Extreme emotional dysregulation

[Anonymous]

My teen DD has a really hard time regulating her emotions. She frequently cries or screams loudly at some setback, insecurity, or perceived slight, sometimes several times a day. It has ruined many friendships because she can be exhausting to be around.

Although she snaps at people sometimes, she is not otherwise angry or aggressive. She's a great kid aside from this - friendly, kind, creative, and funny. She is very bright and does well in school.

This has been a lifelong problem but has gotten much worse in adolescence. We have cycled through multiple meds in an effort to help, none of which has made more than a marginal difference. Ditto therapy, which she's been in for years. We had her screened a few years ago and she received only an anxiety diagnosis. People have been urging me to get her rescreened, for ASD in particular. But to me she does not seem to me to have issues with social skills other than turning people off with her intensity.

I'm wondering if anyone has a kid like this, what diagnosis if any they have, and most of all, what has helped. I'll add that this problem is currently making my DD miserable.

[Anonymous]

I would look into DBT, it has been incredible for us and really works on emotional regulation.

[Anonymous]

Could she have ADHD? This is the primary way it manifests in my family (we all have anxiety too).

[Anonymous]

Mine is like this and has autism, anxiety, and ADHD.

[Anonymous]

Not to scare you but could be emerging bipolar. Most professionals may not diagose at a young age. However, most adults later diagnosed said that adolescence was very emotional and difficult.

It's often found in people with very intense emotions.

[Anonymous]

Yes she should be rescreened.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My teen DD has a really hard time regulating her emotions. She frequently cries or screams loudly at some setback, insecurity, or perceived slight, sometimes several times a day. It has ruined many friendships because she can be exhausting to be around.

Although she snaps at people sometimes, she is not otherwise angry or aggressive. She's a great kid aside from this - friendly, kind, creative, and funny. She is very bright and does well in school.

This has been a lifelong problem but has gotten much worse in adolescence. We have cycled through multiple meds in an effort to help, none of which has made more than a marginal difference. Ditto therapy, which she's been in for years. We had her screened a few years ago and she received only an anxiety diagnosis. People have been urging me to get her rescreened, for ASD in particular. But to me she does not seem to me to have issues with social skills other than turning people off with her intensity.

I'm wondering if anyone has a kid like this, what diagnosis if any they have, and most of all, what has helped. I'll add that this problem is currently making my DD miserable.

This could be any kid but is more pronounced in children with ADHD. Is she able to maintain friendships or is this just with family? You are doing a good job with therapy for her but what about for you? I have found that when one of my kids acts up the best I can do is stay calm and remove myself from the situation. I actually just did this. If she is getting older, I would remind when calm that while your family will love you, the world will not allow out bursts. She has to work on tools managing anger. Just know that you are not alone. I can think back and be honest that I was awful to my parents and grew out of it and became a productive member of society.

[Anonymous]

Regardless of her diagnoses, I am a huge fan of DBT. DBT is so beneficial for everyone and is made up of 4 main components- Mindfulness skills, Emotional Regulation, Interpersonal Effectiveness and Distress Tolerance. These are life long skills for anyone to utilize, especially adolescents. There are many practices in the DMV area that offer strict DBT or DBT informed groups for teenagers. I highly recommend for teens and adults!

[Anonymous]

what is DBT?

[Anonymous]

Dialectal Behavior Therapy - made my life so much more successful than it otherwise would have been and wish I had access as a teen. One of the nice things about DBT is that it’s a very concrete construct and for a teen I think it might be all the more useful because of that. TBH, I don’t think it could harm….anyone, so it might be worth a try before pursuing other diagnoses.

[Anonymous]

*Dialectical

[Anonymous]

Sounds like PANDAS/PANS. I recommend naturopathic medicine which will include a combination of homeopathy, supplements, diet changes and cleaning up the environment. All to stimulate detox and fix vitamin deficiencies.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like my daughter with ADHD.

Meds plus DBT were life changing for all of us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like PANDAS/PANS. I recommend naturopathic medicine which will include a combination of homeopathy, supplements, diet changes and cleaning up the environment. All to stimulate detox and fix vitamin deficiencies.

Not even remotely. Also, this is the not treatment for PANDAS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like PANDAS/PANS. I recommend naturopathic medicine which will include a combination of homeopathy, supplements, diet changes and cleaning up the environment. All to stimulate detox and fix vitamin deficiencies.

Not even remotely. Also, this is the not treatment for PANDAS.

I agree. +for DBT and -for PANS/PANDAS.