Temporal Lobe Damage

[Lezieh]

This is very difficult for me to discuss.  Please bear with me.  My 9 year old step-son has been very aggressive to the point where my husband and I had to hospitalize him three times in the time span of one year.  He is physically abusive, has an explosive personality, has talked about suicide, has gotten into numerous fights, disturbing drawings, calls himself a little demon, has drawn a picture of him being the devil etc.  During these stays he was diagnoised with PTSD and possible Bi-Polar.  After the third hospitalization we ended up transferring him to a residential program.  Once there they did some tests, one being the ECCG where they found he had damage to the Temporal Lobe.  The doctor said that this can only occur in utero i.e. drugs or alcohol, blunt force trauma or shaken baby.  My son was physically abused by his biological mother, as was his sister and brother, whom are my step-children as well.  We have full custody, don't worry.  They also did a test for hearing and found that he couldn't distinguish between the sounds, unfortunatly I don't remember the name of the test.  My questions are, how do I find proof that the reasons I stated above are what caused this damage to the temporal lobe?  Will this change ever?  Is it possible the hearing is related to the temporal lobe damage?  How often is the ECCG wrong?  Can he eventually live a normal life?  He is in therapy so we are working with his demons, but I worry that this will not go away.  I am now worried that my other step-children may have this or something along the same lines.  My daughter is now becoming more aggressive.  Their bio mom is possible Bi-Polar, she has some severe problems and if you can believe this, she still has her parental rights and is allowed supervised visitation.  Please help me understand all of this and point me in the right direction!  Thank you.  Take care and have a great day.

[LaurieBeth]

I was diagnosed bi polar/ manic depessive when I was in my early 20's.  I had mood swings when I was 14, I think it is menstal related.  I have never had out bursts like that.  Mine is more the depressive type.  I am now 36 an have been doing great and I don't need to medicate as much as I use too.  Good luck Laurie

[medco]

damage to the temporal lobe can have a multiplicity of psychiatric implications. perhaps this is what is causing these aggressive episodes.

it will be difficult to find proof this was caused by abuse. perhaps, and this is a long-shot, choking cut off oxygen to the brain and caused damage to the temporal lobe, but i would presume that the doctor would find scars or other marks around the neck if this were the case.

damage to the right side of the temporal lobe could cause decreased recognition of tones, which may account for his inability to distinguish between sounds.

i'm not sure as to the reliability of an ECCG.

if he were given psychotropic medications to control the aggressiveness, and maybe psychotherapy, hopefully things will get better.

but again, the fact that the mom is bi-polar and the kids have these psychiatric disorders leads me to think that perhaps this is all genetic, and unrelated to temporal lobe damage.

best of luck.