Kids & Antidepressants

[SkydiveStMarys 0]

Pros? Cons? I have been reading the various warnings about mixing the two (kids vs antidepressants) Anyone have any first hand knowledge on the subject. Insight and 20/20 would be helpful right about now.

Bobbi

A miracle is not defined by an event. A miracle is defined by gratitude.

[Zep 0]

Can't help on medical issues. But my kids are my antidepressant, when I'm down they pick me up an make me laugh.

Gone fishing

[Michele 1]

As someone who is on antidepressants, and one who believes in their value when used correctly, I would not be happy if they were prescribed for my child, and might not allow them to take it.

Diagnoses are hard to come by; unless one is honest with a psychologist, one will not get the correct diagnosis. Further, things like bi-polar are very tough to diagnose in a short time. While treatable, the diagnosis for bi polar is often not given until well into the treatment with a psychologist, and only then should one see a psychiatrist for the medical Rx.

Anything that changes the chemical balance in the brain is dangerous. If someone isn't responding well to the medication, is that child old enough to say "hey, this is making me worse" or "I am having side effects like X or Y. Is that normal?" Without that feedback, you have no idea what's really going on; some meds can make bi-polar worse; increase mood lability and suicidal tendancies, for example. Unless the parent is uber aware of the symptoms, the time lag, the side effects, and the potential draw backs, a child can go spinning off without warning; they're not yet able to assess - and challenge - the medication's effects should that be needed.

I think it would be a last resort - after a long time in talk therapy, and a good diagnosis from a psychiatrist (not an MD/Pediatric Dr), with all other possible causes ruled out (hormones running rampant [can create depression like episodes], problems in school [can cause withdrawl from daily life], eating disorders [often due to a need for control and/or self comfort] PTSD, and so forth). If absolutely EVERYTHING else has been ruled out and therapy has been undertaken, perhaps - and only perhaps - would an Rx be appropriate for a child's brain.

And only after the parent has been completely educated (by the psychiatrist and psychologist) to the side effects, the time paralax, the potential conflicts should a child take it.

I'm pretty strongly against it, even though I count on my medication to survive. I have had my diagnosis time tested and medication on/off tested. I've finally found a combination that allows me to be somewhat 'normal' (whatever that is...), and allows me an even keel to sail life's ocean with and weather it's storms relatively safely. I no longer see a psychiatrist, and my MD Rx's the meds, but that's because it's been quite a few years that I've been on this combination, and know it works for me.

Please take every caution available before giving antidepressants to a child; there are serious drawbacks and negative results and they can kill the child without you even being aware it's coming.

Ciels-
Michele

~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek
While our hearts lie bleeding?~

[Lindsey 0]

I don't think there's going to be a cut & dry answer to this dilemma. The first-hand knowledge I have on the subject is as a child psychotherapist in my previous life. I've seen antidepressants work well for some children, and I've seen behavioral approaches work well too. I am a bit biased toward keeping children off psychotropic medications until it's clear that other approaches aren't going to work....or until it's clear that other approaches aren't feasible.

--
A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail