Name: Anonymous 2015-03-17 14:39
My little sister is fifteen. She's always struggled with having a huge desire for attention. Beginning as a child, she would act out a lot for attention, doing bad things rather than good things. My parents are saints. They did/tried to do everything right. Different methods of parenting to try to be effective, they have sought the advice of professionals, and my sister has been in counseling from a young age (ADHD as a child too). Still, overwhelmingly she acts out negatively and does seemingly anything for attention. From a young age, elementary school, she threatened suicide and running away, swore, took things that weren't hers, and had a temper. She writes a lot of angsty lyrics (and has for years) and seems to have a "no one understands me" outlook (sympathy card?).
As she's become an adolescent, she has started making things up--dad is abusive, mom doesn't love her, she was raped as a kid (the only thing unprovable, but it is heavily doubted--however no one has said so to her! we react appropriately to such things!), she has claimed I sexually assaulted her, she is poor and has no money--everything is unsubstantiated and almost all are blatant lies. CPS has been called on my parents (who again, are saints), police have been involved, she is in deep therapy for her issues. She has been hospitalized once for attempting overdose--the amount of pills she claims to have taken should have affected her despite the quick reaction of doctors. No change occurred, causing everyone to doubt that she actually took the pills (is it all for attention?). She constantly discusses her suicide plans to friends at school, and the school/police are intimately involved in my parents' lives. She cuts herself in the most obvious places possible, apparently begging for people to notice. Whenever the slightest bump or bruise happens to her it is a huge dramatic deal. I once watched her lean back and tap her head on her bed. She saw that I'd watched her and for several days wouldn't let up about the concussion she'd no doubt acquired from it, faking memory loss, etc. She hurt her foot and diligently used crutches whenever people were watching--if she thought I couldn't see her she was suddenly spry as ever. She missed two weeks of P.E. due to heart problems--the most complete evaluation of her heart indicated that everything was 100% normal. It's just absurd. If my parents don't go along with this it's immediately "neglect" and they're abusive and don't love her--again, CPS have been called, my sister threatens suicide all the time, and so my parents always follow through with any medical/health related thing my sister thinks up.
Recently, she has begun making pornography and likely prostituting herself. My mom found conversations she has with men online where she claims to be very poor and desperate for money, willing to do anything. Some background: my sister lives in an extremely wealthy area and has everything she could want (materially/monetarily) and then much more. Two loving parents, a loving dog, etc. She was found in the car with a man well into adulthood in the middle of the night. She does drugs, and again, constantly threatens suicide. She does things like leave used condoms on my dad's bed, which I imagine no logical person would do. She blatantly smokes cigarettes and she used to make a huge deal about her "struggle with bulimia" (it was like theater, making sure everyone knew she was about to go puke).
My fears are I don't know how to help her. She seeks attention, she is a liar, she is likely prostituting herself, she has definitely made porn, etc. She is in all recommended therapy (very intensive, a lot of D.B.T., she has a personalized learning plan thing at school, etc), has stayed as an inpatient at various mental health facilities, and any medical/psychological care that is recommended/requested she receives--my parents "spare no expense," if you will. Beyond that, they try to get her excited about wholesome things, try to talk to her, and sincerely are there for her. She has tried many different psychological medicines and claims some do help (these are typically the ones that restrict appetite, I have noticed, and cynically I feel she takes them mainly to lose weight), but the facts point otherwise. She does poorly in school and doesn't care at all. She has been in therapy for a long time and things continue to worsen.
What can be done? She is only fifteen--how can she be steered away from this path? It is so destructive and I only see things ending negatively. She communicates online with strangers (men) all the time and seeks out their attention with photos and suggestive text posts. I just don't know what to do, I don't know how to get through to her.
As she's become an adolescent, she has started making things up--dad is abusive, mom doesn't love her, she was raped as a kid (the only thing unprovable, but it is heavily doubted--however no one has said so to her! we react appropriately to such things!), she has claimed I sexually assaulted her, she is poor and has no money--everything is unsubstantiated and almost all are blatant lies. CPS has been called on my parents (who again, are saints), police have been involved, she is in deep therapy for her issues. She has been hospitalized once for attempting overdose--the amount of pills she claims to have taken should have affected her despite the quick reaction of doctors. No change occurred, causing everyone to doubt that she actually took the pills (is it all for attention?). She constantly discusses her suicide plans to friends at school, and the school/police are intimately involved in my parents' lives. She cuts herself in the most obvious places possible, apparently begging for people to notice. Whenever the slightest bump or bruise happens to her it is a huge dramatic deal. I once watched her lean back and tap her head on her bed. She saw that I'd watched her and for several days wouldn't let up about the concussion she'd no doubt acquired from it, faking memory loss, etc. She hurt her foot and diligently used crutches whenever people were watching--if she thought I couldn't see her she was suddenly spry as ever. She missed two weeks of P.E. due to heart problems--the most complete evaluation of her heart indicated that everything was 100% normal. It's just absurd. If my parents don't go along with this it's immediately "neglect" and they're abusive and don't love her--again, CPS have been called, my sister threatens suicide all the time, and so my parents always follow through with any medical/health related thing my sister thinks up.
Recently, she has begun making pornography and likely prostituting herself. My mom found conversations she has with men online where she claims to be very poor and desperate for money, willing to do anything. Some background: my sister lives in an extremely wealthy area and has everything she could want (materially/monetarily) and then much more. Two loving parents, a loving dog, etc. She was found in the car with a man well into adulthood in the middle of the night. She does drugs, and again, constantly threatens suicide. She does things like leave used condoms on my dad's bed, which I imagine no logical person would do. She blatantly smokes cigarettes and she used to make a huge deal about her "struggle with bulimia" (it was like theater, making sure everyone knew she was about to go puke).
My fears are I don't know how to help her. She seeks attention, she is a liar, she is likely prostituting herself, she has definitely made porn, etc. She is in all recommended therapy (very intensive, a lot of D.B.T., she has a personalized learning plan thing at school, etc), has stayed as an inpatient at various mental health facilities, and any medical/psychological care that is recommended/requested she receives--my parents "spare no expense," if you will. Beyond that, they try to get her excited about wholesome things, try to talk to her, and sincerely are there for her. She has tried many different psychological medicines and claims some do help (these are typically the ones that restrict appetite, I have noticed, and cynically I feel she takes them mainly to lose weight), but the facts point otherwise. She does poorly in school and doesn't care at all. She has been in therapy for a long time and things continue to worsen.
What can be done? She is only fifteen--how can she be steered away from this path? It is so destructive and I only see things ending negatively. She communicates online with strangers (men) all the time and seeks out their attention with photos and suggestive text posts. I just don't know what to do, I don't know how to get through to her.