Posted by 10derheart on May 16, 2013, at 19:35:35
In reply to Re: The word 'could'. » gardenergirl, posted by Dinah on May 16, 2013, at 18:24:06
Sounds about right to me. I'll never understand certain interpretations of self-expression that are apparently, allegedly, supposedly seen as civil here. Never, ever, ever.
When my now adult 'kid' was small, I drugged her for strep throat and for ear infections. I drugged my kid for chronic pain. I drugged her for vitamin and iron deficiencies. I drugged my kid for burns and abrasions on her skin. When she was 18, legal but still completely relying on me to help decide and to facilitate any kind of medical treatment, I highly encouraged her to drug herself with....[drum roll] a psychiatric medication when she had sudden, persistent suicidal ideation and depression. Since my insurance covered this drug and without me she really wouldn't have known it was available or how to get it (we were living in Europe at the time), I take responsibility for druggin' her that time, too. She, after a small adjustment since she was so sensitive to the 'drug' (prefer to call these medications, but...I'll go with the flow) felt vastly better within six weeks and has never had another suicidal thought in the 13 years since. She voluntarily chose when to stop drugging herself.
My daughter drugs her daughter for infections, pain, allergies and more. She does so as little as possible and trusts her own judgment to know when to do so, and when to enlist the help of a doctor to potentially prescribe certain drugs, and whether or not to give them to her daughter after weighing risks and benefits. I approve of and have assisted in this drugging of my granddaughter. She is a remarkably happy, healthy child who accepts a reasonable level of druggin' when presented to her (not old enough to decide too much yet, but she gets a say) and declines drugs when she feels better. She has a serious and mature appreciation of what grown-up and possibly dangerous tools drugs are, just as she does with hammers, the stove, and the controls on our cars - she leaves the tool-using, cooking, driving and drugging to her parents and me unless she is expressly told she may touch or use these tools, supervised. If she ever shows mental health symptoms just as alarming or painful as the physical ones she has been drugged for by the adults in her life who love and care for her, I would gladly support her parents' decision to drug her with a psychiatric 'drug' as well. I see this as balanced, attentive parenting and grandparenting, doing the best we can at each turn. Life is full of choices; they can go wrong but we must do the best we can with what we know at the time, especially for kids who can't so for themselves.
I wish medicine had advanced enough while I was a youngster so my doctor and parents had even known enough about my suffering with ADD to consider the **option** of druggin' me with some helpful drug. That way, I well may not have drugged myself with nicotine, caffeine and sometimes alcohol for decades trying to relieve symptoms.
I am proud of my drugging of my kid and her drugging of her kid. I feel the same about it as I do about my feeding her fruits and veggies and lots of water, teaching her to swim, or allowing her to ride a bike fast (without helmets, which were unheard of back in the day). She could have choked on a piece of carrot, slipped on a banana peel dropped on the floor and broken a bone, drowned, or cracked her head open, and yes, died, or killed me or herself after taking that drug, I suppose. Yet, I still feel this was all rationale, responsible parenting. I am sure I'd feel even stronger had my D. or gd had cancer, diabetes, severe asthma, allergy to bee stings, deep depression, schizophrenia, or anything else that could quickly be deadly.
It's as simple as this for me.
Proud drugger.
MDD (presently in complete remission); ADD-Inattentive type; mild anxiety (not fomally dx'd)
Meds: Strattera 80 mg q day
poster:10derheart
thread:1042981
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20130109/msgs/1043787.html