Psychiatric evaluation?

[~cassie~]

Can someone tells me what happens at a psych eval and what we can expect? My 7 yr old goes Friday and the receptionist wasn't really sure what the process is(she's new). My 7 yr old has recently been seeing a play therapist due I low self esteem. And then he's been really angry the last month or so. We discussed possible depression making him lash out or an underlying issue(bc of bipolar in our family). He doesn't have any past history aside from ADHD and medication for that. Not sure what else my husband needs to be prepared for bc I have to do clinicals for nursing school and can't be there.

[melissa17s]

My ds did a neuropsych exam when he was 9.  He did a number of iq tests (ds said they were very boring mini games), answered questions posed by the psychologist, and we (dh, me, and teachers) filled out questionnaires. It took a couple of hours.  Because of this exam, we were able to identify some of ds's strengths and weakness academically, such as dyslexia and adhd.  Some of the questions/iq tests may different for your ds since you are looking at behavior instead of learning disability.  

Just a thought, some meds can cause behavioral changes and depression;  I have experienced with antibiotics and ds had more serious with an antiseizure med.  Maybe check, if depression is a side effect of the meds he is taking.   Also, kids with adhd  can become depressed due to stress and pressure related to behavior that they may not be able to effectively control.  

[~cassie~]

Originally Posted by melissa17s 

My ds did a neuropsych exam when he was 9.  He did a number of iq tests (ds said they were very boring mini games), answered questions posed by the psychologist, and we (dh, me, and teachers) filled out questionnaires. It took a couple of hours.  Because of this exam, we were able to identify some of ds's strengths and weakness academically, such as dyslexia and adhd.  Some of the questions/iq tests may different for your ds since you are looking at behavior instead of learning disability.  

Just a thought, some meds can cause behavioral changes and depression;  I have experienced with antibiotics and ds had more serious with an antiseizure med.  Maybe check, if depression is a side effect of the meds he is taking.   Also, kids with adhd  can become depressed due to stress and pressure related to behavior that they may not be able to effectively control.  

We wondered about his med being a cause as well and spoke with his Dr about it the other day.  He's been on it for 2 yrs now and this anger really just started about 1 yr ago(very mild) and has just slowly built up and gotten worse.  He definitely has now self esteem with regards to the ADHD and is in play therapy for that as well.  It's just hard to see low self esteem vs depression and I am just not equipped to figure it out anymore and ride it out hoping it clears up. 

[~cassie~]

Update......So ds finally went to his eval today.  The psych feels that most of his ADHD is being managed with his Focalin but that the rest of the issues is coming from an anxiety aspect of ADHD.  She did not feel he was depressed or another major disorder and wants to treat the anxiety right now and see how that goes before we dig even deeper if necessary.  She put him on Strattera and night and to continue his Focalin XR during the day.