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My husband and I adopted our 3 children about 10 yrs ago. For the most part it has been a great experience. BUT now they are all teens and issues are coming up that we are really struggling with. 15 yr old DD struggling with anxiety, depression, and self harm. 13 yr old DD starting to exhibit some of the same behaviors. 18 yr old DS tried to move out with no job or high school diploma but thankfully returned at least for now. Working to start family counseling. How do I survive crisis after crisis? The stress is overwhelming!
Are they on meds? My youngest, now 12, is on meds for anxiety and it's worked like a charm. My 14 yo is in the rebellion/disrespect/talking back stage. Ish!!
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My 15 yr old is on meds with mixed results. Trying 2nd type of med now. Just when she seems to be doing better, she has a relapse.
After raising an ADHD, BiPolar, Manic Depressive, PD teen I honestly felt like I could concur the world. It's super hard very stressful. I did it with 1 teen and 2 littles can't imagine 3 teens at once. Yikes.
I read an article in one of the journals dont remember which one. It talked about how parents handled the preteen-teen years and it said back in the 30-50's it was booze, 60-70's it was pot & booze, now a days moms are on more anti depressants and mood stabilizers than any other group of people :arrow: . Apparently we have an age old problem. Which clearly many other people had a hard time handling. Best of luck dear, I can only tell you that it really does get better as they age, my oldest is nearing 18 and we're finally starting to see that there is a light at the end of the tunnel we can't tell how far away that light is but we can see a small flicker! :woohoo:
:)
Have a 4 y.o. adopted son and also step mom to two teen girls - 18 and 16. The 16 y.o. is classified as emotionally disturbed, been on multiple meds, suicidal ideation, self-harm, drugs, hatred of one parent or all any given point in time, multiple schools, psychologists, etc, etc. She blames everyone for her life and accepts no responsibility. It's tough. Start by taking care of yourself and your marriage. Don't let the situation come between you - don't play the blame game. Create a healthy environment and don't do things out of fear. You'll go down a spiraling rabbit hole if you do.