Explaining PANDAS to friends

[T_Anna]

Anyone have a good article that helps explain PANDAS to you kid's friends?

 

DS 14.5 started telling friends, but has a difficult time explaining it to his friends (also done through texts which makes it harder).

 

Thanks in advance,

T.Anna

[tpotter]

Wow. I give him tremendous credit for wanting to explain it to his friends. My DS's refused to do that (younger one is adament about not telling them. I have explained it to adults by giving links to about 4 articles/websites (I have learned to keep in low,) but not having the experience to explain it to a 14 yo, I don't know.

 

What I would say is maybe that his body, particularly his brain attacks itself when he is exposed to any kind of infection. So, it makes it hard for him to think, focus (and anything else he cares to share.) I would recommend that he keep the explanation to a minimum, because most people don't really understand, and they'll tune him out. I would also stay away from the "psychiatric" part of "neuropsychiatric" when explaining it to them, because again, most people just don't understand, and they won't get the fact that this is a medical basis.

[airial95]

I think that the rheumatic fever example that many of us use for adults would also work for kids his age. Simply explain that the cells that kill off infection sometimes hurt the heart in rheumatic fever - and it's the same for PANDAS, except those cells hurt the brain.

 

I find that when I explain it this way to outsiders, vs. focusing on the "phychiatric" aspect of it, I get alot less skepticism.

[dcmom]

Agree with the above posters. My dd 12 explains it as an autoimmune disorder. Kids, usually just want an answer- this is enough for most. I always tell her that she could just answer simply- (if you had the flu- you tell a friend you had the flu- not a list of your symptoms in graphic detail).

 

For her BFF she has gone into more detail, saying that the autoimmune disorder attacks her brains, causing symptoms such as anxiety.

[blakes_mom]

My DS 11 came up with his own explanation for pandas when he was 9. He simply told his classmates that it was an aftershock from strep.I thought that was genious!