Vent- Anxiety eval?

[Goofygirl17]

I am sooo frustrated. DD12 is diagnosed with anxiety and panic disorders (as well as SPD). We are trying to get a full evaluation done so we can figure out exactly what she's dealing with and how to help.

But... she's too anxious to go get the eval done! We went yesterday and it took about 40 minutes to get her out of the car and into the office and even then she was still crying. No testing was done and we're supposed to try again tomorrow.


Tomorrow we're going to meet at the town library instead so maybe she'll feel more comfortable and hopefully see that this isn't counseling (she doesn't want to talk about anything with anyone other than us) and that it isn't the kind of testing she has at school.

Part of my frustration is that I feel like we live in a fishbowl and everyone is judging how we deal with things. We have done everything that is recommended. We're told who to bring her to but even the "experts" can't get her to talk and do the testing- how are we supposed to?

I really wish I had a magic wand so I could figure out what is wrong and how to help her so she can relax and enjoy life.

Thanks for letting me vent.

 

[clanmcculloch]

Can the person doing the evaluation by any chance come to your home? At least your DD will be in what she deems to be a safe environment so coping with the stranger talking to her will be the only thing she's dealing with rather than also dealing with being in a totally strange environment which on its own sounds like more than she can handle at the moment.

I can certainly understand your frustration. Before we got DD13's autism diagnosis, we (mostly me) were treated by family and friends like we were doing something wrong and raising a spoiled rotten brat. Nobody (schools, doctors, insurance company, children's hospital) would give me a clear answer or help on how to even get an evaluation done even though we knew SOMETHING was going on with her. This lasted several years. After the diagnosis, people really changed how they treated us and became much more tollerant of her unusual behaviours. Unfortunately, her anxieties/obsessive compulsive tendencies have gone through the roof this summer to the point where she'll only really leave the house if I'm with her (I'm her safety net it seems). She met with a therapist for the first time on Monday. I need to remember to bring a large towel next time so she'll be able to sit down; she spent the whole appointment standing up for fear of touching the chairs that just didn't feel clean to her. Yup, I get it. {{{HUGS}}}

 

[Goofygirl17]

Thank you.

We're going to try meeting at the public library tomorrow morning. DD likes it there and actually went there for tutoring in 4th grade when she was too anxious to go to school.

I think part of what is really upsetting me is that we were having a nice summer until last Friday when DD had to have a physical- which didn't happen- she sat in the car and cried. Then this week and next is the eval. Summer is supposed to be our time to recover and heal from the crazy, stressful school year but now it's not. DD was doing so well. She went to a day camp and actually camped out overnight one night! That was huge for her!

I cannot wait until this is over. I planned a last minute driving down Disney trip so we can hopefully relax. DH can't go but he said we should go have fun.

I hope you can get a handle on your daughters fears and she feels better. I hope the therapist helps. My DD doesn't want to talk to ANYONE about hers. I don't know if she can't or won't put them into words but it causes real problems.

Thanks again! And ((hugs)) for you and your daughter too.

 

[Goofygirl17]

So the eval at the library didn't work. DD went willingly and sat and played checkers with me. when the psychologist came she wouldn't play checkers with her and wouldn't sit with us even. she sat quietly near us but wouldn't interact. She said she doesn't have to talk to people in the summer.

Anyway, we've postponed the eval until after school starts which is a bummer. DD is going into 7th grade and will have all new academic teachers so the battle begins anew. DD said she doesn't need help because this year's teachers are nice and won't be mean to her

Thanks for listening.

 

[JulieWent]

Don't know how you feel about medication, but when our son (now 16!) presented with severe anxiety / panic attacks (when he was in 4th grade), we had to begin with a low dose of zoloft just to get him out of the house for therapy and testing. His pediatrician (whom he had seen since birth and trusted enough to see briefly) prescribed a very small dose. We were then able to begin the testing procedures and start therapy.

Wish I could tell you that we all lived happily ever after and that everything disappeared. We do live happily, and he is fairly well adjusted. (He'll be a junior in high school this year!) But he does struggle with OCD (his panic kind of morphed into that over the years). However, he is able to manage it with medication and therapy, and lives pretty much like any other teenager.

Good luck. Hope you find what works.

Julie

 

[Goofygirl17]

Thank you Julie. She's been taking zoloft since 3rd grade but it's just not working as well anymore. We're having the eval done to see if anxiety is the only thing she's dealing with or there's other diagnoses. We also need to find another medication because we can't increase the zoloft because she has a bad reaction.

Thanks again for the support.