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Agitation in puberty
Question
Our son (13) is very agitated, he bangs his head all the time. He has already broken 3 tracheostomies in a short time. He also pulls gastronomy. He is not on any neurological medication. I am very worried and tired because I have to be with him all the time. I am also afraid that he will hurt himself. Has anyone ever experienced this and what did you do?
Answer of our experts
Parent 1
Our daughter has already gone through this phase. You need to see a neurologist. Your son is in his teens and the hormones mess with them a lot. Our daughter now uses Trileptal, Risperidone and Daforin to control her self-harm.
(Parent of a 20 year old daughter)
Parent 2
Our son has gone through stages like this too. We have him on behavior medicine that controls the impulsiveness and aggression. I feel like puberty plays a big part in the behavior. It's hard for them to handle these big feelings and emotions.
(Parent of a 15 year old son)
Parent 3
When our son does this we put on elbow restrains, many times it gives him a calming feeling too. We got them off e bay or Amazon.
(Parent of a 17 year old son)
Parent 4
I know it can be extremely tough. Our daughter hits herself in the head quite often. Before she was doing it multiple times per day and really badly. We think it may have been a response to being in pain, or her inability to breathe properly or a neurological issue. Since she’s had her spine fixed which also fixed her breathing, they also put her on medication for her seizures. She’s not been hitting herself as much. Now when she does it, you can tell right away that she’s angry. I’m sorry I don’t have a straight forward answer for you, but I would start with neurology.
(Parent of a 10 year old daughter)
Parent 5
Our daughter's behaviour changed a lot in her teens, especially when she's contradicted or we don't pay attention to her, she bangs her head on the floor or vomits. She doesn't do it all the time, she has phases. She doesn't take any medication.
(Parent of a 21 year old child)
Parent 6
Our son also punches himself in his face. It’s very distressing to see him so frustrated and angry. We know he is in pain and so his team are trying out different pain meds to see what is working/not working. We are hoping if we get the pain under control then his outbursts will decrease.
(Parent of a 15 year old son)
