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Did you get a chance to see the segment on Oprah featuring the 7 year old with schizophrenia? Neither did I. It wasn't something I really wanted to see, but when I visited her site this morning to see what would be on this week (I have to plot tv viewing because of the tower) and choose which days I would tune it. I watched all of the clips of the little girl and then decided to read the blog concerning her disease. It is scary. I don't doubt these people have been through a lot and believe their child has this disease, I'm not even going to question that because I am not in their shoes and you have to just believe what you believe and deal with it. I just wonder how many new parents will start looking at their children differently. People tend to jump on the band wagon for whatever new disease comes up. Even though this childhood schizophrenia has been around since 1964 you know once it is on Oprah it is new to the world. I am so glad I am not in the rearing babies anymore. Many of the little girl's early behaviors, sleep habits and intelligence mimicked things I went through with the girls. This little girl would have me questioning the sanity of my children. There is a thin line between genius and insanity (my dad was tested and sat precariously on the line) and true children have imaginary friends and strange habits, where is the line drawn? When do we decide a child has any kind of mental disease? ADD, autism, hyperactivity with whatever...you know where two or three agree there is either a problem or a solution.
Karra and Mhia had 'friends'. Everyone in the family knew them because the children talked about them often. Karra's familiar was named Teddi. One day Karra went so far as to give us directions to this 'little girl's' house and when we followed the directions, it turned out someone knew a person of that name that had died years previously. Karra always talked of the ghosts and spirits. From the age of 4-7, Karra had many unexplained illnesses that would pop up, confound the doctors and then disappear. Things with her heart (pain, erratic beats), kidneys (they thought it was going into failure), stomach (wouldn't eat anything for a week @ a time and would end up in hospital). For a few years Karra would have these episodes where she was so mean and short tempered we only called her Hannah. It was as if she was a different person and then she turned back to herself. . Karra talks all of the time, nonstop sometimes, but with clarity. We are often amazed at the number of topics she can speak about in a matter of minutes. Some of them are so thought provoking or funny you can't answer her before she is on another subject. She definitely keeps your mind popping.
When Mhia was a baby until four years old we called her The Beast. She was as pretty as she could be and if anyone made as if to stoop to her level we would have to warn them to watch their face. Her hands would snake out quickly to scratch. Mhia's familiar was named Charly and was always around. At four years old she was talking to me and I asked her if Charly ever told her to do bad things. Mhia stood up in this Shirley Temple attitude, hands folded sweetly in front of her and said "Oh, no Mommy, Charly is good." I was like what??? Please believe me, I went to church to have my child delivered from this demon. You would have to believe in the spirit of God in order for this to work. The father in the blog does not believe in faith healing and so medication would be their deliverer. A few weeks afterward I asked Mhia about her friend and she said she saw Charly disappear in a puff of smoke. She also said she saw the spirit attached to another little girl when we were walking in the mall. After that Mhia was nothing like the little girl she used to be. The mean little spirit is gone and she is so sweet.
When it comes to Gillean, I don't know. She has always been quiet and very determined. When her mind is set nothing changes it. She never talked about unseen friends. If she did have one it must have been a brick wall.
I believe spirits, demons or whatever you want to call them can get into a person. If there is a God (and there is) there is a devil. I also believe if we sit and entertain them they will hang around and wreck havoc.
