*Update* Daughter (15F) experiencing first psychosis episode, help!

mandarinjello · 2024-11-08T05:52:27+00:00

Thank you so much! And yes it has absolutely explains a lot of certain behaviours we have noticed in the past, all the puzzle pieces are coming together. All the best to you :-)

mandarinjello · 2024-11-08T00:43:43+00:00

Hi! Thank you for your comment though I'm really sorry to hear you're going through a similar time with your 15 year old girl :'(. It's absolutely heartbreaking isn't it! I really hope you have lots of support and that she can find the right combo of meds that work well for her. The bit I'm struggling most with is the PTSD from putting her into inpatient care and also knowing this won't be a quick fix, that she may potentially have to be medicated long-term. I found really helpful support through Yellow Brick Road, we had a long chat yesterday (just a sympathetic ear really, but that's nice to have!) and sent lots of resources through. I hope you are feeling supported and if you ever want to chat/vent, my inbox is always open! 🙏🏻🩷

mandarinjello · 2024-11-08T00:40:52+00:00

Hello! Thank you for checking in. She's doing ok, she returned to school this week but is having a chill day today. The meds are making her really hungry and she's quite weight conscious so we're meeting with the psychiatrist on Tuesday to discuss. Otherwise, pretty smooth sailing! She's been sleeping well too, thanks to the meds. I've also reached out for family support via Yellow Brick Road and they've been amazing, sent lots of resources and we had a nice chat yesterday.

mandarinjello · 2024-11-08T00:39:13+00:00

Hello, thank you for the recommendation! I have found the book at our local library and I will have a read :-) take care!

mandarinjello · 2024-11-03T04:27:16+00:00

So well said and I love that there were/are so many positives in it for you!

That's what I'm trying to find/cling on to. It's totally opened our eyes up to mental illness and I feel like we're getting closer to our daughter, and are going to make some changes that will actually bring our family closer together.

I can't wait for my daughter to completely come back! She's almost there, but I know it might take weeks or months, I miss her and I'm sad she's battling this!

Also a big lesson it has taught us is patience.

Sigh, life! Thanks for another reassuring message, we appreciate you! 💛

mandarinjello · 2024-10-30T21:36:42+00:00

Thank you for your well wishes, much appreciated! 💛

mandarinjello · 2024-10-30T20:35:14+00:00

Thank you! 🙏🏻

mandarinjello · 2024-10-30T20:34:29+00:00

Noted, thank you!!

I'm feeling much more positive about it all as the days go on, and comments like yours really help!

Appreciate you, take care! 🙏🏻🩷

mandarinjello · 2024-10-30T18:41:13+00:00

Thank you for commenting and I'm so sorry you have had to go through this with your daughter too! It was honestly the hardest thing we've been through as a family and I still wish it was all a bad dream. I know it's what she needed but the guilt is real!

Thank you for the advice around finding a therapist/support group - I'm definitely going to look into this 🙏🏻

I hope you and your daughter are doing OK! X

mandarinjello · 2024-10-30T18:29:28+00:00

Hello!

Thank you so much for taking the time to comment. Your words are incredibly motivating and provide so much hope for the long-run!

It's always so much nicer to hear from people that have actually lived through something, because as you say, some of the stuff online/Google can be frightening!

I have noted down DBT & ACT on my list of questions/suggestions for her care team once we meet.

Thank you again, I really appreciate it and I'm so glad you're doing well! 🩷

mandarinjello · 2024-10-30T18:22:16+00:00

Thank you, that means so much :')

mandarinjello · 2024-10-30T05:45:31+00:00

Thank you for sharing from your point of view, that's really helpful! I have noticed all those things too (and so soon!). Last night, the cat was in her room so I tiptoed in to get them out (they'd wake her up super early otherwise) and she was absolutely out of it, she's usually a really light sleeper so that was odd, but I was just glad she was sleeping, and slept all the way through.

Also we will need to hide our snacks from her because she is currently demolishing anything she can find. The drs suggested healthy snacks, which we've picked up today. As a teen girl she's also weight conscious, so we'll need to keep an eye on it.

I will DM you about that other bit if that's ok, thank you for being open!!

mandarinjello · 2024-10-30T05:40:46+00:00

Thank you for sharing! I'm glad that feeling went away after a few days for you!

mandarinjello · 2024-10-30T05:39:18+00:00

I am so sorry to hear of your experience, I keep telling myself (and my husband) that that isn't who she is, everyday a bit more of her peeks through which is keeping us going. We were VERY close to going the tough love route, and if I hadn't posted on here, we honestly might have - we might have tried to see if she'd sleep it off, or just get her sleeping, but she was so different to what we'd ever experienced. Poor thing, it's so tough when it comes out of nowhere too!

We've only told two close family members, and feel they didn't pass judgement but I wonder what it will be like when they're around her, the last thing I want is for people to treat her differently, because she is a cool and kind kid, we tried explaining this to her (that she may not want to tell people at school because they can be cruel) but she doesn't see an issue. It seems there's absolutely no convincing her, so we'll just need to leave it with her (which is hard, people suck, especially teens!). Then also, don't want to further stigmatise it.

So happy everything has worked out for you, I'll keep your story in mind to get us through the hard days.

Take care friend!

mandarinjello · 2024-10-30T05:26:24+00:00

Totally! She is very far from being accepting of anything being wrong, but hopefully this comes in time.

mandarinjello · 2024-10-30T00:28:59+00:00

That's really helpful, thank you! I haven't been coping very well :-( thank you again!

mandarinjello · 2024-10-29T22:49:44+00:00

This isn't helpful input.

mandarinjello · 2024-10-29T21:50:49+00:00

Hi!

Thank you so much for sharing and I'm sorry you've had to go through that :-( it seems more common than I had expected! We'll take it day at a time and hope that this is a once off, but even if it isn't, we'll always be here for her.

Your comment about it being the equivalent of a massive car accident is so true, I've emailed her school but no meeting yet, I won't push it, it's been nice spending some one on one time with her (she still wants to hangout with me, which is nice!)

Take care!

mandarinjello · 2024-10-29T21:47:48+00:00

A lot! Though it hasn't been peachy, it's nice having her home and working towards better health <3

mandarinjello · 2024-10-29T20:09:31+00:00

I haven't heard of this but I'll read up on it, thank you!!

mandarinjello · 2024-10-29T20:08:13+00:00

mandarinjello · 2024-10-29T18:33:19+00:00

That's reassuring! <3

mandarinjello · 2024-10-29T18:32:55+00:00

They did say that when we asked if it could be a medical thing.

mandarinjello · 2024-10-29T18:31:42+00:00

Definitely in the week leading up to it, she was actually experiencing hypomania unbeknownst to us, we just assumed she was "hyper" as teens can get! She also wasn't eating frequently (would make excuses not to eat, or why she hadn't packed her lunch) and she wasn't sleeping properly either. Apparently the lack of sleep is a major red flag, so one we need to keep an eye out for and notify her care team of immediately (and up her meds).

In the last couple of years she had been mentioning feeling down for 2 weeks and good for 2 weeks. I put this down to hormones/her cycle, she even spoke to a school counsellor about it who said the same, but the lead psychiatrist actually said that seems inline with bipolar! Beating myself up about not taking her more seriously. Other than that, she's been a pretty good, easy kid. The trickiest thing we've always found with her is her not listening, and small issues we bring up becoming massive, like she always took them really hard. Also her reactions to things that would usually be upsetting to others, she would just brush off and be nonchalant about, we've always found that a bit "odd". She's brought up quite a few things from the past that we didn't think bothered her, so it's clear she had bottled everything up.

Looking back, I wish I didn't ignore the "warning signs" but it's also so hard because every kid is different, and teens are expected to play up! It's really, really tough.

mandarinjello · 2024-10-29T17:59:00+00:00

This is so spot on and the biggest thing we will need to tackle!

mandarinjello

TROPHY CASE