I agree, but I saw the father as one being manipulated by the child and codependent. I suppose I'm partially that way in our family. But it didn't take me long to see that I was being played. I think I remember having an online review post of the movie too, where I had to say these people are psychopaths and they really exist because the comments were not getting it and blaming the parents. Fascinating that they can see an accurate dramatization of this, but if they are unfamiliar it, they just can't understand. It is mind blowing for the outsider to think that there are humans who cannot think humanly. They cannot bond, they cannot experience remorse, empathy, or even love. It is too easy to believe that everything thinks, acts, and responds the same way you would, but it is not always true. Deep inside, we are not all the same. Even though they are really good at pretending they are.

My son has been hospitalized again. He had a huge fit where he ran off, destroyed property of his foster mother and went into a rage. Possibly, he was trying to avoid a drug test, which I'm sure the hospital will do. I breathe a sigh of relief because I know this means it will buy us a few more months in court before they can seriously expect us to take him back. There is a federal regulation that says after one year a child in dependency needs to be placed in a permanent placement. My son is at that year mark, so it will be interesting to see what permanency they will try to enforce as we clearly cannot take him back being as unstable as he is.

How does he get hospitalized? Is it a
Mental institution? Do the police take him? Does he go willingly? Is he upset when this happens? Does he feel failure or even see this as failure? What happens when he's in there? Is he more medicated? Therapy doesn't work and punishment doesn't work. I understand that they do respond to rewards while institutionalized? What kind of drugs do you suspect? Nothing close to what you're going through but we are now randomly doing drug tests with our youngest (normal kid). Marijuana ....with the ADD and being a teenager it's a bad mix.

Hospitalization happens when he is a threat to himself or others. Legally, police and therapists have to initiate hospitalization if the child is a threat to himself or others. You can call police to assess and take him to a hospital, but sometimes they will dismiss it if he has calmed down or if he is not directly threatening. You can also take him to a hospital with a child psychiatric ward yourself and ask him to be evaluated. I've done this twice and both times I had to wait hours for admission. As of today, my son has been hospitalized in this manner 9 times. Also, your psychiatrists or counselor can prescribe a hospitalization if they believe the child is dangerous. Police have to take the word of a professional in this manner. Mine goes willingly because he is not attached to us and if the police take him he will be handcuffed in transport. He doesn't mind that, and I think he takes pride in it. I don't think he cares enough to consider it a failure. Also, he is so prideful, he will never feel ashamed, but will usually blame others. In this case he blamed his foster mother for not getting him his drugs on time. Now, he has learned in therapy to say the right words to make people think he is remorseful, but he is not. The hospital will not medicate him without consent, however, if consent is denied they can pursue legal means to get him medicated if you refuse. Not medicating in this state is helpful so that behaviors manifest and people see the seriousness. If the child is unstable, they may adjust the medications or take him off for re-evaluation and you can also request that. Hospitalization like this usually on last 48 hours or more if they feel he is not stable. Not all insurance covers this, so check first.

When I say institutionalize, I'm talking about sending him to a longer term (6 month) therapeutic residential program. There are different levels of this from a locked down institution to a step down facility which is less restrictive and more reward based. My son has been in 2 locked downs and then graduated to two different step down programs. All of them claimed he was all better. These are harder to get into and you will need a social worker and state DCF staffing's to approve of it. Medicaid should cover this, but it is not always easy to get it. One method is to apply for SSI (Social Security Disability) while he is hospitalized and out of your house. If you get this, then Medicaid is included. I think I have some previous posts that go more into detail about how to do this. The bottom line is hospitalize him as much as possible. This will get the attention of the schools, the doctors, and the social workers. Also have them assign you a social worker that is capable of staffing this child for an institutional placement.

My son was clean on his drug test, but I wondered especially about Marijuana in the neighborhood he is in. We saw him today and he was stable.

My son is back with the foster mom. He was in the hospital for 5 days. He was assigned a third party person (one on one) to stay with him during his waking hours to ensure he doesn’t get out of control again. He will be placed with a new foster mom in a couple weeks. At least we now have enough evidence for the court that he is really not any better. Our pschchologist also said he would write a letter not recommending reunification for our safety. He says the older he gets the more dangerous he will be. He said that usually only doctors who have worked with prison populations have enough experience to recognize a psychopath.

I'm glad more people are understanding the severity of it. Also hope this gives you some peace of mind.