Father seeks help for mentally ill daughter

Christopher Selby said his 18-year-old daughter Abigail ran away from the Port-of- Spain General Hospital on Wednesday where she was receiving treatment .

She has been epileptic since she was nine years old. Abigail was found yesterday wandering on Charlotte Street, Port-of- Spain .

“One day she went to school and suffered a seizure and fell,” Selby said .

“Ever since that time, every time she gets an attack she would become very violent and teachers at her school began to complain because she would hit the children “She even bit her sister one time and she almost burned down my home a few years ago .

She was staying with her mother, but now her mum said she is unable to control her.” He said Abigail has been hospitalised for the past five years at various health institutions and is also wellknown by the police because of her penchant for running away .

“She has been warded at Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Port-of-Spain General, St Jude’s Home for girls, even the Women’s Prison because of her violence. St Ann’s (Psychiatric Hospital) doesn’t want to take her because they said her condition is not mental .

We are fed up and tired and don’t know what to do anymore .

She has been to the hospital more than 100 times.” Selby produced several medical documents with the medications she has been on over the years. These included drugs for seizures, antipsychotic drugs used to treat hallucinations and to curb abnormal behaviour, and an anti-parasite medication .

He said a CT scan showed that there are small lesions in her brain, but he was told by doctors that it is inoperable .

The medical report states that the lesions were caused by a parasitic infection. It added that the lesions are responsible for her violent behaviour .

“I want the Health Minister to intervene .

I spoke with the CMO (chief medical officer) who said he had given strict instructions that she receive the necessary treatment. But, the way it stands now, the nurses are fed up and don’t take her on, and some of them are scared of her. When she was there she had to be strapped down in the bed to prevent her from running away.” Secretary of the Psychiatric Association Dr Varma Deyalsingh said if they found a lesion, the neurosurgeons would come in to make a decision about what they would do .

“There could be cysts in the brain or tumours growing. If somebody comes in to St Ann’s, we would test to see if there is an infection .

The neurologist would then to see if it is an electrical activity or a seizure that was caused by a physical problem .

“We would have to know what type of problem it is, what was causing the lesions and who would go after the lesions. If it is a parasite they would not be able to operate, but you have to get some other modality to treat with it. Sometimes the brain is already damaged with scar tissue.” Selby can be contacted at 356-9287 .