eats lots of processed food. I buy it for her because if she doesn’t eat she gets even more lethargic. She has eating disorder symptoms and obesity now,  too. She will not take walks with anyone. She has no close friends and if she socializes she feels fake and worse after.

    What can I say when she says how bad she feels. “Sorry and that is so hard”…seems like empty words. How can I validate her  depression without becoming as depressed as she is? She is coming to me for comfort and I don’t know how to respond anymore. It’s been over 2 years.  She does go to therapy and she is polite, takes meds, doesn’t do drugs but she is so limited in her life right now. I am sad. Life can be so much more.

    – Melissa

     

    in reply to: 17 year old daughter’s mental health not improving #390104
    Melissa
    Participant

    It is still very up and down at our house. My daughter did sign up to volunteer for a pet shelter without my even mentioning it much and seems excited about that. She feels very bad at school though…a constant feeling of dread. When she is home she feels safe. I wonder if it due to all the school shootings but she does not make the connection. Some of her stated fears are odd and it worries me.

    I’m not sure how to help other teens that are suffering but I am thinking about that part. I think I have accepted her situation a little more and focused more on other parts of my life, but I’m tired a lot. So sometimes I focus on resting and just being glad nothing terrible is happening right this second. I have accepted more that I am not in control of her mental state and that I cannot fix it for her. It is changing the way I look at life and so I am trying to accept that I can’t go back to how I was.  I also am focusing on doing things with my son as he has felt bad watching her suffer. He is in to doing a lot of activities and seems to enjoy them but I can see he may have inherited my tendency to be too ” type A”

     

    Thank you for your response, I do feel it helped a lot.

Viewing 8 posts - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)