Published on 12, July, 2020
My daughters school phoned me today. The explained that she had a good day but they believe she may have PTSD. I've read up on it and it could be a possibility.
She has been through so much the last few years and it has had a massive impact on everyone especially her. For example, she got taken out of our care and nearly put into care. There was a lot of trouble with emergency services, her going missing, being arrested and taken into custody many times. Many family members and pets have died. School issues which started it all off. And a massive move. That's just a few. She tried commiting suicide and self harmed for years.
It started when she was 12, she's now 15. She's always struggled when this all happened and still does. She can't eat curtain food which reminds her of hospital, for example, toast, biscuits, apple juice. She won't go to any places that remind her of what happened. For example, the park, certain roads, part of the forest which includes a certain tree. Even a member of the public who walks past her regularly just reminds her. It could be the same lady who helped her or she looks similar. I've noticed that when a police car or ambulance goes past or she sees one, she gets twitchy and seems to become a bit distressed and distracted. Even hearing sirens is a trigger. She's had constant nightmares about it and it comes and goes during the day and feeling the same emotions and feeling as to when it happened. She constantly seems on edge. Could this be because she has developed PTSD
ParentingAutism said:She's had constant nightmares about it and it comes and goes during the day and feeling the same emotions and feeling as to when it happened. She constantly seems on edge.
This sounds like PTSD. I have had it, had it for six months following a shocking bereavement. I also have autism, but the PTSD was separate. I would advise trying to get some assessment, maybe GP as first call. Do you or partner have health insurance - sometimes covers counselling that can treat PTSD. Most common techniques are CBT (which I had) and EMDR (which my wife had - we both had PTSD from the same event). Just my view but I would not even mention autism when initially mentioning the PTSD in case someone uses this to undermine what sounds to me like PTSD and you then don't get the right referral. When selecting a counsellor - if it goes that far then sure mention autism too as may be relevant at that point or could get a specialist that knows about autism too. I am not a medical professional just going from personal experience. Disclaimer over. Good luck.
Thank you. We know something has been wrong. She had asked to go to the doctors, which she NEVER does because she hates it. That raised red flags when she asked. She said that the feeling of one incident which happened has been coming back a lot more, without a trigger, just happening then and there and can't last minutes to hours and she hates it. It is a painful sensation for her at times.
School have noticed when it happens because her mood will change in seconds. She will feel the sensation or feeling in her body and she'll start laughing and giggling. Sometimes her body will start jercking and she might drop to the floor. Today it happened a few times, that is why school called.
She was chilling then she was laughing then she decided to fall off the side onto a beanbag luckily. She will become really loud, almost shouting. They describe it as like she is extremely excited even though they understand she isn't.