Search Results for: blog ive given my child the family illness 2

Some Insightful Viewpoints on Special Needs

Often, when parents go online to find information about the special need, or health condition, that affects their children, they are seeking facts. This is perfectly reasonable. Sometimes, it is good to read some opinions, or blog posts, written by other parents or therapists that state their views of situations regarding children with special needs. Here are a few interesting ones to start with. The Huffington Post has a article that was written by Sean Bean. It is titled: “My Son Had Autism. Then He Did Not.” He discusses some of his son’s early behaviors that indicated that he appeared … Continue reading →

Are You Ready For A Multi Racial Family

If you are considering adopting a child or children that are not part of your own race there are a few other things that you need to take into consideration. If you are considering it you are willing to welcome a child into your heart that does not look like you, great we did too. Have you considered that when you do welcome that child into your hearts that you will no longer be like the majority of other families? Are you ready for that? Have you given any consideration to what your friends and extended family may think? Think … Continue reading →

Help for Siblings

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Now that I’m the mother of two children, one with a chronic health condition, and one without, new concerns have arisen when it comes to how I parent. My eldest daughter will need extra attention throughout the course of everyday as there are hours of treatments and therapies that she will need my help with. My younger daughter will need my attention too, just as any child would. I’d like to believe that I will be able to balance the attention between them, giving extra attention to one during some parts of the day and extra to the other during … Continue reading →

Calendars for a Cause

It’s true that these days I can’t live without my cell phone / personal assistant. All of my appointments are in there safe and sound, unless of course I drop my phone in a puddle, which I have been known to do. So I also have my good, old-fashioned wall calendar hanging in the kitchen for those times when my phone is dead or missing. Everyone should have one. But, instead of buying one of those cartoon calendars or one loaded with pictures of Brad Pitt, I prefer ones that raise money for children with special needs. There are plenty … Continue reading →

Should Children be Given Anti-psychotic Drugs

With a 40-fold increase in bipolar diagnosis for children and adolescents over the last decade, I have to ask what percentage of these kids are really bipolar. The experts claim to be more aware than they were in the 1990’s of bipolar disorder in children. Others say there is more pressure to prescribe drugs. Either way, the statistics are troubling. “The label also gives doctors and desperate parents a quick way to try to manage children’s rages and outbursts in an era when long-term psychotherapy and hospital care are less accessible, they say. In addition, drug makers and company-sponsored psychiatrists … Continue reading →

Death in the Family

As I write this I am sitting not in Texas, but in Iowa. My wife’s grandfather passed away and we are back in town for the funeral. Our son’s great-grandfather has moved on. The difficulties were/are many: A near one-thousand mile car drive? CHECK. Missing a week of work? CHECK. Missing a week of school? CHECK. One three month old child? CHECK. …who isn’t “road-tested”? CHECK. With all of these really good reasons for not making the trip why would we actually decide to do it? Family. My wife was understandably close to all of her grandparents. This closeness also … Continue reading →

Baby Blog Month in Review: October 2008

If you had an October baby, congratulations! I hope that you will spend some time with us here at Families.com, as we bring you the latest news and tips for you and your family. Here is the Baby Blog month in review for October. October 1st Insect Repellent and Young Children Protecting my children is the number one priority, but one thing that I tend to avoid is insect repellent. I figure that putting additional chemicals on my kids is not the best idea, that is until now. These days, a mosquito bite is not just an annoyance, but it … Continue reading →

Asperger’s or not Asperger’s?

We’ve all heard of common mental conditions such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, anxiety disorders, and mood disorders. We may also have knowledge of less mainstream disorders such as body dysmorphic disorder, borderline personality disorder and Tourette’s syndrome. Yet there are many other conditions that affect humans that do not fall into such clear- cut categories but which nevertheless are indicative of problems in the sufferer. We discussed one such case in the article on Munchausen’s by Proxy. Many more strange and puzzling afflictions affect the general population and today’s blog describes one of them. It involves the diagnosis of … Continue reading →

The Parental Blame Game in Mental Illness

When a child is diagnosed with a mental illness, it is understandable that parents go through a series of powerful emotions, including fear, sadness, grief and anger. The parent questions: “Why us?” There is a real and legitimate fear as to what will happen to their beautiful teenage son or daughter who is suddenly diagnosed with schizophrenia, for example. There may also be disbelief, denial of the condition, and extreme anger. All of these are normal reactions for a parent to experience when the shock of diagnosis has hit home. Some mental conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder and postpartum … Continue reading →

“I’ve Given my Child the Family Illness!” (2)

In “I’ve Given my Child the Family Illness!” we looked at the role both genes and the environment play in determining whether a mental illness will be expressed in any given individual. Today we will look at how to cope with the guilt that some parents feel when they learn that a son or daughter has inherited a “family illness.” As previously discussed, it can be a natural reaction to blame yourself for the appearance of depression, anxiety, bipolar or any of the host of mental or physical disorders that have plagued humans for thousands of years. In dealing with … Continue reading →