As mentioned before, just notes on Hiccup's backstory when writing this. Very OOC and headcanon of course.
Appendix: Notes from the social worker.
The person in question, who will be referred simply as H in these notes, has been admitted to Graceland House, a residential rehabilitation unit for adolescents with emotional and behavioural difficulties. This referral was done on the request of H's father, S, who has found increasing difficulty in caring for his son. It is hoped that H will be able to return home and to school once his mental health is in a stable condition, but foster placements may have to be considered dependant on S's parenting ability and the home situation once his health is stable.
Mental Health History
H has had a long and intensive history with mental health services. He was born a month prematurely and, despite reaching milestones fairly late, he had no significant impairments that were noticeable in early childhood. When starting school, teachers noticed that he was shy and quite clingy, and often difficult to console when upset. However, he soon settled and worked normally for his age, and seemed to be relatively happy.
Concerns were raised when H started experiencing drastic changes in his behaviour following the divorce of his parents aged eight. He was referred for counselling and anger management within eight months after this event. The divorce was very traumatic for H and he had a great deal of difficulty adjusting. He was suspended twice in this period due to fighting in school, became increasingly withdrawn in classes and refused to participate, and teachers expressed concern that H's grades were dropping. H was diagnosed with major depressive disorder aged nine after a referral to child and adolescent mental health services. Educational psychologists also considered whether the adjustment and behavioural problems were attributed to undiagnosed autistic spectrum disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, but this was not investigated, and H was found to have no specific learning difficulties and an above average intelligence quotient.
Despite counselling interventions, the negative behaviour persisted and were increased after H's mother V decided to move away. It was decided that a course of fluoxetine would be administered to stabilise H's mood. These anti-depressants marked an improvement and he was able to continue with school. His school work improved in quality; however, he became a victim to bullies within his school and was suspended again after running away. It was decided by S that he would attend a new school, which he struggled again to adjust to.
H began having panic attacks and began truanting school. He described school as "a prison" and had major difficulty attending. Psychiatrists diagnosed him with generalised anxiety disorder and panic disorder and he began a course of citalopram as the fluoxetine had become somewhat ineffective. H was able to attend school in a one-to-one setting, but the educational system did not find his needs severe enough for this support and he was expected to attend classes with his peers. As well as close monitoring of his medication, H attended psychotherapy and adopted CBT methodology. Whilst in therapy, concerns were raised about possible suicidal ideation, and H stating he felt "useless", "unable to hold it together" and "like I'm going to kill myself".
During this period, H almost completely dropped out of school, causing many difficulties for S. H also began abusing substances, although exactly what is unsure. It was determined that he had got involved with a local gang who supplied with paraphernalia. Although H understands the implications of this, he states he takes them as "it keeps him together". H also started displaying risky sexual behaviour. An extremely traumatic incident occurred when he was raped and beaten aged fourteen and hospitalised for three days. H became extremely hostile, aggressive and emotional after this event and was subsequently diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. A diagnosis of borderline personality disorder was considered but deemed inappropriate due to his age.
In the weeks before being admitted to the unit, H was completely unable to attend school and was self-harming, having overdosed on citalopram, burning himself with cigarettes and climbing up onto a bridge and threatening to kill himself. It was decided that the homelier aspect of the unit would be better for H than a psychiatric ward due to his difficulty adjusting to change. He was admitted on the basis that he would be there for at least three months and only discharged when he was stable.
Personality and Behaviours
H is a bright, articulate and generally pleasant young man who, provided he keeps his mental health stable, would have no trouble accessing the community and leading a full life. He has a very dry sense of humour and is a talented artist and writer, having written several poetry pieces online that have received praise. H's creativity could be fostered in a positive way with some intervention from specific support services, and an art therapist is recommended in this case as a viable way of maintaining communication, as well as honing his creative talents.
H is ultimately very good natured and will help those in need around him. He is a keen debater and is very strong on what is happening around the world. H has strong opinions on topics such as politics and war and feels that there should be no need for conflict. He seems very passionate when he talks about topics that interest him and seems to be a good listener. H shows potential leadership skills that can be honed positively in the right environment.
H enjoys going out for walks and spending time alone. For his own safety, he will be unable to spend long periods unsupervised, but it should be acknowledged that not giving him his own space may aggravate H, and he may need to spend some time by himself after a panic attack or meltdown to "collect his thoughts". Walks should be encouraged along with any exercise, as maintaining a healthy lifestyle is of great importance.
If he is upset or frustrated, H may become extremely sarcastic in his manner of tone, which can often upset those he is confronted with. This kind of reaction can make the situation worse, and he will require a calm demeanour to keep the situation from escalating. It is important to remember that he uses this humour as a coping mechanism, rather than to deliberately provoke or upset anyone.
H's behaviour will often be varied, although it is hoped that a new course of medication will stabilise his mood and allow him to function in a more predictable manner. On a good day, he will seem like a very ordinary teenage boy, if a bit quirky, and it is likely that he will engage in conversation and enjoy the company around him. He is able to articulate his feelings and, although shy, will get himself involved in activities and school work with some prompting. On a bad day, H will be unable to get himself out of his bed, will be unable to attend to any personal care needs and can often become very physically challenging. He will refuse to leave the house, eat or drink, and will find it very difficult to engage in any kind of activity. The bad days recently have greatly outweighed the good ones and has caused an extremely tense relationship with his father, who feels completely overwhelmed and unable to cope with his son's mood swings.
Educational History
H has found remaining in education very difficult, both due to his anxiety within school and because of his difficulty with adjusting to change. H would currently be attending grade 10 classes but started displaying emotional and behavioural difficulties in grade 4 and struggled with poor attendance from grade 5 onwards. H has only attended his high school 12% of the time he has been a student there and has failed as a result to develop any kind of meaningful relationship with any of the staff or students.
It is very evident that H is bright and finds the work itself somewhat easy. However, due to missing so much education, it is recommended that he is held back to the start of high school once he hopefully returns. H has been given two Intelligence Quotient tests by two separate educational psychologists, where he performed above average. Both tests evidenced that H was particularly adept with perceptual reasoning and logical thinking. In further comprehension tests given by the educational psychologists to rule out any specific learning difficulties, H scored highly on the mathematical based questions, and did well on reading and comprehension questions. Academically, there is no reason why he would not be able to graduate high school with good grades, so long as he has the right support system in place.
However, despite his academic abilities, it is recommended that H does not return to a conventional school setting as there is concerns about his ability to cope in the environment. If he returns to the same setting, H's mental health will almost certainly deteriorate, and he will be unfit for any kind of education. At least initially, H will ideally need to be home schooled. Failing that, he will need to either attend an alternative school specialising with EBD or attend a regular high school but in a supported setting. H would benefit from a one-to-one teaching environment initially, before slowly establishing relationships with his peers and being able to return to a classroom and learn amongst others. He would also benefit from having rest breaks and somewhere to go if his anxiety becomes too much to handle.