My eight year old son depressed(help)

Tammy - posted on 05/28/2009

i can relate..this is my 11 year old son, to a "T"..
he was so hard to handle at school that we decided to home school him...
let me tell you, what a total turn around..he use to come home and say, i am a bad boy, i would say no you are not..he replied yes, the teachers and other kids said so..i repied no you are not bad, listen mac , you are not a bad boy, you just made some really bad decisions..
and there are appropriate things to do and inappropriate things to do, you chose the inappropriate thing to do, that is why you have gotten in trouble..he said to me well, i always get blamed for everything, the teacher always picks on me, i can never do anything right...i said nothing just listened to how bad he felt about his self...he would come home on the days he was not suspended very angery, hurt, bitter, depressed..one day he said to me, mom do you beleive that when you die you come back as something else, i said some people beleive that, i beleive, that when you die , you die...
he said well, i wish that i would die, so ,that i could come back as a better little boy, and everyone would like me..when he said this, my heart strings broke...
i had a very hard time to hold back the tears, i said oh hunny mom and dad would be very upset if you died..we love you, and we would not want to change a thing about you.
you are one of a kind, just like everyone else in the world..no one is the same..
everyone has problem with stuff, we just have to work atour weeknesses and try to make them better..i gave him a hug and said i love you...i cried a bit, he looked at me and said why are you crying, i replied, i am just so happy that you are my son..he smiled and said i no, you love me silly..after that i pulled him from the school system and he has been pretty good...not depressed, upset..the only problem i am having is that he does not communicate much with other children but, we are working on this part..my suggestion to you, is to pull him out of school..it is hard, not much funding to help you out, but, it was for the best for my guy...

Jackie - posted on 05/26/2009

How heartbreaking for you. Its hard when you can;t make it all better. Does Dylan have a dog? One to hang with,confide in, hug when he feels sad? If you love them and treat them kindly,they do not care what you say,or if you can;t sit still, or that you can;t tell time. love and best wishes to you and your son

Meg - posted on 05/26/2009

I am so sorry that your son is feeling so very sad. The pain you must be feeling is unimaginable to me. Then only crumb of comfort I find in your post is that Dylan is trying, although he feels useless he is trying, he is fighting, the bigger part of him wants to succeed, He must be very brave. Is there something specific that Dylan enjoys and can do ? For my Aspie son it is his affinity with animals at home and so he takes care of them, feeds them, grooms them and keeps the diary for when they're due at the vets, at school he is a whizz at science so although he cannot catch a ball he can remember a formula and perform experiments ... so we encourage and praise these things and it's given us a platform upon which to build. My friend's son has Tourettes and they bought him a drum kit and he loves it, nothing better than bashing on the drums for him when he's had a bad day :-)



I am sorry, I don't feel as if I've been much help but please be sure my thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. Huge hugs.