what to do about depressed 19 yo DS?

[TurkeyTrot]

DS is in second year of Uni, lived away Sep-Dec, even though all tuition was online. He came back home mid December and I think he is depressed.

He seems more or less OK when up and about, but is sleeping 12-14 hours per day and isn't awake in daylight hours at all. He is still sleeping now.

From Boxing Day to NYE, I made him get up at lunchtime (1pm ish), but it often took him an hour or more to get up, then he'd eat lunch and go back to sleep again until 6 or 7pm. I'm back at work on Monday, so won't be in the house during the day.

I don't think he's physically ill and I know a lot of young people are not in a good place at the moment for obvious reasons. But what to do about it? He is not able to articulate what would help him and I feel massively out of my depth here.

Ds2 has been like that for years and he has anxiety and depression. I think that as he is at uni he would need to speak to doctor there to see about getting some help and he could self refer to talking space. He might be able to register as a temp patient at your doctors to get help now but I'm not 100% sure.
You and he might find the blurt foundation, calm and mind useful for ways to help as well.

Thanks choccy.
Is there any that can be done at home to help, or is it a question of playing the long game?

He can discuss antidepressants and telephone counseling with his GP. Both of these have helped a family member. Also try planning activities/walks etc although this will be easier once he gets help for the depression. Good luck

My dd is the same. Came home from uni in October because she couldn't work, or leave her room. I've helped her speak to my go (registered her at my surgery) and we asked for ADs. It took a while but they are starting to help and now she's spoken to the gp again and just increased the dose. She's on sertraline which is good for anxiety. The first week or so were rough, extremely anxious and felt sick, but then things improved. She's now considering going back in January, although still unsure if she can work much. We've had problems with uni who thought she should drop out and start the year again in September, she didn't want to as she shares a flat with a friend. I'm hoping she'll be able to work soon. I think the year's been difficult for students, as they've not been able to socialise much or make friends.

I'm now trying to persuade her to register for counselling, she registered once and they turned her down because she's not in the right area. I'm so mad because it was so difficult to persuade her to register for it and at the moment I can't get her to fill in the form again. She slept all day as well at first. All I can say is be there for him, get him to eat, listen when he wants to talk and be patient.

@turkeytrot I have had to learn to not push ds2 to do things he doesn't feel capable of doing and to take each day as it comes.

I would say try and encourage a routine if you can but sadly he may just want to sleep. We play a lot of board games in our house which at least gets him engaging and keeps him occupied for a while.
Otherwise he tends to spend most of his time in bed or his pc playing games.

If he is struggling with uni work he should let them know.

I wish there was a magic answer for you. X