Antidepressants for 15 year old? Terrified

[BeethovenNinth]

My 15 year old…. Lockdown floored her, didn’t settle in secondary, anorexic. Self harm and dropped out age 13. Hasn’t been at school for two years. For six months was house bound

her mental health was very poor. We have tried talking therapies (waste of time), hypnotherapy (limited), exercise and diet (helpful). Her mental health is now pretty good - she eats albeit limited foods, she now sleeps well, self harm gone. She has slowly worked up to going to a choir once a week and even seeing a friend. She has gone from not managing to leave the house to being able to visit a busy city, take buses etc (with me) and attend family parties. Slow but good progress

we are in Scotland so there is absolutely zero help. They don’t care she isn’t there. We have looked at private schools but she is too scared to get there each day.

she wants to try antidepressants as thinks it’s a magic bullet. I’m happy to find a private psychiatrist but feel it’s a massive step. My friends son committed suicide last year and he had just started to take an SSrI. My real real worry therefore is suicide ideation.i could give up work and check on her constantly but if someone wants to commit suicide it’s very hard to stop them

should I really medicating a child who mentally is well and slowly improving just so she can attend a school system that doesn’t suit her?

if not what else can I do? Thus has now massively affected my own mental health. The whole family is broken by it.

ps no point mentioning autism. She doesn’t want a diagnosis and even if she did there is years wait up here and no support once diagnosed. She doesn’t see herself as autistic - highly anxious.

thanks for any insight

I tried one and it really helped.
I tried a different one and it did cause suicidal ideation - v scary because it just feels like your own thoughts before you realise (and I wasn't warned).
I would say if you try them make the risk very clear - it will stop once the medication is stopped/changed for something else.

I haven't read the full thread.

OP has your daughter spoken to a GP yet?! "She wants SSRIs" but then "you prefer beta blockers" is such an odd way to approach this, surely first point of contact is a GP?

As an aside, I, as millions of people, am on an SSRI and it's not caused suicidal ideation. Quite the opposite, it saved my life. A GP prescribed it to me and is monitoring me and reviewing my medication regularly.

Yes alpaca. GP isn’t interested in helping her. They say she isn’t bad enough for urgent cahms and GP has nothing to offer her. So I’m back to GP to ask about beta blockers. They can’t give us SSRIs anyway. I’m not sure what GPs are like where you are but in Scotland, unless your life is at risk there is bugger all help. Do you think I haven’t begged our GP several times for help? I even asked to be referred to social services!

in England I don’t think GPs can prescribe anti-depressants for under 18s? They have to be prescribed by a psychiatrist. Helped a lot in our situation with older teen, but together with therapy.

To add - this was all private. CAHMS referral from GP took over a year to offer anything and what was on offer wasn’t adequate.

Re beta blockers - my DD was initially put on these by her psychiatrist when I was reluctant to accept her being given the anti depressants. They worked well to combat her anxiety but the self harm and depression remained an issue which is why she was eventually put on the fluoxetine.

Seeing how much the beta blockers helped her made me feel more positive towards her having the fluoxetine.

The psychiatrist also said that beta blockers should not be used long term for anxiety. I think they are better for getting you through a particular temporary issue that is causing anxiety.

Escitalopram has been very effective for my DS depression and anxiety, I saw his ADHD psychiatrist. He’s now back at school, managing his emotional binge eating and even walking the dog.

I was very anti ssri’s for young people after a bad experience myself and reading research papers. However, I think things have come a little way since then, and we have a good psychiatrist, who I trust.

I mean... maybe antidepressants are linked with increased risk of suicide (maybe)... but I'm pretty sure untreated anxiety/depression is very much linked with increased risk of suicide!
So, i never understand that argument.

The point is that the risk goes up for a while when starting the SSRIs, before then hopefully lowering / disappearing. So you have to be extra careful in the first weeks.

I'm not sure if this is worth trying but I take magnesium and my anxiety is much better. If she isn't eating correctly maybe her levels are low? May be worth a try before antidepressants.

Hi i know this thread is a few months old but how did things go with your daughter? As im in the same position with my son 😢

My suicidal AuADHD DS14 is prescribed antidepressants and it was life changing for him. Gone is the self harm and attempts on his life. His aggression and meltdowns are much less and he is coping better in school. He had tried alternative therapies and councilling beforehand. It was prescribed via CAMHS. It is a big decision to take but on reflection it was the right one for us.

There are really varied experiences here aren’t there? My experience was like flowers. My DD’s history was very like yours OP. She started fluoxetine prescribed by a CAMHS psychiatrist when she was 16 I think. I know she was under 18 because like you I was terrified of the suicide risk. It really was a magic bullet for us (just giving my experience) and she said ‘Why don’t they just give these to everyone straight away?’ She has since had a diagnosis of autism too.

I am reassured by facts and I did some reading around to get the research behind giving them under 18, which I found helpful. Also, they started at a very low dose and went up gradually, which I think is to manage the possibly suicide risk. Someone has shared the NICE guideline link up the thread which was helpful.