Freaked out by voices in my daughters head

watergirl

Thu, Oct 14 2021, 8:45 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

I would only do psychiatry as a last resort since I know there isn't much they can offer. I hope there is a different, maybe more holistic approach that can help make sense of and resolve this.

I just want to pull this quote out to address it. Why do you think there is only so much psychiatry can offer? If she is experiencing hallucinations, there is A LOT psychiatry can offer. Medications to regulate the hormones and chemicals in her brain that may be misfiring and having absorption issues which cause the hallucinations to occur. I am oversimplifying this to a significant degree, of course. This is very serious and not something to treat "holistically" ie naturally. You really need an experienced psychiatrist. Start with her pediatrician and work from there.

paperflowers

Thu, Oct 14 2021, 8:58 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

I'm extremely concerned by what my daughter shared with me.
She has a voice in her and "sees" a person in detail telling her things (not what to do. Just disparaging comments)
She said she has been having this for years already but was embarrassed to tell anyone. She can sit at her desk, or lay in bed, and hear this person say snarky things. Not long sentences, just a few words or so, imitating or criticizing her.

I hope someone here can guide me about where to turn for this. I'm so nervous about this and just want to see her whole and happy.

Do I take her for trauma therapy? She was my oldest and had a difficult childhood, and I was not experienced and didnt handle it so well at times. I've grown a lot along with her and we bh have a great connection nowadays. Is it possible this is caused by residual trauma from childhood?

Can it be pandas related? She had been having rages, mood swings, insomnia and other pandas related stuff that went away when I put her on a pandas healing regimen a couple years ago.

I would only do psychiatry as a last resort since I know there isn't much they can offer. I hope there is a different, maybe more holistic approach that can help make sense of and resolve this.

She's 9 and a bright, likeable and mature kid. She does not have any other mental health issues (except for mood swings and impulsivity that went away on pandas regimen). This is coming out of left field and really shocked me.

She is not an attention seeking and is definitely not making this up.

She is a sensitive child and has very strong emotions, and has always had difficulty regulating but we have seen major improvement since addressing pandas. She also has some self esteem issues.

She has been on the pandas regimen a couple years already, and we had been seeing consistent, long lasting improvement for so long already that about a month ago I felt like we can try taking her off and seeing if she's fine without. Can there be any connection to this? Could her inner voice/ hallucinations be a very odd backlash?

Any help and guidance is appreciated here.

This doesn’t sound psychotic to me. This sounds like a child with a deep inner world developing meta-cognition and starting to recognize the voices in her head. Don’t we all have a voice in our head that reminds us how awful we are? Therapy should be able to help her recognize and talk back to the negative thoughts and work on her self-esteem. If you feel that there is a trauma component than definitely find a therapist who can take a trauma informed approach.

Frumwithallergies

Thu, Oct 14 2021, 9:01 am

amother [ Daphne ] wrote:

Pans/pandas is not all that different from nmda receptor encephalitis, it just targets dopaminergic receptors in the basal ganglia instead of glutamate receptors. We also don’t know what % of kids with pandas would actually test positive for anti nmda receptor antibodies if physicians would actually order spinal taps when children presented with such disturbances. Either way according to research out of Stanford I linked above, up to 30% of children with pandas and pans experience auditory and visual hallucinations, so it’s actually quite common.

NMDA antibodies can also be tested on serology, not just on the cerebrospinal fluid. It requires a full medical evaluation.

I am just making the point that causes other than PANDAS should be considered and investigated, especially if the current treatment isn't working and new symptoms are developing.

amother

Melon

Thu, Oct 14 2021, 9:02 am

watergirl wrote:

I agree with OP. These medications are very strong, have a lot of side effects, and do not offer a cure. There's obviously a time and place for medication, but IMHO it should be as a last resort.

I think your best bet, OP, is to get her to a REALLY GOOD psychiatrist. IME they are surprisingly not rushing to medicate but may give you more insight into what her condition is, and if there are other ways of treating it.