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Has your Teen overcome Anxiety/panic at school? Hoping for advice!

1 reply

Ilovechurrosalldaylong · 30/07/2025 10:49

DD15 was diagnosed with depression, Anxiety and Panic disorder in March. She has also been diagnosed with ADHD (as has her dad) She has been on sertraline and seeing a counsellor. The sertraline has gradually been increased and she is now on 100mg.
since breaking up for the holidays it has become more clear that the problem is all around school. She doesn’t feel any of the bad feelings anymore now that school is out.

She says she gets panicky in the classroom and wants to run out and disappear and feels overwhelmed etc. she also dreads going to school so the minute she finishes one day, starts dreading the next. She has a good set of friends and the school have been supportive, giving her somewhere to go if she needs to leave the classroom etc.

My question is, has anyone experienced a similar scenario and how did your DD/DS eventually overcome it? The psychiatrist seems to think the therapist will give her all these techniques to overcome the panic but DD tells me nothing works.

She has a great summer planned and is happy as Larry now school is out but I’m worried about it coming crashing down in September. (Yr 11). We try to not put any pressure on her academically but her school does (although it’s a comprehensive, they are strict) and her older sisters are high achievers so this may be contributing to the pressure.

Any thoughts or successes would be appreciated!

OP posts:
TheLivelyViper · 30/07/2025 15:20

She needs to still consistently take the medication every day (withdrawal needs to be done in a controlled fashion with a doctor). Also it could also be the meds working? See how she feels when she's goes back but there's nothing wrong with the meds. They aren't addictive. Is she on anything for the ADHD as I'd look into stimulants not just for school but all the time and it might mean she needs less Sertraline in terms of dose.

What therapy is she doing? Some people need to do a different type for it to work and also sometimes you need a different therapist if she doesn't gel with her well (doesn't mean the therapist is bad but therapy at its core is highly relational). CBT can soemtimes not work as well because it's meant to be only for mild anxiett/depression so she might need something more intensive - I'd look at DBT, psychodynamic or IFS instead.

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