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The topic of Tuesday’s show, Surviving the Suicide of a Child, was quite difficult, but we hope it may prevent the tragic loss of another life by suicide. HealthyPlace.com Medical Director, Dr. Harry Croft, provided some reasons why children and teens might choose to die by suicide:
• Depression
• Loss of relationship
• Drug and alcohol abuse
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Where do you turn? How do you cope when your child commits suicide?
The transformation from childhood into teenage years should be a memorable one. The progression from grade school to middle school, then to high school brings special moments such as school dances, track meets and new friends. However, some kids have different experiences. Pain from rejection, bullying, and disappointments consume some children and cause them to end their lives by suicide.
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Living with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) can cause a sufferer a lot of agony. HealthyPlace Medical Director, Dr. Harry Croft, says OCD sufferers are paralyzed by unwanted thoughts, doubt, and fear. It’s these irrational thoughts, reports Dr. Croft, that cause repetitive actions such as checking, counting, or washing hands, just to bring them to what they feel is a "safe" place.
The true inspiration of Tuesday’s show was our guest, James Callner. He took us through his journey with OCD from the very beginning, at age 29. Now in his late fifties, he still suffers from OCD, but is proud to say that he lives in a high-functioning state.
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Have you ever experienced unwanted thoughts or felt the need to repeat an action over-and-over again until you felt safe? Have these thoughts or actions caused you anxiety, to the point of interfering with your normal activities? If so, we invite you to watch Tuesday night’s show focusing on obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
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Parenting is a tough job. Parenting a child with a mental illness is unusually tough, as we learned from Tuesday evening's HealthyPlace TV Show.
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Anyone who is raising a child knows of the challenges involved. From a very young age, all the way into teenage years, parents sometimes struggle to understand mood behaviors, actions and learning problems of their precious children.
Many parents wonder: "is there something wrong with my child?" - but they can't put their finger on the problem or they make up excuses to validate the child's behavior - "all boys are like that."
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Mental health certainly carries a lot of stigma, but think about this -- how many adults have you ever heard discuss surviving child sexual abuse? Outside of my job, the answer would be "none." No one talks about it. They mention sexual predators or child molesters, but not what life is like after being sexually abused as a child.
On Tuesday night's HealthyPlace TV Show, the discussion centered around the impact child sexual abuse has later in life. Dr. Harry Croft, Medical Director of HealthyPlace, helped us understand how sexual abuse impacts victims in their adult lives. Many child abuse survivors suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, personality disorders and many self-harm. It's frightening, but some go on to become abusers themselves.
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In today’s world, there is much discussion on the subject of sexually abused children. On a regular basis, our nightly newscasts bring us appalling stories of sexual predators and their young, innocent victims. Do you ever stop to wonder what happens to these “children” as they turn into adults themselves and try to lead a normal life? What is a normal life after you realize that you’re youth has been taken away?
On Tuesday’s show (June 16), we'll dig into a topic that is often never talked about: adult survivors of child sexual abuse. Many times, victims try to lead normal lives but encounter problems such as low self esteem, problems with relationships, trust issues, and the ability to have normal sexual relations. As a result of the sexual abuse, other disorders such as PTSD and depression occur.
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What a great show!
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Sometimes in life, we encounter many situations that leave us empty or broken, causing us to feel like we have failed. For some, it’s easy to pick up the pieces and move on; but others are not so lucky. Feelings of self-doubt, emptiness and sorrow consume some people leaving them with nowhere to turn.
I read this book many years ago, just as I was entering the turmoil of remembering, questioning and doubting myself all the way (as I'd been covertly taught over a lifetime). I happened to mention to my two sisters one day, "This is so strange but I've been diagnosed with PTSD." Both my sisters surprised me by responding, "Me too."
THEN I happened upon an old book manuscript that my now deceased father had written (not published), wherein the protagonist was obviously based upon himself and he rapes his "fiancee," who had my unusual name. Yes, truly.
Then I made myself look at the peculiar memory I always had where he violently threatened me but somehow I had never been able to recall what came before or after the episode. I had to admit that was a bit strange.
The pressures and powers to forget sexual abuse are great, both in family and society. In fact, I've come to the sad conclusion that the vast majority of survivors never really deal with their childhood wounds (a neglect for which there are always repercussions).
To critique an encouragement of people trusting their intuition in such matters is really getting the prescription dangerously wrong.
Thanks!