March 2, 2022 – our eldest was admitted to a Partial Hospitalization Program to treat extreme depression and anxiety.
April 6, 2022 – our eldest was deemed stable enough to be stepped down from the PHP to an Intensive Outpatient Program and given the green light to return to school.
April 11, 2022 – our eldest was on campus at their high school for a full day of classes for the first time in almost 2 months.
April 15, 2022 – the last day our eldest was on campus
April 22, 2022 – the day the paperwork was finalized to pull the kid from school for the remainder of the 2021-2022 academic year.
April 25, 2022 – the first day of the next stage of this weird journey called healing for a 16 year old who lives with clinical depression and anxiety alongside autism spectrum disorder.
Healing is not linear. Every option available to the kid and to us as parents right now is a rotten option. Nothing makes sense and nothing is clear – actually nothing make sense and the only thing that is clear is our love for this child.
Healing is not linear. It is crooked, and jagged, and bent, and curving. It boomerangs, and zigzags, and spirals. It is slippery, and inconsistent.
Healing is not linear, and love is the North Star. We all just keep moving toward the light of that star holding on with a white knuckled grip.
Onward…but not straight forward.
We're All A Little Broken 
Keep doing what you are doing. From the sound of it, it is gentle and compassionate without being dismissive.
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I love the way you put that…gentle compassion without being dismissive is absolutely what we are striving for!
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If you need another Dr recommendation let me know.
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Thank you. We are actually happy with the current treatment team….this backwards step was bound to happen. We were trying to honor what O wanted while always knowing this is likely where we would wind up for now.
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