Kay

I hear you and KathyN on the violence, whether the rages preceded or came as a result of the wrong medications (or too much of even the "right" ones).
 
What I can't wrap my head around in the context of PANDAS, however, is the premediated, planned nature of this boy's behavior. Anger? Rage? Lashing out in the heat of the moment? Sure! But plotting homicidal destruction on such a grand scale? That's something else entirely, and nothing I've ever before heard of in association with PANDAS behavior, or even OCD. More typically, OCD turns a person's destructiveness inward, rather than outward.
 
I guess my real concern . . . selfishly . . . is that putting a homicidal "face" on this illness does a disservice to the vast number of kids suffering with it who have never, and would never, even contemplate such destruction of others. It's bad enough they're misunderstood to the extent they are; if public opinion sways to considering them "dangerous to others," we'll have a whole 'nother can of worms to deal with.
 
I think they should pursue every possible avenue of diagnosis and treatment for this boy, including PANDAS. I just don't think, given what we know, this level of destructive, premeditated behavior is rightfully laid entirely at PANDAS feet, is all.

May I suggest, as a person with PANDAS who will have to bear the stigma of whatever thist story turns out to be, that we possibly close this discussion/carry it on in private until we know the details of what was really going on in this young man's life?
 
We are jumping to conclusions and it will not help him, or any of us who are non-violent PANDAS-sufferers, to draw too many connections to a dangerous and violent person (mentally ill or not) before we know if they really exist.
 
Please think about those of us who have to live with this disorder. I have already had to ask all of my friends to remain tight-lipped when discussing this news story so as not to draw attention to my having PANDAS. This is very scary for me, and I imagine you feel the same fear for your children's reputations as well.
 

I am NOT a medical or psychiatric professional, but from knowing my own child's PANDAS and having been connected, through all of the stories and experiences noted here on the forum over the last 3+ years, I have a very real concern that 1) this child's issue(s) are not restricted to PANDAS, and 2) that an attempt to corral this level of premeditated homicidal thinking/action into a PANDAS diagnosis does not serve our kids or the PANDAS/PANS community well.
 
I'm all for supporting this family, but who among us has seen our children be capable of such organized, premeditated behavior during a PANDAS episode?! My son couldn't plan for himself into the next HOUR, let alone plan and then execute the building, storing and utilization of explosives over an extended time period! I know our kids can rage and be horribly destructive in the moment during PANDAS exacerbations, but the executive functioning is so disorganized and emotionally labile, that I cannot see the link between what this boy did and what I know of this particular illness.
 
I'm sorry, but I fear there is at least something additional afoot here . . . Just MHO.