tantrums in a 7 year old (28 Aug 02) 1message

tantrums in a 7 year old

posted by Jo Ann on 2002-08-28 13:18:24


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My daughter has been having tantrums since she was 18 months old. I expected them in the terrible twos but they've never really disappeared. Now that their frequency has diminished, their severity has increased. this doesn't cause too many problems at home but it does cause major problems at school.

Yesterday, she was the line leader and after recess, when her class was lining up, she shoved two children and the teacher in order to get in front of the line. The teacher told her that she couldn't be line leader if she didn't behave better and she began screaming, crying, and stomping so severely that it took 2 adults 30 minutes to calm her down.

We use to talk about alternate choices she could have made in order to avoid these situations and role play so that she could learn some strategies for coping with frustration, disappointment, etc, but now she just says, I don't want to talk about it.

Please give me some ideas/suggestions

I'm not sure if your children has SAD or not , but I started to suffer from SAD when I was about 13 or 14 years old. The doctor put it down to exams at school and things. I was a very withdrawn teenager and would do anything to get out of socialising with friends or family members. I spent most of my time in my bedroom alone and didn't want to talk to anyone. I also had depression but it took 8 years before i was finally diagnosed and got treatment. Isuggest that you speak to your doctor for advice and be informative when telling them about what your child is like.

good luck

Claire

Claire, ditto. My mother actually sent me to a hypnotherapist but I've got to say I found it virtually useless - I didn't really trust the guy, felt like he was trying to get me to 'fit in' more at school in ways which weren't me. It might have had some effect because I remember feeling angrier after that - maybe that was a change from the depression being turned inwards but it didn't really transform into anything constructive. There were a lot of family troubles at the time, brother had a drug problem and parents were on the verge of splitting up, though they stayed together in the end, so I don't know if it was something like SAD or reactive depression. At least I had a very kind deputy headmistress in the school who tried to offer some support.

I presented myself to the doctor when I was 18, he wasn't a very good doctor and prescribed me with very strong antidpressents, not like SSRIs but the kind that made you feel like a zombie. I did get a referral to a psychiatry unit, all they were interested in was whether or not I was hearing voices (I wasn't) but at least they said the antidepressants were completely unsuitable. My depression was lifting by the time I got an appointment with the unit, anyway.

However, I have had episodes of depression ever since, not all the time but it's never really gone away. Did I have SAD or was I a depressive who later developed more of a seasonal pattern? I don't know. I can't remember whether those times happened in winter - I don't believe they all did, but they might have occured more frequently in winter.

Anyway, enough of the life story - I'm not a mum so don't know what's out there these days, but have you noticed a seasonal pattern at all Helen and Jo Ann? Do you think your child is better in the summer generally?

Lorraine