6th grader is depressed

[Anonymous]

Ritalin is known to stunt physical growth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would be more focused on the statement that he has no friends. Human beings are all social creatures, and get most of their happiness from social interaction. Any 6th grader with no friends will be profoundly unhappy. So try to get to the bottom of that. Is his ADHD interfering with his social acceptance? If so you might do better increasing his dosage rather than reducing it. (I have a 40 pound 2nd-grader who takes more). Or maybe the social problem is more complicated than that. In my observation (and their parents'), many ADHD kids have mild social problems pretty similar to Aspergers syndrome even though they might not qualify for an autism diagnosis. And talk to your doctor. If your kid doesn't yet know about his diagnosis, learning about why he has these challenges might help.

+1

Anyone without friends has a good reason to be depressed. ADHD meds helped my DS with Asperger's/ADHD, combined type, be more social because he can pay attention in his social skills classes and other people in general.

Does your son have an activity that he enjoys? Does he do a sport? Take lessons? Does your school have help for social skills and making friends?

Get him some help so he can have friends. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ritalin is known to stunt physical growth.

B.S. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2821235/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: Any 6th grader with no friends will be profoundly unhappy.

This is false. Any psychologist will tell you that some are fine without friends. The child here may not be one. But it is not a universal rule.

[Anonymous]

Some counseling, talk therapy for depression, if it is diagnosed. Does he have interests and pursue them? Middle school and high school are hard but it gets better.