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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 24 of 24. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by islandangel on September 30, 2008, at 17:26:47
I'm hoping someone can help! I am desperate to get help for my 13 year old step-daughter. We have full custody of her due to neglect & verbal abuse while in custody of her birth Mom. B-Mom has borderline personality disorder and mental illness. Daughter has been determined to have attachment disorder due to the birth Mother's neglect.
Stepdaughter is now consumed and obsessed with vampires. She seriously thinks she really is a vampire and says she has been drinking blood from fellow students at school for a long time. Over the years she has told an aunt that she has heard voices but will not admit it now. She has told me that she knows she is a vampire because a man comes to her in her dreams and tells her what to do.She says he wont reveal himself to her in public, only in her dreams. She will not talk to anyone else but me about this. For the past 3 years she has been consumed with drawing detailed, bloody and dark artwork with wolves, vampires, and blood. I have shared this all with our immediate family and our psychologist. Psychologist wanted to refer her to a psychiatrist but can't find anyone "who specializes in this condition" in our area. The double twist here is that I have to keep my step daughter's confidence on the vampirism or she will think I let her down like her B-Mom.
Does she need to see a psychiatrist and if so what kind of specialist do we see? Your help and input is appreciated. She's draining me to the point that my health is suffering.
Posted by mav27 on September 30, 2008, at 19:17:52
In reply to 13 yr girl w/Clinical Vampirism + mental illness?, posted by islandangel on September 30, 2008, at 17:26:47
How open is she to seeing a psychiatrist and even getting rid of the vampirism ? Is it something she wants fixed or does she like it?
If she is really hearing voices it's something she will have to come clean about to the psych, although chances are i could still see him/her prescribing an anti-psychotic and then it's a matter of some sort of therapy to convince her mind that vampirism isn't right which a psychologist should be able to do.
Also if she is doing this with other people at school it may be nessesary to move to a different area and school to get her away from these people but of course that's not often easy or possible.
Posted by Sigismund on September 30, 2008, at 19:27:59
In reply to 13 yr girl w/Clinical Vampirism + mental illness?, posted by islandangel on September 30, 2008, at 17:26:47
Wow.
Where I live we actually had some young women who thought they were (or pretended to be) vampires, and killed a bloke to do their vampire thing.
There was a court case, everything.You know...It's hard to be confident of psychiatric intervention.
(I can imagine my daughter saying 'Well, thank you for that, Einstein'.)I feel that vampirism is a construct created in opposition to some aspects of Christianity is a metaphor for drug addiction, not to speak of having some relation to sex.
If this was my daughter, I'd wonder whether she wanted or needed a boyfriend and whether that had any bearing on the situation.
Your desire to respect her confidence is a good thing, IMO.
Posted by Geegee on September 30, 2008, at 21:01:51
In reply to 13 yr girl w/Clinical Vampirism + mental illness?, posted by islandangel on September 30, 2008, at 17:26:47
I don't know if you need a psychiatrist who specializes in treating someone who engages in vampirism. I tend to think of that as an obsession and/or delusion. I think any doc or therapist who can work with this child respectfully and with expertise in treating adolescents with delusional, obsessive, and/or psychotic disorders will likely be helpful.
That said, it sounds really difficult to cope with, and scary.
Good luck.
gg
Posted by islandangel on September 30, 2008, at 21:01:59
In reply to Re: 13 yr girl w/Clinical Vampirism + mental illness?, posted by mav27 on September 30, 2008, at 19:17:52
Oh, she loves the vampirism she would never want it to go away and would hate me if she knew I am seeking help for her. She is delusional and believes she is specially chosen. A man comes to her in her dreams repeatedly. She craves blood and seeks out donors at school. She is the sole instigator at school no one is convincing her to do it. She attends a private small all girls school. Changing schools is not an option. We got her out of public school environment already. She confided in me because she actually asked me to help her get blood to drink because she craves drinking blood. I happen to work in a medical/health related field and she somehow thinks that I can get her blood. She thinks if she doesn't get blood then she will get moody, cranky & angry. Our psychologist's dilemma is she wants to refer to psych but doesn't know how to if we can't address the issue. So far we don't see any cuts on my daughter so she is technically not a harm to herself. She won't tell me how she is getting/drinking blood from friends at school. What kind of psychiatrist specialist should we get her see? Our psychologist has offered to refer but can't seem to find a specialist.
Posted by Sigismund on September 30, 2008, at 21:08:47
In reply to Re: 13 yr girl w/Clinical Vampirism + mental illness?, posted by islandangel on September 30, 2008, at 21:01:59
>She won't tell me how she is getting/drinking blood from friends at school.
So, at any rate, you feel that she *is* getting blood from friends at school?
And if so, what is going on there?Again, if it was my daughter, I'd wonder where all this came from, and whether there was a way of rendering it less harmful.
Posted by islandangel on September 30, 2008, at 21:12:14
In reply to 13 yr girl w/Clinical Vampirism + mental illness?, posted by islandangel on September 30, 2008, at 17:26:47
Thanks GeeGee for your support. It is difficult.
Posted by med_empowered on September 30, 2008, at 21:38:00
In reply to Re: 13 yr girl w/Clinical Vampirism + mental illness?, posted by islandangel on September 30, 2008, at 21:12:14
hey. Could you just get her to go to a new therapist? Adolscents tend to be creepy and weird, so I think a therapist who specializes in troubled adolscents will be prepared to deal with whatever comes up. A psychiatrist, on the other hand, only has pills to deal with EVERYTHING--and at 13 I think she would benefit a whole lot more from an ongoing relationship with a caring, professional adult than she would from someone who sees her once every couple momths for 15minute med checks.
Posted by islandangel on September 30, 2008, at 21:58:28
In reply to Re: 13 yr girl w/Clinical Vampirism + mental illness?, posted by med_empowered on September 30, 2008, at 21:38:00
Thanks but she IS currently seeing a new therapist weekly. The therapist has gotten more out of her in 4 months than the previous therapist did over 3 years.New therapist deals with troubled teens. The old therapist she charmed & fooled. She says if I tell of her situation the therapist will think she is crazy & thus will think it is my fault. I told the therapist this in private. She sees through her just unsure how to handle with a referal and says that my daughter's statement is all about "control".
Posted by yxibow on October 1, 2008, at 1:59:14
In reply to Re: 13 yr girl w/Clinical Vampirism + mental illness?, posted by med_empowered on September 30, 2008, at 21:38:00
> hey. Could you just get her to go to a new therapist? Adolscents tend to be creepy and weird, so I think a therapist who specializes in troubled adolscents will be prepared to deal with whatever comes up.
I think that's a broad generalization. I don't remember being creepy and wierd. I had problems and a child psychiatrist who, well, I just assume forget, but mainly I was more alone in my school I think because for one thing people didn't respect my intelligence, who knows, its the past now.
This -particular- situation is quite graphic, but I don't think this should apply to broad generalizations.
Its a troubling time to go through puberty, some mental illnesses are triggered by that very point as I believe some of my main early issues were -- but this is no fault of the growing person who has to deal with peers and possibly feeling isolated or put down upon, or maybe if they're lucky, gregarious.
A psychiatrist, on the other hand, only has pills to deal with EVERYTHING--and at 13 I think she would benefit a whole lot more from an ongoing relationship with a caring, professional adult than she would from someone who sees her once every couple momths for 15minute med checks.Definitely believe in more than the once a month HMO strategy, but there aren't pills to make everything go away -- I'll leave that alone.
-- tidings.
Posted by Justherself54 on October 1, 2008, at 2:50:55
In reply to 13 yr girl w/Clinical Vampirism + mental illness?, posted by islandangel on September 30, 2008, at 17:26:47
These kinds of things seem to sweep through schools. In my daughter's school the in thing to do was cut and also rub an object across the backs of their hands until they drew blood. It would seem that one would start it and talk about it and a whole group would follow. It goes to show how powerful peer pressure is.
I wouldn't be surprised is there are a few girls in your daughter's school who are engaged in this. Perhaps it's a way of *romantisicing* vampirism.
Has she told you exactly how she is getting the blood from her mates at school or is she just giving general statement as lets not ignore the health concerns of drinking another's blood...this should be taken seriously.
If you can gain access to a child and adolesent pyschiatrist, that is where I would start.
Unfortunately, when one is a parent you have to make some hard decisions. I know you want to keep her confidence due to her abandonment issues with her birth mom, but this should be dealt with, probably sooner than later. Even though she may see it as a betrayal at first, she may also see you as a worried parent who's going to do what's necessary to get her help, at any cost, even breaching her confidence.
In any event, as a parent who's had her hands full with a wild child for a few years, I'd get her assessed by a child/adol pdoc first. Not all pdocs are going to want to pump her full of meds, but to find out what's really going on inside her head.
You must be terribly worried and my heart goes out for you. I hope you are able to get her the help she needs.
Posted by seldomseen on October 1, 2008, at 3:27:32
In reply to 13 yr girl w/Clinical Vampirism + mental illness?, posted by islandangel on September 30, 2008, at 17:26:47
Does her father know what is going on? What is his stance on all of this?
A lot of kids go through a very very dark period, hence the whole goth thing, and it's okay.
There are several questions that come to my mind:
How much is this interfering with her life? How is she doing in school (her grades etc..). Has she gotten in trouble at school for her behaviour? Any trouble with the law?
If this child is essentially drinking biohazards, then there are much bigger issues here I think than maintaining her confidence. SHe is in a very real way endangering her life.
I think she *is* testing you to see how much of a mother versus a friend you actually will be. Sometimes kids need a parent a lot more than they need another friend.
If this has progressed to actual risk taking and self harm, then I would let the confidences go and engage the father and any other resources at my disposal to help this child.
Seldom.
Posted by islandangel on October 1, 2008, at 15:09:46
In reply to Re: 13 yr girl w/Clinical Vampirism + mental illness? » islandangel, posted by seldomseen on October 1, 2008, at 3:27:32
> Does her father know what is going on? What is his stance on all of this?>
Yes, her father and I talked about it. He is very laid back and says let the psychologist/therapist figure out whether she has mental illness and needs psychiatric help.
> A lot of kids go through a very very dark period, hence the whole goth thing, and it's okay.
>Honestly, she's always been dark and only has one friend at school. She is the type of child who never had a barbie cause she'd rip the head off.
> There are several questions that come to my mind:>
> How much is this interfering with her life? How is she doing in school (her grades etc..). Has she gotten in trouble at school for her behaviour? Any trouble with the law?>No trouble with the law at 13 she is fairly anti social & immature. We met with the school counselor. She has gotten a couple of detentions due to horseplay and not handing in assignments.We have to battle to get her to show us homework and grades.She has only 12 girls in her class and teachers are very involved. She is a master at charming adults & teachers, thats part of the Reactive Attachment disorder.
> If this child is essentially drinking biohazards, then there are much bigger issues here I think than maintaining her confidence. SHe is in a very real way endangering her life. >
I told her this. She answered with she knew the risks & mentioned HIV as well as hepatitis. We just have no proof of cutting to draw blood from herself or others although she claims she has consumed a lot of blood.
> I think she *is* testing you to see how much of a mother versus a friend you actually will be. Sometimes kids need a parent a lot more than they need another friend.>
Her birth Mom tries to play friend. I refuse to do that. She does need a Mom but she doesn't want me as one. Whenever she realizes she's getting close she creates drama with me.
> If this has progressed to actual risk taking and self harm, then I would let the confidences go and engage the father and any other resources at my disposal to help this child.>
Keeping her confidence allows her to continue to share with me, which could help us help her more in counseling. I think we have to keep a close eye on her. I guess I'm just not patient and I want to know if she needs psychiatric care in addition to her therapist. I'm quietly monitoring as much as possible. Maybe we need to talk with the psychologist about finding a way to address the issue but she may shut down and then we will find out nothing about what she is doing behind closed doors or when we aren't looking.
Posted by jms600 on October 1, 2008, at 17:37:38
In reply to Re: 13 yr girl w/Clinical Vampirism + mental illne » seldomseen, posted by islandangel on October 1, 2008, at 15:09:46
What's everyone's opinion on prescribing an atypical antipsychotic? Would it be wise to prescribe - what are essentially 'heavy' drugs - to a minor, even if they do successfully treat the underlying condition??
I'm certainly no doctor / psychiatrist so maybe someone more knowledgeable here could advise??
Posted by islandangel on October 1, 2008, at 18:49:49
In reply to Re: 13 yr girl w/Clinical Vampirism + mental illne, posted by jms600 on October 1, 2008, at 17:37:38
> What's everyone's opinion on prescribing an atypical antipsychotic? Would it be wise to prescribe - what are essentially 'heavy' drugs - to a minor, even if they do successfully treat the underlying condition??
>
> I'm certainly no doctor / psychiatrist so maybe someone more knowledgeable here could advise??THANK YOU!! That is what I'm wondering too!
Posted by Gee on October 1, 2008, at 19:43:57
In reply to 13 yr girl w/Clinical Vampirism + mental illness?, posted by islandangel on September 30, 2008, at 17:26:47
Hey,
I know you're worried about your step-daughter, but are you sure it's not just a ploy for attention? When she's talking to you about it, she knows she has your full attention and she knows it worries you. Also, if the kids at school know about it, it gives her an identity. At 13, most girls are trying to find their own identity. And for those who don't have a social group to gather their identity from it can be harder. Are there any activities she could join which may help give her another identity and a group of friends? Something like Girl Scouts, a youth group, sports?
I know you don't want to keep her confidence, but is there any way you can show her how serious and how worried you are about her?
She's lucky to have you on her side. It sounds like you care a lot about her and really want to help her which could be really helpful to her if is mental illness
Posted by calamityjane on October 2, 2008, at 12:46:58
In reply to Re: 13 yr girl w/Clinical Vampirism + mental illness?, posted by Gee on October 1, 2008, at 19:43:57
When I was 13 and in middle school there were many girls who acted out in different ways, always to get attention. For the most part, all of the ones I can think of turned out okay. Heck, most of them turned out better than me - and I was an innocent little angel all the way through middle and high school. I think all girls act out at some point.
oh - and you DID see the movie "Thirteen" didnt you? May be a good movie for you.....
Posted by jms600 on October 2, 2008, at 16:39:06
In reply to Re: 13 yr girl w/Clinical Vampirism + mental illne » jms600, posted by islandangel on October 1, 2008, at 18:49:49
> > What's everyone's opinion on prescribing an atypical antipsychotic? Would it be wise to prescribe - what are essentially 'heavy' drugs - to a minor, even if they do successfully treat the underlying condition??
> >
> > I'm certainly no doctor / psychiatrist so maybe someone more knowledgeable here could advise??
>
> THANK YOU!! That is what I'm wondering too!
I know antipsychotic drugs are disliked by some people because of their actions and side-effects - however, for many people they DO work and help those suffering from psychoses lead normal lives.I'm not sure on the situation of prescribing antipsychotic drugs to under 18's.
I'd have thought the atypicals would be preferred - Olanzapine; Quetiapine; Risperidone; Amisulpride; Ziprasidone etc.I know (some of) these are available as depot injections - one injection of the drug lasts for a number of weeks.
I think you should certainly speak to a qualified psychiatrist who could advise on which - if any - are suitable for prescribing to children. He would also discuss what therapies would be suitable.
Good luck!
Posted by islandangel on October 2, 2008, at 20:03:31
In reply to Re: 13 yr girl w/Clinical Vampirism + mental illne » islandangel, posted by jms600 on October 2, 2008, at 16:39:06
Thank you so much! That is incredibly helpful! On a follow-up note... I am talking to my daughter & trying to convince her to share her vampirism with her therapist. I told her that the therapist will help teach her how to live & deal with it. I told her she is unique and in order to live with it happily & successfully she needs the tools to learn how to live with other human beings since she is so unique. I'm going to continue this approach with her so that eventually she will learn that sharing with the therapist is a good thing. A heartfelt thanks for the input and support. I'll follow up with you all as we continue to work on this.
Posted by rskontos on October 5, 2008, at 19:24:46
In reply to Re: 13 yr girl w/Clinical Vampirism + mental illne » jms600, posted by islandangel on October 2, 2008, at 20:03:31
islandangel,
I think, and this is just my opinion, that vampirism and the fascination with it could also be a thing with control. When you think about it, being a vampire, or at least you can think that they have control and power over people. And to attach yourself to that group is a way to try and have control or power over others at a time when you feel like you have the least amount of control, power or influence. That age is a hard age, one of defining oneself, and feeling a lack of conrol over who and what you are is such an issue. Just a thought.
rsk
Posted by islandangel on October 12, 2008, at 18:24:37
In reply to Re: 13 yr girl w/Clinical Vampirism + mental illne  » islandangel, posted by rskontos on October 5, 2008, at 19:24:46
I thought I would post a follow-up to all the wonderful folks who responded to my plea for help. In our last therapy session I told the therapist and my step daughter that she's been side tracked and is failing classes and her responsibilities because she is distracted with this "issue". I also said that the stress from this is making me sick (it is) and I can't take it any more. The therapist told my daughter that keeping a secret from her Dad (my hubby) is a control issue and that it puts a wedge between us her parents. I also told her I fear sharing her secret because I don't want her to think I let her down. The therapist said it's time to talk about "it". Our daughter played control by hem-hawing for an hour and a half. She ended up telling the therapist and my husband by playing hang man with the words... "I am a vampire", along with a few hints from me. Talk about control!!! The RAD (reactive attachment disorder) in her does the control thing, the mental health side of her is the vampire thing. I think it is a little bit of both.
At least now its out in the open in therapy and our therapist can start working with her... then decide whether she needs a psychiatrist or just LOTS of therapy. She says she has been having these vampire dreams since she lived with her birth mother. That was when she was in second grade. It was a time of verbal abuse and neglect. It definitely could be an escape but there is some sort of delusional component to it all.
Thank you again! I'll keep you all posted.
Posted by Kath on October 16, 2008, at 14:55:58
In reply to Re: 13 yr girl w/Clinical Vampirism + mental illne, posted by islandangel on October 12, 2008, at 18:24:37
So sorry - this sounds tragic & so extremely stressful for you.
There's info I'd like to give you, but would rather do it by "Babblemail" if you are interested. At the moment your babblemail isn't 'turned on'.
If you're interested, feel free to babblemail me & I'd reply.
Sincerely, Kath
Posted by Kath on October 16, 2008, at 14:58:47
In reply to Re: 13 yr girl w/Clinical Vampirism + mental illness?, posted by islandangel on September 30, 2008, at 21:01:59
Just read the post where you say she craves drinking blood.
Not to try to minimize anything - I wonder if she has a severe nutritional deficiency of some sort?
I wonder if there's anything on the internet about that?
Kath
Posted by Kath on October 16, 2008, at 15:10:14
In reply to Re: 13 yr girl w/Clinical Vampirism + mental illne, posted by islandangel on October 12, 2008, at 18:24:37
On this link, there was mention of craving blood & possible connection with Celiac Disease.
If you have a Naturopathic Medical School or College nearby, or one that you can contact, there's a wealth of knowledge there that regular doctors wouldn't have.
Just a thought. It sounds like quite a complex situation. Best of luck, Kath
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080801100315AAql0Ng
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