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This file contains
parental and first-hand accounts of what triggers
"rage attacks."
The following
situation demonstrates how a child can lose control
if they have been stimulated and are overly tired
or have too much stimulation:
"My son,
9 1/2 had a very bad rage attack today and it
was at the end of our day,and we had just
finished a wonderful family game of socceer. I
feel that at times him being physically tired
brings on a rage attack-today was one of them.
He had a great day, we all had great family
time,visiting my grandmother, icnic
lunch,shopping for comic books, and then
spontaneously playing soccer for maybe 45
minutes- AM verbally
ranting,threatening,throwing himself-truly I
felt all my previous advice to this group
regarding rage went in front of me and flew
away. I calmly spoke to him and all I could get
was that he never gets the ball,he did not want
to do anything today but play socceer(it was
spontaneously thought of by me to play and he
was passed the ball the most)we tried to change
the subject,and eventually only suceeded in
getting him in the car to go home.At home I was
able to involve him in making pizza as he enjoys
helping with that, and then he was fine like
nothing ever happened.Talking to him just now
about his anger he said he does not like it when
he does not have the ball.I told him we share it
and try to have each of the boys play equally
and he actually had it more today. But he sees
it that he is involved less than the rst of us
.Anyway I don't see exhaustion as a factor for
having less rages, I actually see them as worse
and more intense from my son. My husband feels
the rage attacks from my son are worse if we
have a great family day, yet I feel it only
feels worse to us because we feel so mystified
that there occurring after a great
day."
---
Often it
seemed to me there was an background theme of
being stressed out, typically faced with having
to do homework, or perhaps something during the
school day bugged her but she hadn't dealt with
it. But the actual trigger that provoked the
rage could be the smallest thing.
Her sister gets
angry too but there's definitely a qualitative
difference; a strong wind to a hurricane comes
to mind."
---
Other parents also
describe the relationship between increased OCD
symptoms and rage:
"I've
also noticed a correlation at times with the
OCD. My son has especially run into this at
school, where he might be silently obsessing on
some subject and then the teacher 'interrupts'
the obsession with the reality of schoolwork!
Yet he was afraid to admit to the teachers that
he was obsessing in his mind, because the
subjects of obsession were often bizarre or
frightening. The teacher would intervene, he
would explode in rage, and the teacher would
then be completely bewildered.
---
"my
11-year-old daughter, [D], has suffered
from rage attacks since about age 3. we kept
thinking her "tantrums" would decline with age,
but were sorely mistaken. the first time we got
any real relief was after she started on prozac
for ocd and depression at age 7. (our neuro
informed us that depression in children
typically takes on the form of severe anger and
not the depression as seen in adults, i.e.: low
mood, sleeping, etc.) the prozac worked like a
miracle drug and served us well for about 2
years. at that point, it interfered with her
sleep pattern and caused problems at school. :(
... one thing
to keep in mind that helped me to be more
understanding...when [D] doesn't get her
way, it's because, i've come to realize, that
her ocd is in control. not just the hand washing
and repetition part of ocd, but the fact that
she is fixated on whatever she wants and has to
relieve her obsession/compulsion by getting
whatever she is after, i.e.: toys, candy,
playmates to visit or spend the night, etc. the
problem is, as soon as she gets what she wants,
it's not enough and she moves on to the next
thing. i read in a book one time where a mother
wrote, "if my son has 100 pieces of candy he
wants 101." it's not about needing more, they
just get so obsessive and impulsive.
"
---
"I've
also noticed a correlation at times with the
OCD. My son has especially run into this at
school, where he might be silently obsessing on
some subject and then the teacher 'interrupts'
the obsession with the reality of schoolwork!
Yet he was afraid to admit to the teachers that
he was obsessing in his mind, because the
subjects of obsession were often bizarre or
frightening. The teacher would intervene, he
would explode in rage, and the teacher would
then be completely bewildered.
Usually he
shows some signs of agitation - extra movement,
extra chatty, etc. when he starts to get into
this stage. The teachers are starting to learn
to recognize that when he starts showing signs
of extra 'anything', it is time to send him to
resource and get him out of the regular class -
rather than wait for the crescendo and
rage."
"My son has
also had severe rage attacks for years. Anyone
who has experienced a TS rage attack knows that
they are much different from a "temper tantrum".
My son's eye's would glaze over and he COULD NOT
REASON until the attack passed. He would have no
direct memory of the attack, and afterwards he
was filled with shame, and self loathing. It has
been the hardest part of his disorder to deal
with by far! I did begin to see a connection
between [H's] OCD and the rages. For MY
son, the rages were always triggered by an
UNFULFILLED OBSESSION OR COMPULSION. It wasn't
obvious though, that he was obsessing on
whatever it was. He did not have the self
awareness or verbal skills to express this
stuff. I am speaking of his rage attacks in the
past tense. He has really worked on self
control, and he now tries to stop it before it
escalates to a rage attack by leaving the
situation, being alone, etc. He is now 15 years
old, and I am seeing real changes. He is now
inwardly motivated to change his behavior, as he
now realizes it is abnormal behavior.
Many parents have
noted that there are some days when they can tell
by how their child wakes up what kind of a day
they're going to have, and then they readjust their
strategy for the day. Helping the child or teen
learn to recognize sensations or feelings or
thoughts that precede such attacks is an important
component to helping them
self-manage.
A parent
writes:
"I have
learned to sense [M] .When he seems off
in the morning,or is getting frustrated and
can't seem to find anything right, I know that I
need to monitor closely what is going on in our
home.I try to keep his brothers from irritating
or getting close, I try to see if he wants to do
an activity that will place him a way from the
main activity in the home.
If he gets more
and more agitated and it is things others may
not get upset about, I tell [him] very
clear and calmly that he needs to find someting
to do or go somewhere else as he is getting
upset; I offer him to talk (usually he can not
when he is getting more and more upset). If
things escalate and he is going to do something
dangerous or hurtful, I will move him to a safe
place or go with him somewhere. We have left the
beach after just arriving in the past because he
just went into a rage over a sandwich,and we
can't stop the anger right a
way."
So the answer to
the question, "Are there any triggers for, or
warning signs of a rage attack?" appears to be
"yes, but that doesn't mean that the individual
or others around him or her will always be able
to spot the triggers or warnings." With time and
careful observation, the triggers or antecedent
conditions can usually be identified.
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