Can anyone help me determine how we can help our son with mood swings during puberty? It has been suggested that I put him on mod enhancement medication to take the edge off but I am not in favor of that. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you.
We had issues with Ben starting puberty. We found breaking the discomfort of breaking the "taboo topics" was far less than dealing with the behavior. I nearly fainted when my husband (Ben's dad) brought up masturbation during supper..we are medication free....and we wont be having grandma for dinner until topics like "grooming the pubic hair" and why its not ok to grab a girls breasts uninvited....are no longer nightly topics. As mom I still cringe, but I do my best not to appear upset. Being radically honest seems to have toned down the aggression but....establishing boundaries is a project for another day
Temple Grandin explained that she needed medication when puberty hit her. But I think it is for each parent and child to decide for themselves. I hope that the years of working on self-regulation, identifying feelings and their causes, and working on solving problems, etc., will help my son to learn to cope with his inevitable mood swings during puberty. Tony Attwood has a tool kit (visual aides and discussion) in his Exploring Emotions video that I reallly like.
Wow Me2! we had the issue with his fascination with touching. He does have what we affectionaly call "private time" and I keep telling my husband that he needs to take him down to his home office and have a conversation with him and he laughs (our son is non-verbal so he would not talk back). Thanks for your input.
Yes we are still doing it but we take breaks from time to time. We are still seeing improvements although not as dramatic as the first couple of years. His mood swings are still much less than when we started.
do you have a Devereux near you? That's who helped my son