I love my boy I really do but at the moment he is breaking my heart and I don’t know what to do.
There is no life in him he slouches about and seems uninterested in anything. I asked him what was wrong and he said he just wanted to sleep because it was quiet. “I only want to sleep Mamma,” he said.
He’s only seven, though in a month he’ll be eight, and he doesn’t seem to care about anything at the moment. Not his toys, his friends, school work. He whines a lot and is beastly to his brother and well I land up shouting at him in frustration as he doesn’t seem to hear anything I say such as put your shoes on, sit up, eat your food. It seems as if I am always telling him off and it’s exhausting. I tried cajoling him, letting him be but it just gets worse. So I chivvy him, hassle him and push him along.
Recently he’s gone off his food and the boy, who once was adventurous, now picks or else says he doesn’t like it and I am at a total loss.
This morning he peed on the rug in his room. He couldn’t be bothered to go to the loo so he just peed. I will add that he peed in his nappy, as due to his epilepsy he has problems staying dry at night. But this was when he was wide awake. He doesn’t seem to mind that his nappy is full of pee. It stinks and must be so uncomfortable. I don’t understand why he doesn’t care.
I thought once we got his epilepsy under control which we have life would be so much easier for him but it isn’t. And it’s so unfair.
So now I am looking for ways to help him to boost his self-esteem to make him happy and I feel that I am not the one to do this, I don’t know how. I don’t know how to help him as he doesn’t seem to want to help himself...
It worries me because his behaviour seems very like that of someone who is depressed but can children get depression?
I thought about his epilepsy medication he’s currently on Ethosuximide and Sodium Valproate both of which have depression as a side effect…but surely not in one so young?
