Explaining to kids about psychosis

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Hi all. My DSis is in hospital with severe psychosis. I am looking after her 1-year-old DS. My 2 DC (7 and 4) are no longer satisfied with my fudged answers about what's wrong with their auntie. Does anyone have any advice on how to explain it properly?
Many thanks in advance.

You could try explaining it by using examples of logical behaviour - especially to your 7yo but may work with your 4yo as well, so:

A jigsaw puzzle or a model - have them think about how they have to find the pieces, sot them out and put them together in the right order to get the right picture/model at the end.

Then explain that Auntie's mind is like a puzzle or model that has been muddled up and she can't get the pieces back in the right places. While she's so muddled up she needs special doctors and nurses to help her find all the pieces and start putting them together, that is why she's in hospital - so she has those people around her all the time. Be clear that many people who have problems like this are able to manage their problems very well. Your 7yo might want the 'fancy name' but if it worries him/her give an example like losing his/her voice - it's simple to say that someone has 'lost their voice' but doctors have a fancy name for it and call it laryngitis (the fancy name doesn't have to be scary).

It might also be worth posting int eh mental health section - some people there might have had to explain this to children and could have some insight.

^sort

Thank you Andro - those are really nice ideas.

Yes, I think Andro's ideas sound good. I'm really sorry you are having to go through this, it must be very worrying. I hope she's got the best of care.

I'm assuming that this is a psychotic episode and she's likely to emerge from it in a few days/weeks with treatment? In addition it might be worth explaining that it is an illness making her feel muddled up, and that she will get better in time, hospital is the right place to be when you are poorly and it might take a while for her to recover. She will have medicine and special doctors and in the meantime her DC is going to stay with you so her mummy can rest.

I was involved in a similar situation a while ago and I was quite worried how one of the DCs (10y/o) was going to cope with it as he'd overheard a lot of adult conversation. I think reassuring DCs that it is an illness and that people get well again is important. Because it's so shocking when someone goes into psychosis it's easy for adults to talk about going mad/losing the plot/being a danger and all of that is scary for kids to hear. It sounds like you are managing the communications really well but it might be worth reminding friends and family to watch how they talk about it when the DCs are around.

HTH

One other thing; be prepared to have the same basic discussion more than once, it can take a few explanations for all the info to sink in.

for you and your Dsis.

Thank you DorasMummy, and again to Andro.

I do worry about what my older DC has overheard, and this is partly why I want to discuss it properly and make it not secret and scary (it has been really quite scary to be honest, and while I hope they haven't picked up on too much on this, I know they are probably more aware of it than I like to think).

Doras, I hope she will recover. I think it's pretty certain that she will recover to some extent at least (she's very severe at the moment), but I don't know how complete the recovery will be or what the longer term prognosis is. I don't think anyone can say for sure at this stage, although I know some people recover extremely well and I so hope this is the case for DSis. I can't quite face the possibility that she won't have a good recovery.

Thank you both again for your help with this.

You could explain to them that people can be poorly physically, where a bit of their body hurts or isn't well, and in a similar way very occasionally someone can be poorly with their thought processes, and can find it hard to think clearly about things. If that happens, they need medicine to help make them better, just like you do if your body is poorly. Their biggest fear when they understand that people can have mental problems is probably going to be "oh no, what if it happens to my mum?" Reassure them that it is rare and not going to happen to you and it is sad for auntie that she gets this, but hopefully after a stay in hospital she will be a lot better. Hope she does get better soon.

Thank you *mummyxtwo", that is really helpful. I have used some of these phrases with dc1 in a discussion just now. Really appreciate all the advice - thank you again to all.

I like mummyx2 explanation. I'm a CPN and this is kind of how I explained my job to my son when he was about 6 and asked what's wrong with my patients (having assumed I put bandages on and take temperatures!) I also told him that when these people are unwell they can't really tell what's real and what isn't and sometimes they feel frightened by what they believe or very powerful (like a superhero) but that medicine and care can help them get better.
Psychosis is a toughie because the experience is so real to the individual. Research has shown that when an auditory hallucination is experienced, the ear drum vibrates as it would for a "real" sound. I hope your dsis gets better soon. She is lucky to have your support, as is her dc.