Gianni Cristini, now 10 years old has been hearing voices in his head since he was 4 years old. He claimed his stuffed toys spoke to him, in many occasions he had wanted to kill himself.
His parents have always been guilty of whether they showed him to the right doctor, could they be doing something else, and thoughts like these, which often engulf parents who have sick children. Since the age of 4 they have been showing to various doctors and the diagnosis have ranged from autism to ADHD to currently bipolar schizophrenic disorder.
Gianni Cristini was adopted at birth, and was treated with love and care by the parents like a normal newborn. When his tantrums got out of control, parents started researching on the Internet. Some nights since he was 18 months old, Gianni wouldn’t sleep at all and that’s when the parents realized there was something seriously wrong with their son.
Soon followed the path of various doctors, diagnosis and second opinion and multiple opinions and till now the parents are unsure of the diagnosis .He is violent, has a huge temper and often threatens to hurt the parents. He is only 10 now so the parents can still tackle him; they worry about how they will be able to physically control him when he gets older.
Often people with mental disorders, somehow garner enough physical strength to hurt anyone near them. It’s hard to control them when they are having one of the episodes.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness estimates “4 million children and adolescents in this country suffer from a serious mental disorder that causes significant functional impairments at home, at school and with peers.”
Even though mental disorder affects a huge number of children, there is general lack of compassion and research in this field.
She says she wants CNN to come into her home and share her family’s personal story so other parents don’t feel alone. She wants pediatricians, schools and her community to change.
But most of all, she wants this: “We need help.”