Q. To: "Ask the Doctor"

I recently learned that my six year old daughter has been diagnosed with "Benign Rolandic Epilepsy of Childhood". Her mild seizures started after my wife filed for divorce and we became separated. The doctor prescribed Tegretol to my daughter.

While obtaining counseling to deal with the divorce, I spent many hours in the library, bookstore, and internet to try to understand chaotic marriage I had endured for 16 years. I am convinced that my wife has BPD.

In reading the "ask the doctor" section, I notice that seizure activity and Tegretol are strongly related to BPD, and that the pre-disposition to contract the illness has a 50% heredity factor.

My wife has used all the nasty divorce tactics in the books, including the abuse of Protection Orders and abuse allegations. In fact, when she had the sheriff deliver the Protection Order, she left the kids home alone to deal with it. My six year old daughter stood in the driveway crying as the sheriff escorted me out the driveway. Soon after, her seizure activity began.

Q. Can this kind of trauma to a six year old be a causal factor in seizures and the future onset of BPD if the child has a hereditary pre-disposition?

Q. Is the presence of "Benign Rolandic Epilepsy of Childhood" a "marker" for BPD, if the mother also has BPD?

Q. Is there anything I should do for my six year old, other than follow the doctors prescription, and try to establish a happy life for myself, to try to protect her from BPD?

A. Trauma is never good, so it cannot do anything but make matters worse. At best, it will not effect your daughter. It will not cause her problems, however. I would imagine anyone that brings children into a divorce and fights through them, does not have the children's best interests at heart.

Your ex may well be a borderline. Get a good psychiatric evaluation of your 6 year old, and have her treated appropriately. The courts would likely view any interventions to help the children as positive. Unfortunately, legal work costs are expensive. Do what you can to help the child within reason.