So distressed...need Advice About Teenager.

C. E.
I am sorry that I don't have any advice for you. However I will be praying for you and your daughter.

Hi C.,
I am assisting with a seminar on relating medical and behavioral problems and how to solve them this Friday and Saturday (13, 14th). If you are interested, please send me a note with your email and I will send the flyer. Friday will be in Buckhead, Saturday will be in Kennesaw. It is only two hours and you could consult with the doctors after if you like. OCD and anxiety have root causes and the three specialist have much experience with dealing with the root and solving the biochemical imbalences.
I hope that is helpful for you. J.

I find that STRESS is the cause of all problems -- and I define stress as "not enough flowing, good-feeling life energy." There are five major sources of Stress:
1 - One's reaction patterns to life stimuli -- where the reaction causes a "crunch" of feeling. It is not WHAT happens to us, but rather how we instinctively react that sets up the stress.
2 - Toxins (like smoke, mold, heavy metals) and Allergens (including food sensitivies like wheat, dairy, citrus and others -- as well as dust / grasses / etc.)
3 - Poor nutrition and poor hydration -- and SO many people are not drinking enough filtered water. I use Kangen Water - it's incredible. See www.healthbykangen.com
4 - Too much exertion, pain or injury with insufficient rest and healing
5 - Extremes of heat and cold.
For your daughter, I would evaluate the stressors on her and work to reduce them. And perhaps MOST important, I would get her to start journaling her feelings and emotions every day. This helps tremendously. She can "pee" out her frustrations and concerns on paper, consciously, rather than on the floor, subconsciously. Her writing is NOT to be shared with you or anyone else -- it is just for her to MOVE her own thoughts and emotions. I call it an "Emotional Rest Room." The research has shown over and over that this simple system of writing your deepest thoughts and feelings -- bringing them to the surface -- helps with everything from recovering from job loss to just feeling less stressed. It would help for you to do it, too.

C.,

I'm so sorry that you are having to deal with this. I agree with the idea that perhaps she is sleepwalking and doing this unknowingly. My son (he's only 7) has night terrors and when it starts the first thing he does is wander around confused and I usually guide him into the bathroom to see if he needs to go. He has no idea but he usually goes while he's in there even though the night terror is still occurring. There has been many a time where I have gotten up to find him peeing against his door or in the hallway. My guess is that perhaps he thought he was in the bathroom but wasn't.

I suffer a bit from obsessive compulsiveness so I can say-- we tend to be on the clean side if that makes any sense. I worry about cleanliness and safety issues etc.. I find it hard to believe that your daughter would be doing it on purpose. Stress and anxiety disturbs your sleep as well as is the driving force behind OCD (did I lock the door, did I turn the iron off etc...). Is she aware that she's doing it? If not, she might be getting up because her body registers the fact that she needs to use the bathroom but she's not enough awake to register that she's not in the bathroom.

I know she's not a little girl anymore but I would recommend to her to limit her night time drinking and use the bathroom right before bed. She's probably pretty embarrassed that this is happening with her as well. To be on the careful side after she's gone to bed you might want to sneak in and put something--shower curtain liner or whatever down on the floor to ease cleanup if it still happens. Hopefully she won't have to use the restroom and won't have to wake up.

I'm not a big fan of medication with kids unless it's absolutely necessary but if the stress and anxiety is really causing all of this, the doctor might need to prescribe something to help calm some of the stress she's experiencing. Journaling is a good idea too and exercising. Now that the weather's getting nicer, it's good to get outside and get some fresh air and get the body's natural endorphins pumping. It really reduces stress levels! Good luck with everything. R.

Why is she peeing in her room? Have you asked?

Do you think maybe she is sleep walking?I use to as a teen several night my mom would catch me at the front door going out and i never knew a thing till the next morning she told me.Maybe set up a cam and see just what she is doing?

There could be lots of reasons for her doing this. She could be sleep walking like the others say. She could also be stuck in an obesessive pattern if she is peeing in the same place each time. If this is the case you could try putting a bedpan in that spot(this is kinda like puppy training) and gradually moving it to the bathroom. There is also the possibility that she wakes up at night having to go and is afraid to leave her room to go to the bathroom. In which case maybe leaving lights on to make it less intimidating might help. It might actually help to ask her if she thinks these things would help, but do so diplimaticly. It has to be embarassing for her as well. Its obviosly something she cant help.