[johndoe-questions]

Hello-

I am trying to get an objective view of a portion of my medical record. My question is, might the following portion of my medical record, a letter dated August ##, 1975 from the pediatrician treating me (Jonathan) and my mother when I was 6 years old be pertinent to any emotional problems I currently have (would like to keep these diagnosis from my adulthood unnamed in my effort to keep it as objective as possible). What might the letter indicate as far as what my emotional experience was in my early childhood? Could this experience have affected me in later life? Sorry that the letter from the pediatrician is a somewhat long and that my subjective explanation is so lacking. Thank you very much.

"
August ##, 1975

To Whom it May Concern:

Re: Jonathan Doe
Medical history
Date of Birth – 3/##/1969

This letter will summarize pertinent past history on Jonathan Doe, who is now 6-4/12 years old and was first seen by me on July ##, 1975 for a physical examination and again on August ##, 1975 for consultation.

Review of Jonathan's previous chart reveals the following. In September of 1970, at age 18 months, mother complained about increased activity and power struggles. Doctor Smith, the examining physician at this time, did not feel Jonathan demonstrated any evidence of hyperactivity.

At two years of age he had only two words of language. Mother complained about his hyperactivity again, said she was fed up. Jonny was having temper tantrums and was into everything, according to mom. Mom found that she screamed a lot. Father has two jobs, both in the post office and as a **** (evening job), and there is really very little family intercommunication or contact.

Physical exam at this time seemed to indicate a bombastic, hyperactive child.
Doctor Smith’s impression at this time was that this was a poor mother-son relationship and that Jonathan had probable language delay.

In March of 1971 the visiting nurse saw Jonny and his mother in the home setting. Pertinent observations were that Mrs. Doe questioned whether Jonny was “born bad.” Lots of limit-testing behavior was noted during the home visit. Jonny looked back at mom while he was performing this behavior. Mother provided much negative reinforcement. It was apparent that there was poor parental communication in this visit. In April of 1971 the visiting nurse met with father and mother. Father made the point that mother never follows through on any discipline measure. Mother says that father never supports her. Both parents say the problem is their inter-relationship, not Jonny.

In August of 1971 the visiting nurse performed a Denver Developmental Screening Test, which was normal for Jonathan’s age of 2-1/2. Notations at this time were that Jonathan was still getting into everything. Mother says “I shouldn’t have to lock up everything, should I?” Mother did not implement any of the visiting nurse’s prior suggestions.
 
Notation on 9-71: “This mother seems to expect the child to be bad, and indeed his is.” Preschool was suggested for the boy and this was begun. Both parents went to Mrs. Baldwin in the Mental Health Service for group counseling. 12-71: “Mother is continuing group therapy with the Mental Health Service— ‘I need to tell my husband some things and I can only do it with someone there.’” 1-72, Visiting Nurse: “Mother says that the visiting nurse never told me what to do.” 5-72: Group therapy, summary of 10 sessions – “Parents blame each other for their problems rather than trying to work on them. The child appears to be the pawn in this thing.”

During the course of the 10 group therapy sessions Mrs. Baldwin felt that the parents improved somewhat. 5-73: Age 4-2/12 years. Dr. Smith now feels that he demonstrates characteristics of MBD, very bouncy in the office and rocky. 5-24-73: Mrs. Jensen, as visiting nurse, institutes behavior modification. 6-73: Visiting Nurse: “Jonathan still limit-testing, parents inconsistent in their response. Parents’ communication seems to be better. Working on behavior modification.” March 1974 – Doctor Smith, physical exam: “Transfer to Alternate Location of Medical HMO since parents live close.”

I hope this short summary of information will be useful to you.

Sincerely yours,

_______________, M.D.

8/5
 
"
Please comment if you feel it may be helpful. I will explain details later after any initial comments. Thank you so much for your patience. John.

[Skeezyks]

Hello johndoe: I'm sorry I really cannot comment with regard to your concerns. Perhaps there will be other members, here on PC, who will. However I see this is your first post here on PC. So... welcome to PsychCentral! I hope you find the time you spend here to be of benefit.

I don't know, of course, if you're here simply seeking advice with regard to this particular concern or if you plan to hang in here with us. However, should you be planning to continue on (we hope you do)... may I suggest you introduce yourself over on PC's New Member Introductions forum? Here's a link:

https://forums.psychcentral.com/new-...introductions/

There's a lot of support that can be available here on PC. The more you post, & reply to other members' posts, the more a part of the community you will become. Plus there are the chat rooms where you'll be able to interact with other PC members in real time (once your first 5 posts have been reviewed & approved.) So please keep posting!

Do you remember any of the things documented? I would think it would be hard to run across information like this.

I am not an expert. Do not know how it effected you but believe we all (especially children) need loving relationships to thrive. I hope you had grandparents and/or others that were also a part of your childhood.

[Patagonia]

Is this an actual “letter” written by a genuine doctor?

Smells very fishy to me

[pegasus]

Yes, it is well known that childhood experiences/trauma affect our mental health. Psychotherapy can be very helpful. Welcome!

[healingme4me]

Welcome to PC.

Could you have been born with a developmental delay that combined with stressors in your homelife developed into a mi? Or that you could have displayed signs and symptoms early in life? Sure.

[tecomsin]

I'm not sure of the point of posting a doctor's summary from so many years ago. No one here is in a position to be able to do much with that information. It could be pertinent to what you are going through now or it might not be the most relevant. Why are you focussed on this record?

[johndoe-questions]

Originally Posted by Patagonia

Is this an actual “letter” written by a genuine doctor?

Smells very fishy to me

Yes, it is an actual letter written by an actual doctor. The letter was to get the new pediatrician up to speed with the situation...since we moved to the other side of the city we started going to a new doctor at the new HMO complex nearer to our new home. The quotes are from the notes that the Visiting Nurse took during the home visits she made to our old home. I have all of the Visiting Nurse summaries...which had more details of the visits. The letter I posted as well as the VN summaries I did not post are typed using a real typewriter so there is a typo here and there.

By the way, MBD stands for "Minimal Brain Dysfunction"...a technical term no longer in use. The new technical term is ADHD.

anyway...

Thanks.

[johndoe-questions]

Originally Posted by Hopingtrying

Do you remember any of the things documented? I would think it would be hard to run across information like this.

I am not an expert. Do not know how it effected you but believe we all (especially children) need loving relationships to thrive. I hope you had grandparents and/or others that were also a part of your childhood.

The grandparents I spent any time with were my mother's parents. My mom learned a lot from them. They seemed to be pretty much the same way...but they did let me watch tv more often. No physical beatings but they were what I would consider emotionally abusive.

That type of behavior persisted throughout my younger years...comments as to my "BADNESS"...the "worst kid in the world" type of comments.

I wanted an objective viewpoint based only on that letter since that is one of very few written documents I have of my childhood. My current therapist said it was pertinent information. She lumped this letter (and the Visiting Nurse's summaries) into what she called a "History of Child Abuse"...A psychologist had used the child abuse term before I dug up this letter. Before the letter I had only the memories of what my mom said...most of them later in my childhood.

Since then I have gathered many diagnoses...depression...ADHD...anxiety disorders (generalized anxiety, panic disorder, and most recently OCD and PTSD).

PTSD is the one diagnosis most closely related to my posting of the letter. My therapist and the psychologist I saw said the PTSD is related to the "History of Child Abuse".

I suppose that was my main question...is the letter consistent with the term "History of Child Abuse".

Thanks...John

[johndoe-questions]

Originally Posted by healingme4me

Welcome to PC.

Could you have been born with a developmental delay that combined with stressors in your homelife developed into a mi? Or that you could have displayed signs and symptoms early in life? Sure.

I have had many Mental Illness diagnoses over the years. Depression, as well as several Anxiety disorders-Generalized Anxiety, Panic Disorder, OCD, PTSD, etc. OCD and PTSD are two of the most recent diagnoses.

A recent psychological assessment stated that I had a "History of Child Abuse". This was based on my subjective statements and memories made before I obtained the letter.

Now...Does the letter indicate emotional abuse? It is one of a handful of documents that seem to be more objective...based on more than my subjective statements and memories.

Does the behavior described in the letter rise to the level of using the term "History of Child Abuse"?

I was never really physically beaten and was not abused sexually...and never in a war...just the constant comments regarding my "badness" ("born bad" "you're the worst kids"...and later "you were the worst kids") and other yellings she made out of frustration. She did yell a lot (then and on through my childhood and on).

I was diagnosed with PTSD based primarily on a "History of Child Abuse". Does any of this seem consistent?

Thanks...

[Patagonia]

Originally Posted by johndoe-questions

I have had many Mental Illness diagnoses over the years. Depression, as well as several Anxiety disorders-Generalized Anxiety, Panic Disorder, OCD, PTSD, etc. OCD and PTSD are two of the most recent diagnoses.


A recent psychological assessment stated that I had a "History of Child Abuse". This was based on my subjective statements and memories made before I obtained the letter.


Now...Does the letter indicate emotional abuse? It is one of a handful of documents that seem to be more objective...based on more than my subjective statements and memories.


Does the behavior described in the letter rise to the level of using the term "History of Child Abuse"?


I was never really physically beaten and was not abused sexually...and never in a war...just the constant comments regarding my "badness" ("born bad" "you're the worst kids"...and later "you were the worst kids") and other yellings she made out of frustration. She did yell a lot (then and on through my childhood and on).


I was diagnosed with PTSD based primarily on a "History of Child Abuse". Does any of this seem consistent?


Thanks...

I don’t mean to sound harsh, but straight forward. Here it goes.
You won’t find the magic answers in your past. Yes it will explain certain things, give you those a ha moments, but it won’t help you now in the present.
Stay in the present! Did you suffer child abuse? Does the answer yes...or no....help you right now.
You can’t change your past. You can look at it, but you got to put eyes forward to move along.
I’m sorry if that sounds harsh, but I do remember looking very hard into my past for some type of validation....& it wasn’t what I really needed.
I hope you find what u need.