Adhd seventeen year old - going through rough time for last few years in school with friends. She is entering her senior year with no friends. She has lots of friends outside of school, but that does little to soothe her disappointment about her social life in our town. I can’t blame her. She’s pretty nice and lots of fun, but for lots of mean girl reasons, she was tossed aside. In any event, she’s miserable. Her therapist recommended a mood stabilizer or Prozac and I’m not sure im
ready to do either. Any btdt? I
mentjon she’s adhd bc she is medicated on Ritalin for that while in school. Any thoughts would be helpful.
Other than meds, what strategies/suggestions does the therapist recommend?
They’ve tried a bunch of coping skills and trying to change the thought process but it’s going nowhere
what specifically are you concerned about regarding the Prozac or other meds? my DD has been on meds for about a year so i 'm happy to answer questions. It took a while to find the right one for her but definitely has helped.
Thank you what did you put yours on and why
she was on prozac first (pretty standard first choice for teens) and then switched to lexapro and added welbutrin, all for depression and anxiety. What exactly are your concerns?
NP who is also considering. How was the trial period? I worry doing it while school is on. Should have done it over the summer but I thought my son would be back at school and things would improve... but now it's remote and no end in sight.
Op here - I never put her on them. Not sure that was the right decision, but here we are
@Anonymous the trial period was pretty easy - a bit of insomnia but nothing worse.
Has online learning actually given her a reprieve from the social dynamics at school?
Who are the other friends and is it possible for her to see them during the school year? Can you help her to understand that she’s a great person and has great friendships despite the mean girls in her school? Are you trying to help her confidence or her mood? I’ve been taking 5mg of prozac for the last few months, first time ever but I needed something and it had helped me a lot
Yes she sees camp friends during the year, but they don’t live close so it’s not always so easy.
DS started prozac in HS for anxiety that was spiraling into depression, it felt significant when DS made the choice to give them a try but in hindsight I think that was really about not wanting other people to label DS because he's on meds. In practice, it has really not been a big deal and has helped.
This is so not what you asked, sorry, but just reflecting back that the way you describe her unhappiness sounds very situational. Situational stuff can be medicated, but if you have the resources, you can also get out of the situation! Is there any opportunity to take a gap year or go to boarding school (it's a built in pod) or otherwise break the mold of her social situation? In the switch to private/boarding, you can sometimes repeat a year for social rather than academic reasons. She could also just try to take her mind out of there by taking a bunch of college classes online or finding stuff she loves to study. Barring that, especially if school is emotionally exhausting, you could ease up on your rules about what she does with her spare time so she can drop into something engrossing, even if it's binge watching stuff, or letting her drive more/farther than usual to see friends, or.... Sitting under a dominant group or dominant personalities at that age can be so grim, and can form bad memories and patterns and self-image. When kids can't outright escape, it's helpful to have something else going on. On the meds/diagnosis front, ADHD often appears with a low-level depression called maybe dysthymia(?), not classic depression where you can't get out of bed, just nagging and persistent. ADHD also appears with bigger depression and all levels of anxiety and whatnot. Those things are really eligible for meds and often (if not always) helped. Standard warnings about being careful with SSRIs in young people with any possible self-harm tendencies. Can start by trying SNRIs instead.