Safe Haven Law

[JustMyOpinion]

I am posting a 20/20 (ABC) video regarding the Safe Haven Law fiasco in Nebraska. This SHOULD be a wake up call to everyone how stressed out, and desperate parents are that have children with disorders/problems. I KNOW what it's like, my son was placed out of home by Mental Health because he was OUT OF CONTROL, and not because he didn't have discipline, rules etc. but, because he's Bi-Polar, and if you view the video at 4:11 and watch that boy throw a fit that was exactly like my son and it wasn't a "normal" tantrum that lasted for even 20 minutes, he would rage for an hour or more. When he was 11 he over powered me and put me in a choke hold, and maybe I could've gained control if I wasn't battling the stomach flu, but unlikely. People do not understand what it is like, it is SO easy to sit back and claim your child wouldn't behave that way because you are a GOOD parent, or you'd straighten em up with force, wanna bet? I battled the system for YEARS to get my son help, and it was difficult to gain support from anyone. The system is broken and we really need to do something more to help parents help their children. It is very sad for both parties, though I would imagine many of you can't grasp my words since you have never experienced what it is like to live with a child who cannot control their anger or emotions NO MATTER what you do.

One of these days I will find a way to make a difference for kids and parents that struggle if it's the last thing I do!



And, to be clear I know some parents are trash and it is their fault that they have kids that are irresponsible, but that is not the issue that I am addressing.

[saunterelle]

Wow, that was an eye opening segment for me, thanks for posting. I can't relate since I don't have kids yet so I'll decline to comment.

[JustMyOpinion]

saunterelle, no worries "normal" kids can push your buttons for sure but they do not behave in an extreme manner on a regular basis. Kids can blow, but usually they have the ability to calm down and will listen to an adult who takes charge of the situation by talking them down, putting them on time out, or other warnings like privileges being taken away. Kids that have disorders cannot easily regain control and become explosive and even dangerous to others in the home and it is incredibly sad that we do care enough as a society to develop safety nets for kids, and parents that NEED it. The usual attitude is it's too expensive, and it's not my problem that so and so can't control their own, which by the way speaks volumes for their complete lack of misunderstanding and to no fault of their own I suppose.

I don't think I could easily grasp what is would be like if I hadn't experienced it, it's almost surreal while in the midst of the constant turmoil and extremism it just doesn't make any sense to a logical brain to witness such behavior, and until there is an intervention whether it is in home or out nothing changes it just gets worse and worse especially as hormones start flourishing in a teen.

[saunterelle]

Do you think it's simply hormonal? Or is there something in the way they're living that encourages this type of behavior?

I guess the common solution these days is to put them on medication. Is that something that typically works?

[JustMyOpinion]

saunterelle, here is one of MANY articles on the subject:

The likelihood of developing bipolar disorder depends in part on the combined, small effects of variations in many different genes in the brain, none of which is powerful enough to cause the disease by itself, a new study shows.
However, targeting the enzyme produced by one of these genes could lead to development of new, more effective medications. The research was conducted by scientists at the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), with others from the Universities of Heidelberg and Bonn and a number of U.S. facilities collaborating in a major project called the NIMH Genetics Initiative.

The study is the first to scan virtually all of the variations in human genes to find those associated with bipolar disorder. Results were published online May 8 in Molecular Psychiatry by Amber E. Baum, PhD, lead researcher Francis J. McMahon, MD, and colleagues.

"This is an example of how advances in genetics research feed into practical applications. This research would not have been possible a very few years ago. We now have a new molecular target scientists can investigate in their search for better medications for bipolar disorder," said NIH Director Elias A. Zerhouni, MD.

About 5.7 million American adults have bipolar disorder, which also is called manic-depressive illness. Symptoms include extremes in mood, from pronounced over-excitement and elation, often coupled with severe irritability, to depression. Children also may have the condition, usually in a more severe form than adults.

"We're beginning to get a foothold on the genetics of this complex brain disorder," said NIMH Director Thomas R. Insel, MD.

Most people occasionally have mood swings, but the shifts that occur in bipolar disorder, and the changes in behavior and energy level that accompany them, are sometimes disabling. Lithium and the other mood-stabilizing medications used to treat the condition help many patients.

But some people do not respond to these medications, and clinicians need more options so that they can tailor treatments to each patient. People inherit different gene variations, which may influence whether or not they respond to a given medication. Identifying and targeting these variations could help scientists develop additional medication options that take these differences into account.

One of the genes the researchers correlated with the disorder, DGKH, is active in a biochemical pathway through which lithium is thought to exert its therapeutic effects. The gene produces an enzyme (diacylglycerol kinase eta) that functions at a point closer to the root of the lithium-sensitive pathway than does the protein that lithium is thought to target. Scientists can now try to develop more effective medications by focusing on new compounds that act on the DGKH enzyme or regulate how much of the enzyme is produced. The DGKH gene is on chromosome 13.

Several other genes detected in the study produce proteins involved in this and other biochemical pathways thought to play a role in bipolar disorder. Understanding the effects that variations of these genes have on brain-cell function could lead to explanations of how they contribute to the condition and how it might be better prevented or treated.

"Treatments that target just a few of these genes or the proteins they make could yield substantial benefits for patients. Lithium is still the primary treatment for bipolar disorder, but DGKH is a promising target for new treatments that might be more effective and better tolerated," McMahon said.

The finding was enabled by recent genetics technology that allows researchers to scan, in a single experiment, thousands of genes for variations. Everyone has the same genes, but variations in them influence whether or not a person gets a specific disease. In this study, researchers compared variations found in the scans of 413 adults who had bipolar disorder with variations found in the scans of 563 healthy adults.

By pooling the genetic material of the adults with bipolar disorder, the U.S. researchers were able to scan the entire group at a small fraction of the cost of scanning each person's material individually. The genetic material of the healthy group was pooled and scanned separately, again at a fraction of the cost of individual scans. The researchers then zeroed in on the gene variations that occurred more often in the people with bipolar disorder and examined them individually.

An important issue in genetics research is that findings correlating specific genes with specific diseases in one population may not apply to other populations. This study addressed that issue by focusing on US participants of European ancestry, then repeating the study in a large group of patients in Germany. Similar outcomes were found in both populations, strengthening the validity of the results. A subsequent study is examining whether the results apply to other populations, and will look for common variations among them.

The researchers will soon make the results of their scans available, on a website, to other scientists who are pursuing this line of research.

www.nimh.nih.gov

Source:
www.news-medical.net/?id=24902

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There is much to discover yet about BiPolar and similar disorders. It is thought to be hereditary (no he didn't get it from me), and in children it has been difficult to diagnose. My son wasn't diagnosed until he was 17, and by then it was too late. I truly believe that if test after test supports the theory that a child would benefit from medication they should take it, even though it may take several attempts to get it right. I wonder all of the time if my son had been medicated early that the negative behaviors and MAJOR consequences that he is still paying might have been averted if he had been medicated. If a child experiences constant negative reinforcement the end result is a child without any successes to draw from and develops very low self esteem. I don't think if children misbehave they should be medicated, I am STRONGLY against it, but if a child's behavior is extreme and medication can keep them stable enough to acquire some positive achievements that is the key to a more productive adult, plus they hopefully realize that the drug commitment is life long. Once you try to implement medication in the later years it is near impossible to get cooperation, and besides troubled kids find drugs like pot, meth, heroin and in their minds it is way more fun. Sad!

I have ranted about this subject many times, my hope is someday one of you will recall my posts and that you will have opened your mind(s) to the idea that we NEED to have educational, and mental health support for our troubled children, and parents. In my opinion we are a village and we need to help each other, not sit back and feel put upon that a government entity can bridge the gap for the haves, and have-nots. We need more programs for those who cannot function effectively alone.

[JustMyOpinion]

I just read the following Newsweek article regarding children that need intensive help and how difficult it is for parents to get it, and I completely understand how Leslie Byers feels/felt, I just wish everyone did. Kids with disorders desperately need help and they are not getting it.

www.newsweek.com/id/173344/page/1

This is what I've been saying for years:

Further legislation might address the problems families face before they get too serious—zeroing in on parents who report early symptoms of mental illness in their kids, for instance. "We need early intervention. These [mentally ill] kids are kicked out of preschool," says Bleyhl, the NFSN director. "They internalize this message of 'you are a problem, no one wants to deal with you,' and that becomes their vision of themselves." Early intervention was one of the hottest topics at the recent task force meeting. Byers says it might have helped Megan, who began seeing child psychologists at age 3 but was written off by many of them: "Nobody would listen to us." Only after Megan's symptoms became so serious as to endanger the rest of the family did the Byers get taken seriously.

[Mink]

Being a parent myself, all I could imagine is the hurt having to part with a child you love, yet is beyond your ability to help. Parents of "normal" children have their moments and yet know they can talk to a co-worker, neighbor or relative about a problem, but in this case, if a parent is ashamed, or there is no help, what can they do, but suffer with the child and family.

Our family had one experience with a child like this at daycare. The babysitter was at her wits end as the child constantly screamed instead of talking with a normal tone of voice. He was kicked out of school on more than one occasion and he was only six years old. My children didn't understand him (neither did I )and all I could do was to talk to them to try and understand he must be acting out. He came from a single parent family, mother was with boyfriend and it seemed like she didn't care, but now I wonder if this problem he had was a disorder and I hope he is doing well.

When I first read this in the paper, I couldn't believe a mother could just be so cold, but after reading the article and now seeing this segment, I hope more can be done for the families in need besides medication.

Thank you for educating me JMO.

[JustMyOpinion]

Mink, thank you for having an open mind to see what is really happening with families that have children with mental disorders.

I have read some of the comments posted in the Newsweek article, and some are heartbreaking, and some piss me off. I keep posting about mental disorders and children and their families because of the general population’s ignorance to the problems they face, and lack of support in schools etc. After my anger subsides toward people that say things like “I would never give up my child, those parents are monsters, they should do their job as a parent, selfish etc.” I find solace in the fact that they just don’t get it and if they did they would hopefully be embarrassed by their lack of compassion for all involved.

When my son was young we (we being me and my parents) knew right away that something wasn’t right, but we did not know anything about mental disorders, and we would think things like he is just being a brat, he needs discipline, even corporal punishment might take care of it. He would terrorize kids and teachers at school (and us) even at the age of 5, which is why asked for him to be removed until the following year; they said he was just immature. Ok, I can understand that, and he’s going to grow out of this thing…

By the time he was 8 they had permanently kicked him out of mainstream public school and put him into a pre-continuation school with teens that smoked pot on the street corner. I was perplexed, I did not understand why he was out of control, or why the school board would make such a decision and in my mind I thought that they being educators must know something I didn’t. Well, that part is true, they did know something I didn’t, they knew he was/is a person with a mental/learning disorder and if they could get away without paying to test him and place him in a specialized educational environment they would do their best to do just that. I am grateful to this day for the phone call I’d received from his previous teacher who heard of his placement and told me to refuse to send him to school until we had an IEP and was tested for a learning disorder. She explained to me the school board had deliberately placed him in an inappropriate place to save the district money and unless I made an issue out of it that’s where he would stay. She told me she would be fired for alerting me, but she couldn’t live with herself knowing the path they were sending him on would be one of dismal failure. I was young, and had believed that our children’s educators would do the right thing for our children, after all that’s what they specialize in, right? No, apparently they whored out those values to save a buck. I am still grateful to the teacher that reached out to help us, and am disgusted still at the system that cares about the bottom line rather than guiding parents and children with special needs to the right educational environment.

Years after my son was removed from mainstream public school Sonoma County and Marin County Mental Health did the same unscrupulous thing as the school board/district they would diagnose him with disorders that aren’t covered by the educational/mental health boards to save money. Fortunately for me, and unfortunately for them I had become sophisticated to their ways, and fought like a tiger to get him every bit of help possible. It should NOT be this way, and I feel so sorry for parents just starting out on their journey, it takes so much emotional energy and fight to get any help, or even basic guidance. You’re alone in the fight against a system and society that either doesn’t care, or understand and in the end our children pay the biggest price. The sooner children get help the better the results, and given the current system we will be paying for more jails and abandoned special needs children that parents can no longer take care of alone.

I’ve posted some of the above tidbits before, and have volumes more to post, but won’t (luckily for all of you). Children are our future, and some need more guidance and understanding than others, and I just hope with all of the news coverage lately that society will start to comprehend the problems that some parents face and help them to change a broken system. And, if nothing else at least have compassion for them instead of judging them based on the knowledge and experience of what its like to parent a "normal" child since that is not what these parents are facing. Normal children, even at their absolute worst are no where close to the challenge of what many parents face evey single day with children that have mental disorders. A parent of a "normal" child can't begin to grasp the hell that these parents face every day, I know I've had both.

[Mink]

JMO, you are on an admirable mission. I encourage you to never stop for the sake of anyone who wanders in just to read. Many more are still dealing with this the issue of a broken system and the disorder or another one.

My youngest son was also in IEP for a different reason. He was born with a congenital condition called atresia dealing with the ear or ears in some cases. They are not fully formed inside or outside. In my sons case, it was diagnosed to be the outside of the left ear so he had the inner aperatus-thank God.

Although this isn't a mental disorder he and we went through our own issues with the school system, IEP program and doctors.

[subdjoe]

I must say that this subject has me torn. The emotional, humanitarian side of me says that we need to find ways as a society to give these people the help they need and damn the cost.

The other side, the strict constructionist side, says why should the State be expected to do anything? What is the constitutional authority for it?

[JustMyOpinion]

Dec 15, 2008 1:24:51 GMT -5 subdjoe said:

I must say that this subject has me torn. The emotional, humanitarian side of me says that we need to find ways as a society to give these people the help they need and damn the cost.

The other side, the strict constructionist side, says why should the State be expected to do anything? What is the constitutional authority for it?

The good news is you're thinking about it.

As far as why should we bother to pay, well first of all children are required by law to go to school and that applies to everyone, not just the brightest and "normal" children. If we are going to demand a child gets an education (which benefits all of us) then let's do it right.Why don't prisoners have to pay for their cells? Same thing.

Another point, I did not know what disorders were, or what his behaviors indicated, teachers do, and at the minimum it should be required that they test children so a parent at least knows how to help with their education, information is a good starting place. Instead they will tolerate a child, send warnings home, and if that child is too big of a drain on the classroom, poof, out he goes to a classroom that may not suit the real needs of that child. Why the hell bother? They don't even like to to elude that the child may need special educational serves since again, they are required to educate a child in the public system regardless of learning curve, and that includes the mental health department if necessary. $$$$$$

My beliefs are. if a child has a problem address it at the youngest possible age to make a real difference and in the end it will cost less than housing them in juvenile hall, or jail.

[moondog]

Dec 15, 2008 1:24:51 GMT -5 subdjoe said:

I must say that this subject has me torn. The emotional, humanitarian side of me says that we need to find ways as a society to give these people the help they need and damn the cost.

The other side, the strict constructionist side, says why should the State be expected to do anything? What is the constitutional authority for it?

The real telling issue here is this. At one point in the history of this great nation, the state would have helped, but not the federal government. Now, the federal government does all the helping and it has cost us a great deal more then if it was handled at the state level, and usually with much less results.