Posted by judy1 on December 21, 2003, at 11:33:38
In reply to Re: My sister is cutting...how do I help?, posted by Lyrical13 on December 21, 2003, at 10:31:44
The timing of your post is amazing. Yesterday, I drove a friend of my son's home from the movies (she's 13) and she showed me her scars from cutting. Her parents had found her engaging in that behavior, over-reacted and sent her to an in-patient program for a month. really bad move- now she no longer trusts them and is way too over-medicated (an AED, an AP and and AD). That is such an American trait, our shrinks medicate more than any other industrialized nation. I see this girl (like your sister) as someone going through a difficult adolescence, she also imitated a friend with the cutting, and her a parents made a typical error in thinking that SI is like suicidal behavior. It's not. I also cut at that age, stopped in college and re-started in my 30's. The only thing that helped me is therapy. If she no longer likes her counselor- for whatever reason- then she needs a new counselor. You can be a huge part of her recovery, obviously she trusts you, and you can stress the importance of treating her body well. I think the bipolar diagnosis is way over dxed in this sountry- it's like the diagnosis du jour. I have bipolar 1 disorder- during manic states I don't sleep for days (and am not tired) and get quite delusional. I accept the need for meds- depakote, zyprexa and klonopin- but I don't accept that a troubled teenager needs such potent medications when she's being a typical moody teenager and has a problem like SI that can be teated with the right therapist.
hope some of this helped- judy
poster:judy1
thread:292089
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20031221/msgs/292111.html