12 year old ds and obsessional intrusive thoughts

[zombiestomper]

my lovely 12 year old ds is having awful intrusive thoughts about committing acts of violence against himself, myself and his baby brother.
He is so distressed he cannot sleep. This was triggered by being allowed to watch the Evil Dead by his cousin (adult, mother of two). He already attends child services for mental health as he has adhd which is well managed. He has an appointment with the consultant for next week. Any one else suffered similar?

That is a shame that someone let him watch that. Of course many can watch it and not have any ill effect but for some children, watching this type of film it can trigger off all sorts of emotions.

I think your son needs expert advice and it's good that you are seeing a consultant.

I am not a psychiatrist but can only suggest as a layman that unwanted thoughts may be helped by your son being able to relax and try and concentrate on other things that are peaceful.

Restful music being played may help. Getting him to talk about his feelings is very important even though you may hear shocking and disgusting things.

Try to help him understand the difference between make believe fantasy and real life.

I don't know if it would help him to talk about special effects in films so that he can try and differentiate between what is real and isn't.

Mr Bean is a good example of showing a child that an actor can be a loveable character in one film and then show him Blackadder where Rowan Atkinson is rather mean.

Helping him to understand that bad things in films are a place for people to view them but not to let them cross over into real life.

I think a child psychiatrist would be of great help to your son in helping understand this.

As for the person who let him see the film I hope they have been informed of the damage their irresponsibility has caused.

Hello,

I am not sure if this will help, but my son has periodically suffered from what he calls 'bad thoughts'. He also has mild Asperger's. He is now 15, nearly 16, but this started for him way back in primary school. The thoughts would differ during each episode, but for example, he would start to fear attacks on me or our family. These episodes are often preceded by something stressful like return to school or, like your son, seeing a film that disturbed him at a friend's house. They would be severe enough to make him fearful and anxious about anything that might trigger the thoughts. I so felt for him because I could see how hard he was fighting off the thoughts. He still has occasional anxious times which manifest as nightmares but I am glad to say that as he grows up they have lessened.

What helped at the time was to de-personalize the thoughts. That is, we turned the 'bad thoughts' into something that he could see as not him. He could tell them to go away or put them in a box (in his imagination). I also talked to him about how these thoughts are not real but something our brain makes when the chemicals are upset (I know, not exactly scientific, but it did help him). I made it funny for him by saying the bad thoughts were a kind of brain burp...Anything to help him see the thoughts as something he had some kind of control over and not as him. I told him they would pass in time. It helped to not worry at them with him or get into the specifics but to keep the house as anxiety-free as possibly and to get out into the fresh air and to keep some good things going on at home. If he is up for it, a back rub at bedtime and a good, safe going to bed routine helped my DS. We didn't get medical help, but I think it might well have been helpful. I hope the consultant can help you too. There are also some really good books out there for children with anxieties and bad thoughts.

Good luck ~ sending strength to you and your son.

My DS had ASD and ADD and last year was becoming obsessed with death. He said the thoughts kept coming. He didn't want to harm himself or others, just wondered what it would be like to die, where you go after etc. he discovered that a particular x box game (and not an obvious suspect) made it worse and voluntarily gave it up. He also talked it over with his counsellor at CAMHS. He is so stressed and tense all the time it is heartbreaking at the best of times, I really worry about him so I can sympathise with how much fear and anxiety you must be feeling. Definitely keep seeing professionals for help.

No advice but WTAF was she thinking of?

Hope he's ok op