my 15 year old is not coping mentally. She has severe social anxiety, has just started mainstream school again after home-schooling for a year and a half. She is in contact with school counsellors and an external counsellor but none of the coping exercises are working for her. We have tried a multitude of things. So my question is how do I approach her counsellors on the possibility of medication? This is our last resort as we tried avoiding it but its become too much of a daily problem now. She also suffers from depression which I fear got worse throughout covid and not being able to do anything so she is in her room all the time and its becoming more difficult to get her to leave the home. It goes beyond just normal teen behaviour of being bedroom hermits. It affects her mentality and confidence and simple things like paying for a drink are almost a breakdown of effort.
*edit to add: we were told by a doctor that she needed to get her counselor to give her input before he can even think of giving medication. So seems I need to seek a new doctor.
Anxiety/depression meds for teens.
Anxiety/depression meds for teens.
Posted in:
Mental Health, Anxiety & Depression
4 Replies
My now 18 year old son was the same, his anxiety was debilitating and stopping him from doing anything. Leaving the house for any reason was a mission. He didn't go to school from 14 to 15. Our Dr reluctantly put him on meds and he has been going really well since. He went back to school, he works, he can walk places on his own. I remember a month after he started the medication he went into a shop and bought a T-shirt by himself which is such a normal teenager thing to do but I was so proud of him because weeks before I would never have thought that would happen.
Counsellors don’t have any say in medication.
Approach your child’s GP as a starting point.
You need to take her to a doctor , a counsellor has nothing to do with medication.
My 14 year old has anxiety and depression and been trying medications for years now- we can’t find the right fit but atleast see a doctor for advice
You need to change to a new dr for sure and instead of seeing a counsellor get her into a child psychologist ASAP or even a general psychologist they are way better equipped to help you!