We just had this patient in my office - young girl who has been abused/neglected as a child. Her mother disappeared in the past few months and no one can find her - she was using drugs and has a psychotic illness. The young girl is completely isolated, no family, living in a shelter and now I have diagnosed her with schizophrenia. She has obvious psychotic symptoms and is currently being terrorized by hallucinations. And possible PCOS - she hasn't seen an MD in years. And a learning disability. She was crying in my office. So scared.
The social worker and I were just heartbroken after seeing her. We both have young kids and the contrast between a kid who has been abused, neglected and is mentally ill vs. our own children is....there are no words. Just terrible.
Fvck. I hate working with kids. I need to go home, hug my boys and have a drink.
Re: Hate working with kids.
So sad to read this
In college, I started out as a social work major, and was working as the director of a child care center in a very low income area. I changed my major half-way through my junior year, because I couldn't stand the heart ache of working with some of the families in my center. And I knew it would only get worse in social work.
There are too many kids out there who have had to deal with crap like this!
A Little Bird and a Monkey Butt
I hear you. I did a year of child psych. There are so many stories that haunt me every day.
I used to log in to the bump just to read about moms fighting about formula vs. breastfeeding. It is so nice to know there are so many loving, caring parents out there.
Give your boys a hug. I hope you and the social worker can help that child.
EDIT: You did a year of a fellowship, right? You are my hero. Seriously. I didn't mind the kids but I wanted to throttle too many parents. Give me antisocial adults any day....!
http://oi62.tinypic.com/2w73hq9.jpg
I think child psych is what turned me off to psych. my "home base" for my clinical rotation was on an inpatient child psych unit... all 5-12y/os... majority were abused. I rotated through adolescent, adult, addition, etc... but that was my home base where I spent the bulk of my rotation. it sucked. I didn't have kids at the time and was so depressed at the end of each shift.... I don't think I could handle it having kids... trauma is bad enough. but at least most traumas are not intentional... and we don't see the lasting effects...
my teenage nephew is going through a really bad time.... gonna be a lifelong management/work for my brother and his wife. the boy's mom left him at a young age (may have hurt him). she had some messed up issues. we hear she has had another son who has some major psych issues as well. it's rough.
bless you for what you do.
It is amazing what people do to their kids - and then you come here and see people running themselves in circles about whether to BF or FF or exactly which 100% approved car seat is the absolute safest or whether to bed share/CIO, etc.
It breaks my heart to even read or hear about these kinds of stories, God bless all of you who actually help these kids and try to show them adults do care and they can find happiness in their lives eventually.
lol that I am anybody's hero. I'm back to working with adults now.
I had written out a tirade on why I didn't like child psychiatry, and how difficult it was to quit, but it's probably not in my best interest to post it. Suffice it to say, that I am glad to be working PT and working with (mostly) adults.
DD -- 5YO
DS -- 3YO
That's a rough day. I hope it got better when you got home.
Being a parent changes you so much. I didn't realize beforehand how acutely I would be affected by a child's suffering, even if that that child is a stranger.
This.
One of my friends works for the State, basically she investigates CPS claims. I can't even imagine what she sees and hears on a daily basis.
As I read your story, I envisioned so many of my students.
Enjoy your drink.
I hear you.
I did some work in a group home run by the state in a really poor city. It was the assessment center - think kids pulled from their homes, dropped there until next steps could be sorted out.
The things that these kids lived through were horrific. That was over 10 years ago, and I still wonder what happened to many of them. One little boy in particular haunts me. I don't know how he could have ever made it outside of an institution. He was just so damaged, and by his own mother.
Thank God for people like you who may be able to help this girl.
My twins are 5! My baby is 3!
DS#2 - Allergic to Cashew, Pistachio, Kiwi
DS#3 - Allergic to Milk, Egg, Peanut, Tree Nuts and Sesame