OUR STORY

I Want My Kid Back: Treating Emotional Dysregulation started with my son’s story and his willingness to share it. He suffered from severe emotional dysregulation as a child; his explosive fits looked like a behavior problem often attributable to poor parenting. Early on, I realized Thomas needed a different type of parenting (see references), which was essential in learning how to effectively work with him. We also tried other recommended treatments (occupational therapy, equine therapy, individual and family therapy), some of which helped somewhat. However, through five years of working with professionals, none recommended a medical consultation and, as a psychologist, it never crossed my mind to consider medication for a young child. Fortunately, we decided to seek a medical consult and found a remarkable child psychiatrist, Renee Richker, MD, who understood that Thomas was not  able to control his emotional reactions.  She helped us to understand that his issues were caused by a biologically driven mental illness that required medication for brain wiring, not behavior. Thanks to Dr. Richker we were able to begin to identify the medications (yep, more than one) required to help him stabilize and begin to thrive.

Our story ended in success! However, it is a long journey with treatment that requires time, energy and money. We are among the privileged, able to find and afford effective treatments. Unfortunately, until mental illnesses are appropriately categorized as health problems versus character flaws, affordable treatment may be hard for families to receive.  In sharing our story along with others, it is my hope that parents will have the knowledge to treat emotional dysregulation and that the health system will become more open to appropriately funding treatments.

Kristin Russell, PhD
Clinical Psychologist
Producer