Hello! I am new here. I was searching for some helpful advice, and ran across this site. Although I was very thankful to see that others are going through similar situations, I am also very sad to see it as well.
My question is whether anyone here has had to diagnose their child's illness because professionals gave up on them?
My story: (I'll make it as short as possible.)
I'll start by saying my daughter is now 21,and is currently in jail, pending trail, for prostitution.
She was a bright, happy, sweet, outgoing child; that all started changing around the age of 12. She started having problems in school; situations where she feared she would be beaten up on a daily basis. She, of course, had done nothing to provoke this type of treatment; it was not her fault in any way.
I believed her. I quit my secure job of 13 years, and moved across the country to be closer to family in the hopes that things would be better for her.
Nothing changed; things only got worse. By the time she was 15 she was cutting, drinking, doing drugs and her grades were failing.
I had her in counseling and progressed to a psychiatrist because it was felt that medication was needed. After a few trips to the physiatrist, being diagnosed with ADHD, she was told, by the psychiatrist,that if she didn't want to come see her (my daughter was not interested in talking to her while there) or take medication she didn't have to; it was her choice. My daughter chose not to do either. I was floored that a person I was paying to help now made it almost impossible for me to get her help.
Things progressed and my daughter ran away. When I found her I put her in a behavioral treatment center that by law was required to keep her at least 30 days, per my request, after she had asked to leave. After 15 days, I called in the morning to see how things were and was told there was nothing they could do; they were releasing her that day so I needed to pick her up.
From there I transferred her to another facility that was for drug and alcohol abuse. She ran away from there while I was visiting. I was the one who had to catch her, flag someone down to call the police and they took her to the hospital and sedated her. This facility also told me they could do nothing for her and would not take her back.
I had no choice; I was on my own and had to take her home. Things improved for a very short while then started right upagain. The school I had to put her in told her that at the age of 17 she could drop out so that's exactly what she did. They didn't want to deal with her either.
She got in fights, underage drinking tickets and was caught shop lifting. I had gone through my savings trying to get help for her, bailing her out time and again so when I was laid off money became tight and I could no longer do those things for her.
That's when she left home and things only got worse to the point that she is in jail right now. I am refusing to help her and she is trying every manipulation in the book, to no avail. She is a master at manipulation and has only gotten better with age. She is also very beautiful and has used this to her advantage many, many times.
The diagnoses I was given by the different 'professionals' range from ADHD, Bipolar to Behavioral Mood Disorder. She shows no remorse and accepts no responsibility for what she does. She has sucked the life out of those who care for her with no regards for their welfare or feelings. I have become numb (hence the screen name) yet I can't distance myself from her; she's my daughter and I love her and fear for her.
I have spent a lot of time researching mental health problems, and as much as it scares me the only conclusion I have come to is that she is a sociopath, or to be easy child, has antisocial disorder. She fits the adult symptoms to a T, but I'm not a professional so how can I be sure?
Has anyone ever had a child that professionals gave up on? If so, what did you do? Not knowing, for me, makes it very hard to figure out how to handle her. I am currently so disgusted and humiliated by her that I wish I could stop loving her, and that disgusts me even more that I want to feel that way about my daughter. (Sorry this was so long.)
My question is whether anyone here has had to diagnose their child's illness because professionals gave up on them?
My story: (I'll make it as short as possible.)
I'll start by saying my daughter is now 21,and is currently in jail, pending trail, for prostitution.
She was a bright, happy, sweet, outgoing child; that all started changing around the age of 12. She started having problems in school; situations where she feared she would be beaten up on a daily basis. She, of course, had done nothing to provoke this type of treatment; it was not her fault in any way.
I believed her. I quit my secure job of 13 years, and moved across the country to be closer to family in the hopes that things would be better for her.
Nothing changed; things only got worse. By the time she was 15 she was cutting, drinking, doing drugs and her grades were failing.
I had her in counseling and progressed to a psychiatrist because it was felt that medication was needed. After a few trips to the physiatrist, being diagnosed with ADHD, she was told, by the psychiatrist,that if she didn't want to come see her (my daughter was not interested in talking to her while there) or take medication she didn't have to; it was her choice. My daughter chose not to do either. I was floored that a person I was paying to help now made it almost impossible for me to get her help.
Things progressed and my daughter ran away. When I found her I put her in a behavioral treatment center that by law was required to keep her at least 30 days, per my request, after she had asked to leave. After 15 days, I called in the morning to see how things were and was told there was nothing they could do; they were releasing her that day so I needed to pick her up.
From there I transferred her to another facility that was for drug and alcohol abuse. She ran away from there while I was visiting. I was the one who had to catch her, flag someone down to call the police and they took her to the hospital and sedated her. This facility also told me they could do nothing for her and would not take her back.
I had no choice; I was on my own and had to take her home. Things improved for a very short while then started right upagain. The school I had to put her in told her that at the age of 17 she could drop out so that's exactly what she did. They didn't want to deal with her either.
She got in fights, underage drinking tickets and was caught shop lifting. I had gone through my savings trying to get help for her, bailing her out time and again so when I was laid off money became tight and I could no longer do those things for her.
That's when she left home and things only got worse to the point that she is in jail right now. I am refusing to help her and she is trying every manipulation in the book, to no avail. She is a master at manipulation and has only gotten better with age. She is also very beautiful and has used this to her advantage many, many times.
The diagnoses I was given by the different 'professionals' range from ADHD, Bipolar to Behavioral Mood Disorder. She shows no remorse and accepts no responsibility for what she does. She has sucked the life out of those who care for her with no regards for their welfare or feelings. I have become numb (hence the screen name) yet I can't distance myself from her; she's my daughter and I love her and fear for her.
I have spent a lot of time researching mental health problems, and as much as it scares me the only conclusion I have come to is that she is a sociopath, or to be easy child, has antisocial disorder. She fits the adult symptoms to a T, but I'm not a professional so how can I be sure?
Has anyone ever had a child that professionals gave up on? If so, what did you do? Not knowing, for me, makes it very hard to figure out how to handle her. I am currently so disgusted and humiliated by her that I wish I could stop loving her, and that disgusts me even more that I want to feel that way about my daughter. (Sorry this was so long.)