While reading a post about
childhoodPTSD over at
corpuscallosum, it brought me back to our discussion on
PTSD here on this blog, and how parents of preemies endure so much continuous stress from their
NICU experience and subsequent thrust into parenting a preemie.
I wrote to the blog author and asked his thoughts on whether or not preemies themselves could be suffering from
PTSD and what could be the cause of the mental health issues they face in infancy and as they get older.
He was gracious enough to write a post on the subject.
http://scienceblogs.com/corpuscallosum/2007/05/do_vlbw_preemies_get_ptsd.php#mor As I speak to various docs and read studies on the long term effects of prematurity and learn what is being done to improve the outcomes, I hardly hear anyone discussing mental health issues. Thank you to Corpus
Callosum for addressing my question.
Out of all of the long term effects of prematurity that Paige currently deals with, mental health is the hardest to treat. It is takes its toll on her and all of us in the house. She suffers horribly at times. And, because we have to deal with the "she looks good to me" mentality, it's hard to find help. She is not alone. I talk to many parents who are at the end of their rope because of the behavior of their preemie. Adult preemies suffer as well.
How can we help future preemies if no one will acknowledge the mental health issues that plague our kiddos?
I wrote to the blog author and asked his thoughts on whether or not preemies themselves could be suffering from PTSD and what could be the cause of the mental health issues they face in infancy and as they get older.
He was gracious enough to write a post on the subject.
http://scienceblogs.com/corpuscallosum/2007/05/do_vlbw_preemies_get_ptsd.php#mor
As I speak to various docs and read studies on the long term effects of prematurity and learn what is being done to improve the outcomes, I hardly hear anyone discussing mental health issues. Thank you to Corpus Callosum for addressing my question.
Out of all of the long term effects of prematurity that Paige currently deals with, mental health is the hardest to treat. It is takes its toll on her and all of us in the house. She suffers horribly at times. And, because we have to deal with the "she looks good to me" mentality, it's hard to find help. She is not alone. I talk to many parents who are at the end of their rope because of the behavior of their preemie. Adult preemies suffer as well.
How can we help future preemies if no one will acknowledge the mental health issues that plague our kiddos?