Tag:

Traumatic Stress Disorder

Daughter Says She Is Pregnant with Jesus Christ

by Kristina Randle, Ph.D., LCSW June 21st, 2024

Hello, I am not sure where to start to look for help, for my 23 year old daughter says she is okay.

My daughter says she is pregnant with Jesus Christ himself. Her religion has taken a turn for the extreme over the last 6 months. She wanted me to stop putting chlorine in the pool so she could baptize and she also said she is going to stop wearing shoes so she can be one with the people. She also told me that God has spoken to her through the tv.

2 weeks ago she told me she was pregnant. I took her to the store and bought her a box of pregnancy tests, she took one and it came out negative. She took a test the next day and told me it was positive. She came over later that day and said that when she was at the coffee shop, a transient told her she was pregnant with Jesus Christ.

I am thinking she has PTSD or something, she is just not herself. How do I go about getting help for her if she says she doesn’t need it? She really does believe this and is now posting it on her facebook account for the world to see, I am scared for her.

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks, Desperate mom

Dear Desperate mom, I understand your concern. Post-traumatic stress disorder may not be the primary problem. Your daughter seems to be experiencing a psychotic episode. Psychosis is a break from reality. It’s associated with disorders such as schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder. Religious delusions are common among individuals with psychosis.

The fact that she doesn’t think she needs treatment is also very common among people with psychosis. Psychosis causes individuals to be confused, disorganized and frightened.

Your daughter needs immediate, emergency assistance. If you cannot convince her to go to the hospital, then another option is to call the local emergency mental health crisis team. Check the white pages to see what services are available in your community. The mobile crisis team, will come to your home to perform an evaluation. If they believe that she requires hospitalization, they will provide the arrangements.

If nothing else works, then call the police. Involving the police should be a “last resort” option. If they believe that your daughter is a danger to herself or to someone else, they can forcibly escort her to the hospital for an evaluation.

Coercing an individual into a mental health evaluation or hospitalization is never the ideal situation but you must do what is necessary to protect your daughter. When people are psychotic, they may do things that they normally wouldn’t do. It is a high-risk situation.

Finally, I would encourage you to reach out to your local National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) support group. Virtually every community has a NAMI presence. Contact them and ask for support and guidance. They can assist you in the process of helping your daughter. Many of the NAMI members are seasoned veterans of the mental health system. They can tell you how it works and what to expect.

If you have additional questions, please don’t hesitate to write again. Please take care.

Dr. Kristina Randle
Mental Health & Criminal Justice Blog

June 21, 2024 0 comment

Incorrectly Diagnosed?

by Kristina Randle, Ph.D., LCSW June 9th, 2024

written by Kristina Randle, Ph.D., LCSW

I wonder if I have been wrongly diagnosed. I have battled with my mental health for approximately 11years, Starting off with being diagnosed with chronic depression and post traumatic stress disorder after many years of bullying result in my being beaten up and put in hospital by the bullies. That was when I was 12 years old. As the years have progressed and I have matured I seem to have gone through many different illnesses.
1. Chronic Depression, PTSD and Anorexia Nervosa
2.Severe Depression,Anxiety and Anorexia Nervosa
3.Cyclothymia
4.Bipolar II
Recently I have been diagnosed with A-Typical Bipolar Disorder, Anxiety Disorder, Social Phobia and Recurrent Depressive Illness.

I am beginning to wonder if this recent diagnosis (and many of the past ones) is incorrect.
I have done a lot of researched about my symptoms traits etc and they seem to steer more towards Borderline Personality Disorder.
I will quickly explain me:
Usually I don’t know how I feel, people say “what’s wrong?” and I just don’t know.
I get flustered, and panic, mostly when things change, I don’t like change, I am often very disorganised, but don’t like it I am a very chaotic person.

I switch from one thing to another in a matter of minutes. I don’t like disorder, I think things to be right. I have a massive fear of abandonment, I always think my husband is going to leave me for someone “normal” someone “better”. I always second guess him and myself, my self – esteem is non existant, I have no confidence in anything I do. I don’t like being along, I don’t like doing things on my own, however sometimes all I want is to be left alone – I never know what I want!
I’m sad all the time and want to cry, soemtimes I think people are all against me and are purposly trying to upset me. I have no interest in most aspects of life. I don’t have any friends, or what I was class as “friends” I have being in crowds, I feel closed in and I can hear the blood pumping in my ears.

I’m all over the place. I Spend ridiculously..Usually stuff we/I don’t need but want to make me feel better…My sleep is all over the place..Sometimes I don’t want to sleep and it takes forever to go to sleep but then when the morning comes I don’t want to get up. I eat because I have to (my family make me!) My biggest problem is I’m good at hiding things, I have spent many years putting on a front and seeming “happy and ok” that I don’t know how to be “ME” the real me..I self harmed for nearly 10 years..and the only reason I don’t now is knowing how much it hurts my family…My CPN and Psychiatrist said this shows that my condition is no serious as people who were serious would not be able to control this. But I don’t want to control it, I want to be me and not live up to everyone else’s expectations…I am who I am to suit my family, not to suit me. I hide everything, and to be honest I don’t know how to be me….I have wierd thoughts that no one else seems to understand, I ask daft questions. I hate myself and everything about me. I think I’m worthless and pathetic and that there’s no point to my life. Oh I don’t know I just can not explain anything about me how I feel or anything I just don’t think that I don’t fit in with the Bipolar spectrum..I do have anxiety I know this and I am pretty sure on the Recurrent depressive illness…and as for the social phobia well that could be right….the other problem I have is I don’t know how to say to my psychiatrist I think he is wrong, afterall he’s the professional and in my experience with alot of professionals they don’t seem to care about your opinions only theirs and that what they think is correct…I’m all over the place I just don’t know what to do…I’ve gone from being on 600mg Lamotrigine,5mg Aripiprazole and 2mg Diazepam to 20mg Fluoxetine (with a 12month gap in between when I was pregnant and not on any medication) PLEASE HELP I don’t know where to go or what to say or anything..

Typically I try to steer people away from focusing on a diagnosis. For a mental health professional, it may be helpful to focus on a diagnosis but I don’t think that it is always helpful for the client to search for a specific diagnostic label. Many people simply do not fit diagnostic labels and categories. People are unique and complicated and they may have many issues that do not match a specific diagnosis or set of diagnoses. I urge you to shift your focus on treatment and away from diagnosis.

You mentioned that you are in contact with a CPN (which I take to mean community psychiatric nurse since you are not living in the U.S.) and a psychiatrist, both of whom likely focus on medication as a primary treatment. Medication can be very helpful and has saved the lives of many people. What may be lacking in your treatment plan is that you are not addressing your anxiety, the compulsion to spend, depression, self-harm, PTSD, and the other issues you are struggling with. That is where your treatment needs to focus. Maybe you have attempted treatment for those issues in the past and did not include that information in your letter. From what I can tell you have yet to address those issues.

The solution is to alter your treatment to include therapy. All of the issues that you have written about can be addressed with the help of a competent mental health professional. If you find the right help then I believe you have an excellent chance of overcoming all of the issues you are facing. Thank you for your question. Please take care.

June 9, 2024 0 comment

suicidal & completely alone now

by Dr. Marie Hartwell-Walker February 26th, 2023

written by Dr. Marie Hartwell-Walker

hi,
I’m 16. i’ve been through a lot in my life. i’ve been in and out of the hospital for a heart condition, shocked 4 times by my defibrillator, burglarized, verbally bullied, watched my friend die of an overdose and even molested by my father at age 10. i’ve also been struggling with bulimia for about a year and a half. it’s to the point of where it’s compulsive and my throat is sore and raw.

i’ve been in and out of the hospitals for wanting to kill myself and i’m in a psychiatrists care. i’m on pills, and in therapy. i thought what i was doing would help but i’m getting nowhere and the only reason i’m still alive is because of my mom. i love her dearly and the guilt would be tremendous.

i have depression, post traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and insomnia. my mother still talks to my dad about anything and she knows he molested me. she tells me she believes me and at first i was happy to hear that, but actions speak louder than words and i can tell that she doesn’t really believe me. she talks to him as if nothing happened, there is no emotion from her.

i was arguing with her about that last night and how lonely i felt when she said, “you know i still have to talk to him for the finances and we’re always going to be talking and it’s not like he raped you!” i felt this emptiness. it was like the only person i had is gone now. i can’t believe she said that. it’s like she completely disregarded what i went through. i didn’t yell or anything. i just said, you’ll never understand what i’m going through” then i left and went to my room to cry for the night. i don’t have anyone anymore. i have my friends and the therapist,

but none of that matters if i don’t have my mother. i’ve been wanting to kill myself since i was 10 and he touched me. the only reason i didn’t is because of my mother and now i feel that i don’t have any reasons and it’s my time to go. i’m not extremely depressed at the moment. i’m just utterly lonely and feel that is the only way out of this miserable existence. all i have felt in my life is pain.! i want it to stop.

i didn’t know where else to go and i’d like another opinion. i’m scared that the is the only answer and i always said i just want to be fixed, but i know now, i can’t be fixed. i don’t know what to do with myself and i don’t think i can live with myself.

You certainly have been through a lot! With some good help, you’ve been dealing. But you are now feeling betrayed by the mom who has been a major source of support.

I’m going to ask you to give her another chance. Please remember that everything you’ve been through, she has been through too. Moms who love their children suffer when their children suffer. At this point, she may be as emotionally exhausted as you are. She may not be able to take in the full extent of what happened to you and still keep on keeping on.

I hope you will consider asking your therapist to invite your mother in to some of your sessions so you can explain again what happened. With the therapist there to give her – and you – some support, she may be in a better position to hear you. The two of you can then talk about what you need from her during this difficult time.

Please let your therapist help you both heal. This has been a terrible six years! I’m sure you and your mom want to do everything possible to put all the pain behind you so you can enjoy life and each other again.

I wish you well.
Dr. Marie

February 26, 2023 0 comment