Diagnosis Uno

So far Jordan had gone to therapy two times. She wasn’t thrilled with her therapist, who inconsequentially, I was quite impressed and comfortable with. She gave Jordan a homework assignment, it was to write 20 positive things about herself.  She absolutely hated doing this. Because Jordan had been making the conscious decision to avoid the "boy drama" that most of her seventh grade friends were involved with, her therapist believed she was eons ahead on the middle-school-maturity-level scale (if there is such a thing).

Although this may have been an accurate assessment, and perhaps somewhat reassuring for me to hear, avoiding your middle school friends’ drama can only lead to isolation and self doubt. Yep. She told me she was lonely and felt like no one wanted to hang out with her. Middle school can totally suck.

Three of her friends were cutting. If you're fortunate enough to not know what cutting is, (said no middle school parent ever) it is defined as:  “Nonsuicidal self-injury, often simply called self-injury, is the act of deliberately harming the surface of your own body, such as cutting or burning yourself. ... Rather, this type of self-injury is an unhealthy way to cope with emotional pain, intense anger and frustration.”

Terrific.  I felt badly for these girls, but why the heck was my daughter hanging out with them? These were some real issues that I had only heard and read about. One of her "friends" claimed she was cutting because of Jordan. Oh, that was just what we needed. I thought my head was going to explode. Laying all your crap on my child? That was not okay.

Good times.  

At this time, back in 2011, Jordan was diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder...

Thank you.

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