Anonymous wrote:ZERO!

Instead of spending $$$ on your clothes or trips or DC pad or whatever, why not invest it in your child's mental health and find a therapist (NOT a psychiatrist) worth a shit - pay the $$$$.

I mean seriously, are you F-ing KIDDING ME????

You are an asshole.

OP, how long has your child been on the current dose of Prozac? It can take several weeks for it to fully kick in, so be prepared to wait before increasing the dosage. I hope your child feels better soon--he's very lucky to have a parent pursuing treatment for him.

Anonymous wrote:Zero , start parenting

Could all of you judgmental parents who have NO IDEA what its like to raise our kids with their issues, please go away. You are being real a-holes.

Zero , start parenting

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some kids needs meds to control the symptoms sufficiently for them to even be able to engage in therapy and have therapy be useful... Lots of kids need to be on meds until they have learned how what triggers the symptoms, and how to change their thinking and how to alter their actions to minimize the symptoms and to manage any residual symptoms.

Thank you for this. This is exactly what my daughter's therapist said to me today. I'm trying to wrap my brain around all of this because I never thought it would come to this until she mentioned it to me today. She thinks that she needs to mature to fully understand her own anxiety, what triggers it and how to "control" it. I've never taken medication (anti-anxiety/depressants, etc.) so it scares me a little. I'm trying to research now as much as I can. I don't know what the right thing to do is.

Not the first quoted PP but it explains our situation. Our DS (then 7) had crippling situational/anticipatory anxiety. He always had at least a lot level of anxiety but it would flare prior to the start of school, before Christmas (I've been bad, I won't get any presents) and when he thought about something bad happening to me or DH. We enrolled him in an NIH anxiety study that offered CBT and/or medication to help treat the anxiety (they were studying the brains of kids with anxiety, not studying CBT/medication). In their opinion, his anxiety level was too high for him to benefit from CBT alone. This was congruent with our experience with private CBT. We could teach him all the tools he needed but when in an anxious state, he was unable to use them. It was so very hard but we did put him on generic Prozac and the difference was amazing (it took several weeks at a therapeutic dose). He still had low levels of anxiety but he never got to a crisis point again. He was actually able to talk about where he was emotionally and we could start helping him use the tools he learned. Our experience is just what the first PP stated. He was on the medication until he learned how to get a handle on the anxiety. We still use it before the start of school because that transition is so very difficult for him but it's amazing to see how he's able to use CBT and meditation to control and calm his mind.

Medication is a big deal and it's okay to be scared. You're doing your research which is good. We did the same thing. For us, medication was a life changer and I'm glad we didnt' wait any longer than we did. Best of luck to you. It'll be okay.

Anonymous wrote:Some kids needs meds to control the symptoms sufficiently for them to even be able to engage in therapy and have therapy be useful... Lots of kids need to be on meds until they have learned how what triggers the symptoms, and how to change their thinking and how to alter their actions to minimize the symptoms and to manage any residual symptoms.

Thank you for this. This is exactly what my daughter's therapist said to me today. I'm trying to wrap my brain around all of this because I never thought it would come to this until she mentioned it to me today. She thinks that she needs to mature to fully understand her own anxiety, what triggers it and how to "control" it. I've never taken medication (anti-anxiety/depressants, etc.) so it scares me a little. I'm trying to research now as much as I can. I don't know what the right thing to do is.

I have found that most parents do explore many options and make informed decisions about meds. Those that haven't r go to meds right away, often it is because they trust their health care providers to make the right decision for their child. There are some health care professionals who use medications a little too quickly or prescribe them to every child who comes into their office. Parents though just want to help their child. Not all parents have equal access to informed information or the time or capabilities to challenge or question, they trust the experts.

I think its very instructive that the parents trying to shame OP are using all sorts of vitriol and almost unhinged language, while the supportive posts are calm.

I have my own stories of a child who refused to go to school, who sat through week after week of therapy utterly unable to make any use of it because of severe depression. Meds gave him his life. I agree with PP, shame on you.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ZERO!

Instead of spending $$$ on your clothes or trips or DC pad or whatever, why not invest it in your child's mental health and find a therapist (NOT a psychiatrist) worth a shit - pay the $$$$.

I mean seriously, are you F-ing KIDDING ME????

Please go back to general parenting. You are ignorant and you don't know what you are talking about.

I have seen children become psychotic because of extreme anxiety. I have seen great suffering, children who couldn't ;earn or socialize because of the intrusiveness of their anxieties. What the SCIENCE tells us (science, not your ideological blinders) is that untreated mood disorders in children affect the chemistry of the brain, so that the disorders become more entrenched and difficult to treat. Mentally ill children who are not treated become mentally ill adults. The ones who are treated have an excellent shot at productive, happy lives.

OP was asking caring parents who have been there for advice. You are neither of these things so please go away.

Can you read? I most certainly gave advice - the advice was to get your children real therapy that they obviously need rather than just throwing hard core meds at a 3.5 yr old. 10 yr old. or any little kid. And the "SCIENCE" shows that CBT is often more effective than drugs. I'm not some DCUM hippie against all medications, but for a CHILD - under 12? under 5???? I would certainly exhaust all non-pharmacological options before drugging my child. Like therapy. Like what is the root of the problem as far as environment.

I am a new poster and I am answering you as a way to support other parents. Please do not be so patronizing. Why would you assume that OP, that any of us, have not exhausted all non-pharmacological options?? Do you think anyone takes medicating a child lightly?! When we started to give my child prozac, he had already been in therapy for two years. He is still in therapy. Do you want to know what else we tried? Gluten/casein free and all organic diet; high doses of fish oil and other supplements; weekly occupational therapy; tae kwon do; yoga, every sport ... off the top of my head. Oh, and I gave up my career, too, to be able to take my kid to appointments and provide all the stability I possibly could. And yet my son's anxiety was so extreme that he could not hold a conversation with anyone besides his parents. He had intense panic attacks every single day before school. He would not leave the house without his mother. He started to resist, physically resist, going to school... which, might be okay for a three-year-old but, think about it, what can you do when your six-year-old will not walk into school? When he acts as terrified as though there were a shooter inside the school and he was being sent to certain death. My child could no longer play sports, could no longer learn, could no longer go to a birthday party, could no longer have a play date. He was shutting down completely--you clearly have no idea what it feels like to watch something like this. All of this while he was seeing the most wonderful therapist, who had been able to help him in the past. While being taught by the most amazing teachers, who were doing everything they could to support him. While surrounded by the most amazing friends, who continued to patiently and lovingly invite him. And we were still losing him to his anxiety. By the time we considered medication, we had let him suffer intensely for a very, very long time. Those are years my poor little boy will never get back.

I cried the day we gave him Prozac for the first time. It was the hardest decision I have ever made. But Prozac has changed his life. My son still has extreme anxiety but he can now use some of the tools he has been taught in therapy. The difference is that it reaches him now, and so can we, his parents, talk him through situations in way we were unable to do before. My son can now enjoy his friends and his team and school. I truly have not even told you the half of what we have been through. I would assume that everyone whose young children take SSRIs have similar stories. It is terribly uncharitable and disrespectful of you to assume that we would make this decision lightly. And you stigmatize the act of taking medication, which, really is the last thing our kids need on top of all they are already dealing with. Shame on you.

CBT can be too heady for little kids. And to the argumentative PP (and I do agree ideally to stay away from meds), how do you know OP hasn't tried therapy? You obviously haven't experienced the anguishing worry and fear that parents of kids with major problems or mental illness or serious aggression (anxiety or depression related) have. My child's very experienced CBT therapist tells us he needs medication. Do you think I liked hearing that? And is this really a political issue? What would a conservative do?

There's no real point arguing this, because if you haven't been there, you haven't been there.

We started CBT when dc was 4, because he had pulled out much of the hair on his head and one eyebrow. CBT helped somewhat, but at every stressful period after that, ds continued to pull out his hair. When at 8 he had a bald spot the size of a luncheon plate on his head, we decided that the risks of medicating were probably outweighed by the social problems engendered in elementary school by being bald and spending all free time compulsively hair-pulling. So we started Prozac. You have no idea what it is like to have a kid with serious anxiety. Be grateful for your ignorance.

I work in child and adolescent mental health. I agree that sometimes meds are prescribed too readily or as the solution. However meds can also play an essential role.

Psych meds only treat symptoms so therapy is an important part of treating what is underlying the symptoms. Some kids needs meds to control the symptoms sufficiently for them to even be able to engage in therapy and have therapy be useful. Other kids need meds because the severity of their symptoms interferes with their daily functioning. Therapy takes time to treat an illness. It doesn't work overnight. Lots of kids need to be on meds until they have learned how what triggers the symptoms, and how to change their thinking and how to alter their actions to minimize the symptoms and to manage any residual symptoms.

Should parents think meds are the cure - no. All they do is mask and minimize symptoms. However should they consider meds as a part of the treatment plan - absolutely.

If a child's social, emotional, behavioral or academic functioning is being impacted by their mental health it is time to take action. That action should be to explore all treatment options and create an individualized plan that will work for that child.