Re: severe mood swings

[Guest guest]

Jodi - you must be frazzled, I can understand why. My son tells me the only time

he feels clean and the ocd doesn't bother him is when he's using his computer,

so I let him use it as much as he wants, while we are working on treatment

options. Before he got his own laptop, I would try to control his computer

usage, but once I let him on the comp, he would stay on and would not move. He

became very hostile if I did anything. Once I unplugged the computer and after

that he refused to ever sit in the chair again that he had been sitting in. Is

your son doing any erp at all? I know that's the only way out for my son.

Either we'll find a therapist who can do it or we'll do it. Hang in there,

you're not alone.

Rhonda

severe mood swings

Has anyone experienced this? My son is suddenly very angry and

disrespectful. He will argue with us for hours without any regard for

what he is saying or doing. All he cares about is getting his way. I

wont give him his electronics back because he has been so cruel and he

keeps blocking me so i cant get past him ( hes 12, 5'4 and about 200

lbs thanks to meds). He keeps screaming at me " give me my games and ill

leave you alone " . My mom wants me to give him anything to stop this but

i feel im reinforcing his bullying me. Last night he said to me "

congrats, u now have a son who hates u " ....then cried for an hour that

he wants to die for being so mean to me...then went right back to " give

me my stuff back " . I am getting to the point that i hate to be home.

Its pathetic. I weaned him off Depakote and he is still on Celexa. I am

considering taking him off meds for summer because his ocd is barely

functional anyway. Does anyone have any opinion on zoloft? Doc might

switch to that at his visit tommorw.

Trying to hang on, jodi

[Guest guest]

Hi Jodi,

So sorry to hear about what your son is putting you through.

My 10 year old can behave similarly, but he's only 65 pounds

(and I'm still slightly intimidated by his actions). He's been much

beter since on 30 mg of prozac. I think you should definitely hold

strong and NOT give him his electronics back until he's earned them.

I do believe that my son is worse when he plays his electronics. I've

taken them away in the past, " indefinitely, until behavior changes, " and

after about 10 days he gets used to not having them and his behavior

improves quite a bit. He'll then remember about them and ask for them

back, and the whole cycle starts over again.

I sat my son down, with a couple of articles that supported the idea that

too much video/electronic time was not good for children's developing

brains and told him that because we love him, we're reducing game time.

We try to stick to no video games during the week and a couple of hours

each weekend day. With the reduced game time, we definitely see

improved behavior. I know that not all kids respond the same way to

video games, but this seems to be the case with our son. Too much

electronics time also can lead to weight gain.

Best,

[Guest guest]

sorry , this is not jodi, but Hugh in Michigan.  Not sure how I got this

email.

I have a 10 year old daughter that is suddenly showing OCD symptoms, washing

hands, etc.

Do you think that meds are usually needed?  Of course we would not want to go

that way unless no other method....

________________________________

To:

Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2012 2:19 PM

Subject: Re: severe mood swings

 

Hi Jodi,

So sorry to hear about what your son is putting you through.

My 10 year old can behave similarly, but he's only 65 pounds

(and I'm still slightly intimidated by his actions). He's been much

beter since on 30 mg of prozac. I think you should definitely hold

strong and NOT give him his electronics back until he's earned them.

I do believe that my son is worse when he plays his electronics. I've

taken them away in the past, " indefinitely, until behavior changes, " and

after about 10 days he gets used to not having them and his behavior

improves quite a bit. He'll then remember about them and ask for them

back, and the whole cycle starts over again.

I sat my son down, with a couple of articles that supported the idea that

too much video/electronic time was not good for children's developing

brains and told him that because we love him, we're reducing game time.

We try to stick to no video games during the week and a couple of hours

each weekend day. With the reduced game time, we definitely see

improved behavior. I know that not all kids respond the same way to

video games, but this seems to be the case with our son. Too much

electronics time also can lead to weight gain.

Best,

[Guest guest]

Just a note on my son - the only video games he ever had were a fishing game and

a deer-hunting game where you moved up levels. Nothing violent really. When he

played these games, he got real nervous and even started yelling at times,

especially in the bathroom. I finally took the games away. Now he has no games,

but he can still work at his laptop. He sorts his thousands of pictures - has a

video editing program he plays with where he can make slide shows. Also does a

blog at blogspot.com. He has some educational software. I let him go to the

legos.com website and play with that. But as I said, no games. He has a flight

simulator program but that is not competitive. For him even the mildest

competitive game set him off.

Rhonda

Re: severe mood swings

Hi Jodi,

So sorry to hear about what your son is putting you through.

My 10 year old can behave similarly, but he's only 65 pounds

(and I'm still slightly intimidated by his actions). He's been much

beter since on 30 mg of prozac. I think you should definitely hold

strong and NOT give him his electronics back until he's earned them.

I do believe that my son is worse when he plays his electronics. I've

taken them away in the past, " indefinitely, until behavior changes, " and

after about 10 days he gets used to not having them and his behavior

improves quite a bit. He'll then remember about them and ask for them

back, and the whole cycle starts over again.

I sat my son down, with a couple of articles that supported the idea that

too much video/electronic time was not good for children's developing

brains and told him that because we love him, we're reducing game time.

We try to stick to no video games during the week and a couple of hours

each weekend day. With the reduced game time, we definitely see

improved behavior. I know that not all kids respond the same way to

video games, but this seems to be the case with our son. Too much

electronics time also can lead to weight gain.

Best,

[Guest guest]

My son has the opposite effect from video games. He has always been a " gamer "

and it has led to many friendships. The biggest plus that I have found is that

when he is playing video games, he is often able to drop his obsessive fears for

a while and relax. He is 12 and has suffered from separation anxiety, social

anxiety and general anxiety since he was very little. His mind just seems

unable to rest from focusing on one worry until it has another. The one thing

consistently able to take his mind off these is any sort of technology, e.g.

Nintendo DS, computer games, or Ipod Touch. He has a bad habit of coping with

his fears by picking his skin off of his fingertips, so often I will let him

play on his Nintendo or Ipod while we are in the car, just to stop the picking

for a while.

Re: Re: severe mood swings

Just a note on my son - the only video games he ever had were a fishing game and

a deer-hunting game where you moved up levels. Nothing violent really. When he

played these games, he got real nervous and even started yelling at times,

especially in the bathroom. I finally took the games away. Now he has no games,

but he can still work at his laptop. He sorts his thousands of pictures - has a

video editing program he plays with where he can make slide shows. Also does a

blog at blogspot.com. He has some educational software. I let him go to the

legos.com website and play with that. But as I said, no games. He has a flight

simulator program but that is not competitive. For him even the mildest

competitive game set him off.

Rhonda

Re: severe mood swings

Hi Jodi,

So sorry to hear about what your son is putting you through.

My 10 year old can behave similarly, but he's only 65 pounds

(and I'm still slightly intimidated by his actions). He's been much

beter since on 30 mg of prozac. I think you should definitely hold

strong and NOT give him his electronics back until he's earned them.

I do believe that my son is worse when he plays his electronics. I've

taken them away in the past, " indefinitely, until behavior changes, " and

after about 10 days he gets used to not having them and his behavior

improves quite a bit. He'll then remember about them and ask for them

back, and the whole cycle starts over again.

I sat my son down, with a couple of articles that supported the idea that

too much video/electronic time was not good for children's developing

brains and told him that because we love him, we're reducing game time.

We try to stick to no video games during the week and a couple of hours

each weekend day. With the reduced game time, we definitely see

improved behavior. I know that not all kids respond the same way to

video games, but this seems to be the case with our son. Too much

electronics time also can lead to weight gain.

Best,

[Guest guest]

My son has the opposite effect from video games. He has always been a " gamer "

and it has led to many friendships. The biggest plus that I have found is that

when he is playing video games, he is often able to drop his obsessive fears for

a while and relax. He is 12 and has suffered from separation anxiety, social

anxiety and general anxiety since he was very little. His mind just seems

unable to rest from focusing on one worry until it has another. The one thing

consistently able to take his mind off these is any sort of technology, e.g.

Nintendo DS, computer games, or Ipod Touch. He has a bad habit of coping with

his fears by picking his skin off of his fingertips, so often I will let him

play on his Nintendo or Ipod while we are in the car, just to stop the picking

for a while.

Re: Re: severe mood swings

Just a note on my son - the only video games he ever had were a fishing game and

a deer-hunting game where you moved up levels. Nothing violent really. When he

played these games, he got real nervous and even started yelling at times,

especially in the bathroom. I finally took the games away. Now he has no games,

but he can still work at his laptop. He sorts his thousands of pictures - has a

video editing program he plays with where he can make slide shows. Also does a

blog at blogspot.com. He has some educational software. I let him go to the

legos.com website and play with that. But as I said, no games. He has a flight

simulator program but that is not competitive. For him even the mildest

competitive game set him off.

Rhonda

Re: severe mood swings

Hi Jodi,

So sorry to hear about what your son is putting you through.

My 10 year old can behave similarly, but he's only 65 pounds

(and I'm still slightly intimidated by his actions). He's been much

beter since on 30 mg of prozac. I think you should definitely hold

strong and NOT give him his electronics back until he's earned them.

I do believe that my son is worse when he plays his electronics. I've

taken them away in the past, " indefinitely, until behavior changes, " and

after about 10 days he gets used to not having them and his behavior

improves quite a bit. He'll then remember about them and ask for them

back, and the whole cycle starts over again.

I sat my son down, with a couple of articles that supported the idea that

too much video/electronic time was not good for children's developing

brains and told him that because we love him, we're reducing game time.

We try to stick to no video games during the week and a couple of hours

each weekend day. With the reduced game time, we definitely see

improved behavior. I know that not all kids respond the same way to

video games, but this seems to be the case with our son. Too much

electronics time also can lead to weight gain.

Best,

[Guest guest]

So sorry you have to deal with that issue. With my daughter, the OCD

periodically causes her to " rage " & yell if the OCD isn't getting it's way -

whatever the basic reason - games taken, her things moved, etc. I try very hard

not to give in to her rages because, whether it's OCD or just typical teen

stuff, the behavior can't be allowed & she suffers a consequence for her

behavior. I usually end up sending my daughter to her room or " somewhere " I

don't have to see or hear her for awhile. Eventually she calms down & apologizes

or discusses things with me calmly. She is on meds now & seems a bit more

relaxed, but the meds haven't been a " cure " for her.

The physical threats make things worse. Perhaps you can act immediately if you

see your son starting a fit. I know I get much better results if I act as soon

as I see my daughter starting a fit. It's always harder to control her once

she's in a full blown rage. Also, you might think about whether you want to get

rid of the electronics or move them away from your home & keep them somewhere

else for awhile - so you " can't " give them back & you are not tempted. Depending

on the item, I've been known to throw some things away or destroy them.

Good luck to you.

Dot

>

> Has anyone experienced this? My son is suddenly very angry and

> disrespectful. He will argue with us for hours without any regard for

> what he is saying or doing.