Here we can all be heard for a little while. Part 3

whitewing

WaS,

Do you know if he was diagnosed in Russia or in the UK? I guess I am mostly wondering how much she knew of his problems before she adopted him and whether coming here has added to the symptoms etc temporarily. Maybe one day you could meet him or be some kind of formal support to him if it wouldn't trigger you.

Waves_and_Smiles

Aww, thank you. I wish I could have done more. I will make sure all of my appointments are with her so that I can see how the little boy is doing.

I would love to meet him, whitewing! I don't know where he was diagnosed but she was aware when she adopted him that he had social difficulties. She does have a lot of medical and educational help in place for him now thankfully. He is very intelligent but socially way behind his peers because he can't cope with people at all. I remember when she first told me about him a couple of years ago and sadly his symptoms are much worse, she said he just seems terrified all of the time and has many rituals every day. Poor little boy.

I don't know too much about childhood schizophrenia but I agree with you JM that I don't think anyone else does either, a lot of symptoms overlap with other disorders. It is very under-researched but I can tell you how it was for me as someone who has always had a degree of odd symptoms since birth.

If I look at my own early childhood I displayed some ASD/childhood schizophrenic symptoms. I was the perfect baby who hardly ever cried and would spend ages staring into space silently. I didn't speak until I was 2 and half and then it was full sentences, I skipped the inbetween stage. I would scream if I was touched for a while but then suddenly I was fine with it. I certainly had OCD as a child and would line things up in symmetry and colour order for hours and become very distressed if stopped. For a long time I didn't want toys, I wanted pens and blocks in different colours that I would put into lines reciting each colour as I carried on. It almost put me into a meditative feeling, I found it hugely soothing and it still helps me now.

I also hated being outside and would never make eye contact (it meant people could see me) and lived in my mind in my inner worlds. When I was 6 I couldn't enter supermarkets because the brightness hurt my head as did the sounds, I could hear the buzz of lighting like a swarm of bees in my ears and would curl up on the floor holding my head. I can still remember the physical pain from that. I was terrified of pooing and wouldn't do so until desperate and then I would cry and often vomit from fear and I self-harmed a lot in sudden bursts of almost hysteria. Other people terrified me. There were no hallucinations at all though.

The interesting thing is that by the time I was 8 all of these symptoms other than OCD, a little anxiety and the inner worlds had gone entirely and I was shy and quiet but otherwise fine as if nothing had ever happened. Just like someone had flipped a switch.

The problem with sound and brightness overload did come back at 13 and I was tested for epilepsy because the pain and dizziness would get so bad that I would faint. Again it was supermarkets that caused the most problems with the lighting and too many different noises all at once. That was also when my migraines started and a lot of the horrid family things stepped up.

Sixteen years after my childhood symptoms mostly stopped I had my first psychotic break and a they came back even more strongly and I was practically back where I started. Suddenly I had all of the symptoms again.

The main point though is for years I had few of the symptoms at all, they all just stopped as if they were never there. I was going to nightclubs at 18 with flashing lights, loud music and people shouting and it didn't bother me at all, supermarkets were fine and I loved socialising. Now I cannot even have the tv on and someone talking to me because it physically hurts and scares me. I need sound to be in individual blocks, for example someone is talking or a piano is playing or a car is passing. Those things happening all at once hurts my head and ears and confuses me just as it did as a child. My own voice can hurt my head and it can be painful to speak. My OCD is severe, I spend a lot of the time in my inner worlds, touch can feel like sticking me with needles if I am not prepared for it, I don't go out and I am very paranoid. Back where I began with a few new symptoms like the voices but older and wiser and more able to cope with it.

I have no idea if the two are connected and the condition just receded for a few years or if it is pure coincidence. It throws up an interesting question of whether I was born with psychosis (can one even be born with it?) but then why did it mostly go away for a long period? Would it even be psychotic symptoms in a child or ASD? Can ASD mostly stop and then come back? I show few symptoms of ASD now other than OCD but score high for psychosis. No one seems to have the answers and it can vary so much between children with symptoms. I honestly have no idea whether it's connected but it does seem too similar to be a coincidence to me.

faerielight

morning guys.. quickie check in.. 3 hours to go till my assessment and I'm nervous! I could've done without my flat stinking of sewage but it's tough luck.. I'll pop back later and let you know how it goes .. Eeek!

whitewing

Good luck, faerielight.

Happy Friday, everybody.

elona

Good Luck Faerielight and I hope things go well.

Torry_Quine

Thinking of you Faerie

Pyxis

Good luck, Faerie! :A






WaS, how interesting that you have that connection with your nurse.

I was thinking, there may be lots of things she'd like to discuss with you, (and that you could help her with), but she may be conscious of the fact that you are a 'patient' and may be reluctant to 'bother' you, in case she is crossing a line.

Maybe you could email her from time to time, just to ask how the lad is, and whether you could help? That way, with the onus coming from you, she may be pleased to have your help!

It really is rather serendipitous that she came to do your hand and has a child you could help her with!


Don't you ever dare say you are of no use to anyone!

Wellyboots6

Survived the dentist! Still haven't rung the counsellor and not sure I will, but at least I still have the same number of teeth I woke up with!

Now back in to hibernation again ...

Pyxis

Wellyboots6 wrote: »

Survived the dentist! Still haven't rung the counsellor and not sure I will, but at least I still have the same number of teeth I woke up with!

Now back in to hibernation again ...

Torry_Quine

Came across this quote today from Albert Einstein.
'Life is like riding a bicycle, to keep your balance you must keep moving'