What Led to a Program Decision?

[Antigen]

On 2004-06-07 08:06:00, Anonymous wrote:

"literally pulling their hair out strand by strand (forgot the term)



Tricotillomania.
...
Ginger, what you say is true. Even so, it is far from the whole story when trying to understand the why and what fors of such disorders. Genetics play a large role. Far larger than was believed even ten years ago. I personally believe environmental factors *sometimes* play a role in how sever the disorders becomes; but not why its there.

I'm not completely sure I accept the term "disorder" for all of these behaviors. I met a gal recently who says she sometimes responds to very stressful situations by falling asleep; some form of narcolepsy except that she doesn't just pass out, she finds a place to lay down and takes a li'll nap. Odd as this response may be, different people do different things. Some yell. Some emmerse themselves in minutea while others turn to mind altering substances in response to unmanagable stress. All of these ways of dealing have nifty psyche diagnoses to go along w/ them. But I'm not so sure any of these responses are really abnormal or at all dysfunctional, since damned near everyone uses some combination of them.

The troubled parent response to these behaviors seems to be to coerce the kid into doing a better job of stuffing it so that the parent doesn't have to see the disturbing signs of stress in their child. Some kids are able to let it roll off, but some are seriously harmed by it, even when you do it to them in the name of Jesus.

Life is like a shit sandwich; the more bread you got, the less shit you gotta eat.
--Anonymous

[Deborah]

From an old file. The link no longer works.
The Woodbury (StrugglingTeens)"tenative" survey results, you can find them at:
http://www.strugglingteens.com/parents/ ... aying.html
A summary below.

 
526 Participants
261 Parents and Adult Ex-Students
265 Grads, Left Earlys and Currently Enrolled
 
Referals:  Ed Cons 76    Woodbury 87    Word of Mouth 55
(Woodbury conducted the Survey)
 
Behaviors that resulted in placement:
158 Drugs
122 School Failure
105 Rebellion
53  Anger
47  Law Breaking
37  Run Away
25  Negative Friends
 
115 Programs Represented:
9   Drug Tmnt
18  Long term Wilderness
35  Behavior Mod
37  RTC/ Psych
47  Short term Wilderness
 
Obeservation: Parent and Professionals speaking different languages which could lead to a lot of subtle but important miscommunications. Questions were open-ended, parents used
their own descriptions.
 
Rating    0=Harmful       5=very effective/
appropriate
145  rated program a 5  
23   rated program a 0    
Average:  3.82
Note:  1/3 were negative or unenthusiastic in their approval indicating they didn't feel they got their money's worth.
 
Highest Satisfaction Ratings:
Suicide 4.6      Sexual Permissiveness 4.7    Run Away 4.2
Suggested reason- structure and staff supervision.
 
Lowest Satisfaction Ratings:
BiPolar 3.5    Rebellion 3.67    School Failure 3.7
Suggested reason- attitudes, abstract and harder to impact.
Suggests inappropriate placements are happening too often.
 
23 with Highest Satisfaction Rating used Local Child Care Professionals (Psychs, Therapists, Ed Cons)
16 with Lowest Satisfaction Rating were refered to programs by other programs
 
Strengths of Program:
160  Staff
57   Structure
47   Therapy
29   Parent Support
24   Communication
 
Common Weaknesses:
62  Communication
56  Staff
23  Turnovers
 
Highest Satisfaction Ratings:
Emo. Growth    5
Aftercare      4.75
Consistency    4.56
Prog Planning  4.54
Communication  4.46
 
Lowest Satisfaction Ratings:
Therapy   1.67
Misled    1.89
Suggesting that programs promised more than they could deliver.  Some participants desired more therapy.

[Anonymous]

Hi Ginger.
what your friend does is called sleep avoidence.
Its more of a symptom of a disorder than a disorder by its self.
Weather something is a disorder or just a harmless quirk, depends upon weather and to what degree, the person's quality of life is effected.
Mild OCD is quirky.
Sever OCD is devistating to the patient and everyone in the family as well.

I hope I have never said anything you percieved as me telling a troubled soul to 'stuff it' or that I think any decent treatment program sould - Christian or not.
And, I bet you'll agree; its wrong and harmful to *insist* they spill it, as well.

[Anonymous]

Timoclea

I have read your post with great interest; and the one before where you covered your thoughts on this matter in even greater detail.
I believe you are right. But I think I am too.
Keep in mind; I am Not saying the day care environment *caused* the disorder.
I maintain the illness is genetic, just as you do. I also maintain, that in the cases of some problems/disorders/illnesses, early child care (from birth to three years old) has a determination in how sever the situation will be in the person's life.
I am also not saying this is so for every mental illness one may have. But for some of them, I do believe this is a factor.

[Anonymous]

On 2004-06-07 13:07:00, Anonymous wrote:

"Timoclea



I have read your post with great interest; and the one before where you covered your thoughts on this matter in even greater detail.

I believe you are right. But I think I am too.

Keep in mind; I am Not saying the day care environment *caused* the disorder.

I maintain the illness is genetic, just as you do. I also maintain, that in the cases of some problems/disorders/illnesses, early child care (from birth to three years old) has a determination in how sever the situation will be in the person's life.

I am also not saying this is so for every mental illness one may have. But for some of them, I do believe this is a factor."

Well, I don't know about that, *but*---I have *never* heard of it being bad for a child four or under who has a good mother to spend *more* time with Mommy.

Children four and under can use all the Mommy attention and kisses and cuddles and care they can get.

I think some forces in society do young women a great disservice when they try to make it sound like staying home with their children will be a chore and a pain and drudgery.

The *truth* is that biology makes you fall in love with that adorable little baby---babies pull at your heart strings more than the cutest little kitten or puppy you can imagine---and your own baby even more so.

The truth is that just exactly the way when you fall in love with a guy as a teenager you just want to spend every minute with True Love---when you fall in love with your baby, you just want to spend every minute with baby---nothing else seems important anymore.

Sure, you need a break now and then--baby care is hard work.

But the truth is when you have a newborn baby what you want to be for that baby's first few years is a Mommy.

I think there have to be options---sometimes no matter how you try to plan ahead, you can't afford to stay home.

But the truth should be out there----whatever you want to be *before* you have a newborn baby, when you hold that newborn baby in your arms, a couple of days after, when the hormones kick in and the reality kicks in, all you want to be for the next few years is a Mommy.  And it's not what anybody's making you do, it's what you truly, deeply, genuinely, personally *want*.

The truth is that the path to happiness in life is to plan ahead to what you probably *will* want instead of trying to "get what you always wanted."

The reason's simple.  What we want changes.  There's nothing in the world sadder than getting what you always wanted when *now* you want something completely different.

Timoclea