Hallucinations

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Liahona

Guest
Hi all, difficult child 1 has been having hallucinations. Some history: difficult child 1 has been having hallucinations since he was 5 years old. Most of the time they are benign; stuff he isn't scared of. Once in a while they really scare him. They don't happen often. In the few months he has been back with us from the Residential Treatment Center (RTC) he has had maybe 4. (Sometimes we don't find out he has had one until much later.) What is interesting is that he didn't have ANY for the year he was in the Residential Treatment Center (RTC). Plus, his anxiety was much much better in the Residential Treatment Center (RTC). I'm thinking the hallucinations are caused by his anxiety.

Some ideas I've had to decrease anxiety:
More structure will help. My problem is no one can do the amount of structure they had at Residential Treatment Center (RTC). Especially in a family setting. Just this week I've had kids sick and meals were off. I don't have the staffing the Residential Treatment Center (RTC) does. Ironically, difficult child 1 is the biggest reason I have a hard time maintaining more structure. He requires so much attention its hard for me to get things done around the house. And the time I do have I'm so drained its hard for me to get things done.

medications. Except he has been on and off medications since age 5 and the psychiatrists have told me they have exhausted all possibilities. A medication works for a few months and then doesn't.

Me. I seem to be the only person/thing that calms him. I can't be their 24/7. I'm with him as much as I can be. But I can't supervise him or his interactions with others like the staff at the Residential Treatment Center (RTC) can. Sometimes I need down time (or time to make dinner or time with other kids.)

I'm wondering if anyone else has experience with this and what helped I'm out of ideas.
 
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Liahona

Guest
Oh, one more thing. I don't really want to try medications again if 1) they don't work and 2) there is a way to help him with out medications. And I know that is the first thing the psychiatrist or therapist is going to want to do when I bring this up with them again. Right now difficult child 1 is medless.
 
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Liahona

Guest
There is a lot of depression on my side of the family as well as some autism. X's side thinks there is nothing wrong with any of them and I'm nuts. X has been through 5 divorces and X's grandpa was very abusive. Something isn't right there, but I don't know what diagnosis it would be. Thanks, I'll read the website.
 

JJJ

Active Member
I would give medications another try. As he grows and hits puberty, the medications will affect him in different ways. Have you tried any of the old school drugs? haldol, thorazine, etc??

Does he see things or hear them? Do they command him to do anything?
 

smallworld

Moderator
What medications/doses have been tried? The antipsychotics can work, but sometimes they have to be tried in combination. For example, an old antipsychotic has to be tried in combination with a newer antipsychotic. Or an antipsychotic has to be tried with a mood stabilizer.
 

TerryJ2

Well-Known Member
Liahona, so sorry he's going through this. Poor thing.
I think you're right about the anxiety being tied into it. In regard to medications, Clonidine, Xanax (which can be addictive) and others can help with-anxiety. But it sounds like he needs come one-on-one training in regard to how to deal with-it, especially if he's Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). His view of the outside/inside world are different from ours as NTs.
MWM, very interesting website and report. Interesting that it is not as much of a red flag with- some kids because they quite simply don't have a frame of reference.
Liahona, I would print out the article and show it to your son's dr.
Wish I had more to offer.
Best of luck.
 
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