Kaiser, Don't Deny

My child started showing signs that something was wrong as a toddler

My child started showing signs that something was wrong as a toddler. She was not affectionate with family and would scream and repeatedly hit her head. Kaiser’s answer: a girls’ social skills group. In grade school, she would go catatonic, curl up in fetal position, and have to be picked up from school. Kaiser’s answer: another girls’ social skills group. In middle school, she started having terrifying auditory, visual and tactile psychosis symptoms including commands to kill her family and herself. Kaiser’s answer: Individual therapy session every 8 to 12 weeks, and offers to attend various teen anxiety groups. My child deteriorated right before my eyes. Couldn’t go to school, couldn’t leave the house, didn’t sleep, didn’t shower, lived in constant fear. After my child’s eighth hospitalization for psychosis, and me repeatedly telling them that one 45 minute appointment every three months or so was not appropriate, our therapist referred us to an early intervention psychosis program, stating that Kaiser was good at taking care of little issues but not complex cases like my child’s. Thanks to a non-Kaiser program, my child has now finally been properly diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, receives individual and group therapy every week, as well as medication management and social services. My child is now stable! She is successful in school, symptoms are under control, she uses coping skills, and hasn’t been hospitalized for two years.

Erin
Vallejo