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Feel like such a failure.......

jollymummy August 7, 2013 09:50
My h and I have reluctantly come to the decision that we cannot cope with our AD''s behaviour any more - at least in the short-term.I have twin 14 yearolds who have both spent the last 7 months in adolescent mental health units. One of them has been violent towards staff and peers and is waiting for a forensic assessment and a move to a medium-secure unit. She is being kept in isolation from her peers on 2-1 observations with one male member of staff. Thankfully the assessment is taking place tomorrow as I believe her beh has escalated because she knows they are moving her and she feels she has nothing to lose.The other AD has been in a less secure placement and had home leave. In the 7 months I think there has only been one (possibly two) weekends when there was not an incident. She has either taken overdoses, threatened to throw herself off carparks or run away. She has had a psychotic episode from smoking dope. One weekend she drank 3/4 bottle of wine (she hasn''t got a history of drinking, so that is a lot for her) and became really aggressive and violent - smashing the bottle against the worktop and waving it around. She has been arrested twice (and the last time was booked and interviewed) for carrying an offensive weapon as she wants to kill some boy. He has been warned so I am worried that he will hurt her first. I also have a 12 year old AS,and the last 12 months have been really traumatic for him, too. I am concerned about him witnessing domestic violence. She got aggressive and violent this last weekend, again after drinking. She also claims to have taken some tablet.I find it hard to put into words how hard it is dealing with the situation for one of my daughters, but we are going through it with two of them.Until now, if my daughter''s behaviour was risky we could take her back to hospital. However, she is due to be discharged next week as the psychiatrist says that she is not ill but that her problems are behavioural. She ahs already said that she can do what she wants, when she wants and is insisting she still wants to kill this boy! Our support from PAS has been terrible. They claim her problems are not related to adoption but that she has (inherited) mental health problems whereas her psychiatrist says the opposite, so I am caught between two teams having a p***ing contest!Now we have said that we cannot cope with her at home, it seems the only option is to place her in care. I am crying so much! I cannot believe it has come to this.WE keep going round and round in circles. Perhaps we will be able to cope? Maybe it is just a case of being firm, sticking to boundaries, etc.? But the psychiatrist has now told me that htey have already discussed the possiblity of her going into care as they saw where her behaviour was going. But that we had to raise it.WE didn''t adopt our family just to give them back to the care system when things are difficult, but I fear for my health, my daughter''s (and others'') safety and my son. Our PAS social worker says she doesn''t think I have any choice (and is, bizarrely, being really supportive now - I suspect her boss is the problem). She is saying that it should only be a short-term placement and that once her therapy sessions start in September she will hopefully make enough progress to come home. The sessions will be with CAMHS () and a therapist who will do lifestory work and attachment-focused therapy with her at the PAS offices.Thanks for listening (reading!)Jollymummy.
Edited 17/02/2021
Hilly7 August 7, 2013 10:08
You are not a failure. It sounds like you are coping immensely well in the circumstances with little support. Placing her back into the care system until she is on a more even keel sounds sensible if coming home is the only other option they are offering.
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Teletubbies August 7, 2013 10:20
Dear Jollymummy - what a very difficult time you're going through.It sounds a complete nightmare but you really do need to keep yourselves & your son & daughters safe - including being safe from themselves. In my humble opinion the magnitude of the difficulties must be very high for your ADs to have been in-patients for so long. Sadly we can't cure our children or take away their traumatic pasts. We too have similar issues and some difficult decisions to make but will be going through plan A first after a long wait getting the support our BD & AD need. Plan B will need to be section 20 but I need emotional & mental space to think first.Please take good care of yourselves, I hope you have supportive family & friends. You are grieving so no wonder you can't stop crying. I'm sure you never imagined your life would turn out like this did you. Many board users have been through these decisions & I'm sure will be able to offer more support than I can. From my reading they have come out the otherside & know that the decision was the right & only one they could have made.Wishing you all the hugs, strength & peace whatever the future holds - keep posting.((((Jollymummy)))) Teletubbies xx
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tsmum August 7, 2013 11:58
How utterly heartbreaking. You are first and foremost NOT a failure. You may feel it, you may feel guilty, but it is not your fault. It sounds like you have hung in there and been there for your daughters long after others would have given up.This is our lifes too. We can only deal with so much.My son is 17 and I've had to let him go his own way for now, in the hope he will come back to me. I had to make him homeless a when he started drug taking and stealing from me. His behaviour was dangerous and we felt in fear from drug dealers.He has his own place provided by SS and is coping very badly. But he won't take advice or help, he won't tell me things. He lies and says he's been stabbed, threatened with a gun, in order to get money from me.Who knows if any of it is true.I had to let go because it was just too difficult to carry on any more after 13 years of very difficult behaviours. He made it easy for me by coming home to stay and stealing from me and disappearing without a word. I decided then that ok, nothing I could do would help, let him do his thing and come back to me eventually. It was made easier with the death of my mum which has changed me to see how short life is. I also got so tired over the years of being completely ignored by SS. There is only so many 'I told you so's' you can say before you think = JUST WHAT IS THE POINT they will NEVER listen. A section 20 is painful, it feels like you have failed, like you are throwing in the towel, but sometimes it is your only option in this system. It doesn't mean you don't love them or care for them. It means you cannot cope with living life like this. You will have to watch her being moved about as other people discover they too can't cope. You will find her trying to play you off against another carer and making outrageous claims in order for you to take her back. But in your situation you still have a son to think of and yes, he can't watch this.I'm so sad for you that you have come to this cross roads. It is so painful and others outside of adoption won't understand but you do have to look after yourself too. Take care
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Pear Tree August 7, 2013 17:13
Good afternoon I'm here to say 1) think you are pretty amazing having held on on your own with needs a whole unit can't cope withAnd 2) I'm a mum with a child who is section 20 and many of us on here are.Think going for s20 allows you to be a mum againIt takes the serious risk/ care management out of your direct day to day livesFor us, the hideous last few events that lead finally to blossom moving out and the ugly and unnecessary fight for funding for agreed service provision was an awful time. The loss of blossomWow that was so so painful But it remained the right thing to do, for many reasons.Your post reminds me of a book written by a male adopter. Trying to recall the name etc... UmmIs it 'the adoption'I will find and checkAnyway- welcome againWe've been on the brink of secure but the ss refused to fund so blossom is in a small unit and we see her often.
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jollymummy August 7, 2013 17:29
Thanks all for your supportive messages. I took her to the orthodontist today, expecting her to run away, but she didn't. Then on the way home she said "** says, when I get back we can talk about me having leave". I nearly burst into tears. She doesn't know what we have decided, and that she will not be having leave. SW says they will not tell her until they have found her a place and obtained the funding. It's her birthday next wednesday and she is so excited about it and being discharged on Thursday, but she is going to be devastated when they tell her she cannot come home!I am expecting her to be really hurt and angry with us and it will totally spoil her birthday. It is all so heartbreaking!Jollymummy
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oysterbabe64 August 7, 2013 19:12
Hello again JM, we spoke in April and I'm so sorry to hear of the ongoing troubles with your dd's. I know you were worried where this was all going to lead ... As in section 20 etc. I didn't register that you had a son too. Please pm me should you need to talk again. I wish I could send more than good vibes or virtual hugs. It's so hard making decisions that affect people in your family. I do know how that feels.Ob64
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jollymummy August 7, 2013 19:33
Thanks Ob64. I do remember chatting to you earlier this year. Thanks for (again) taking the time to reply. JM x
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Pear Tree August 8, 2013 09:49
'A forever family' by John houghtonhttp://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/0571227791/ref=redir_mdp_mobile
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Tokoloshe August 8, 2013 09:58
You are doing an amazing job - the length of time your DDs have been in-patient shows the extent of their needs.If the best thing is for them to live elsewhere - whether in hospital, in FC, whatever - then you are being a great mum in supporting them in the place that is best for them. You are not 'giving them back to the care system'. If they had a physical illness that required hospitalization or specially equipped care then you wouldn't feel a 'failure' as a mother, or think you were 'giving them back'. There is no difference here, where their mental health problems need specialist treatment.And the damage hasn't been 'done by adoption', but by their experiences before adoption Take care of yourself, rest as much as you can.
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jollymummy August 8, 2013 10:39
Thanks Peartree. x
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jollymummy August 8, 2013 10:40
Thanks Tokoloshe. x
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Jezminda August 8, 2013 15:03
Hi jollymummy, I don't have as much time as I would like to reply but didn't want to just read and run. Your experiences sound very similar to mine, except it is my son who has had these difficulties. We had to make the incredibly difficult decision for our son to go into care. At that time the ward couldn't manage his behaviour and we didn't really have a choice. It was undoubtebly the best decision for our younger child and us as parents. I think it was also better for my son as I think living in a family is just too difficult. Unfortunately it seems as if he can't manage anywhere and has had several moves as no where seems able to manage him. Through all this we have seen him very often. I am not saying it is easy to make the decision, or to live with it, but I think we made the least worse choice. I completely underestimated the impact of the older ones behaviour on my youngest, as time has passed I realise how crazy our world had become. Some of our children simply cannot manage in families. Please do not feel in any way responsible for this situation, having one child like this has brought us to our knees, I can not imagine how you have coped with 2.Do you have any support for yourselves? I have been astounded by the lack of empathy in the professionals we have dealt with.We have experienced more secure places, if you would like any ifo please pm me. Please look after yourself as much as you can and I hope things improve for you all.
Edited 17/02/2021

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