teenage depression

[floramckitchen]

my 17 yo dd has been diagnosed with depression by the gp today. I am so worried as she is so sad and feeling like she would rather not be here iykwim. She has been offered counselling which starts this thurs so I'm hoping this will be a positive first step on the road to recovery. Has anybody had any experience of this ? any tips for a very worried mum.

thanks

I didn't want to leave your post unanswered and I hope I can reassure you a little bit. I suffered a (severe) episode of depression as a teenager. It was (mostly) caused by being very badly bullied at school for a number of years. Unfortunately my parents (in particular, my mother) didn't want to comprehend quite how bad I was feeling.

The good news is that I recovered! I had only a few sessions with a counsellor (my choice to stop going) and I felt I got a lot from the counselling. However I now (many years later) wonder if I should have had a few more sessions and dealt with more "stuff." What I'm trying to say is that counselling helped me considerably and I would encourage anyone who is feeling depressed to have counselling.

She is very lucky to have you as an understanding and supportive mum! You may want to ask her if there is anything practical you can do to help her feel better (for me, I wanted to change school but wasn't allowed to). It may be that there is nothing you can do, but it doesn't hurt to ask. Just reassure her that you love her very much (which I'm sure you're doing anyway).

Feel free to PM me if you want to talk any more.

Best wishes to both of you X

I don't have any direct experience but I used to work in mental health and I would recommend the MIND ebsite, there's lots of info you may find helpful and you could also meet a MIND volunteer locally to find out more about teenage depression

My experience was similar to Chaos.

My life changed when I did CBT as an adult. I was weighed down by negative thoughts and CBT gave me the tools to challenge those. I still get down sometimes but am now able to yank myself back before I sink too deep.

I think as a parent it is very hard. I think seeing if there is anything practical you can do to help is a great idea, but it might be hard for her to articulate what you can do. Also, be prepared for counselling not to work a few times. Counselling is so much about the relationship between the two people, and sometimes that relationship just doesn't work. The final thing I suggest is lots of loving statements. Just "I love you" without the qualifying stuff that sometimes goes afterwards e.g. "I love you when you are ..." "I love you but ..."

Thanks for all your advice. I will definitely visit the MIND website.

Fingers crossed for tomorrows first visit to the counsellor. I think I have noticed a very slight improvement today, she has even got dressed a decided to visit one of our neighbours for a change of scene.

Thanks again

Hi, Im going through the same thing with my 15 year old dd and really struggling with it all. Just wondering how things are with your daughter?

Hi there

I haven't used this forum before but really want to talk to other mums who have teenagers diagnosed with depression as I feel totally helpless at he moment. Hoe are your daughters doing? You coping? My daughter was diagnosed with depression 6 months ago and has been having weekly therapy and been on Prozac for four months. It hasn't helped and yesterday we were told that they feel she might need to be an in patient - I freaked out...

Has it really to this.... The thing is I just don't feel it's THAT bad... Bad yes, but an in patient?

I'm close to tears all the time and can't believe were here....

Would be good to talk to other mums who have daughters struggling with this ilness...

A very unhappy mummy x

Daughter is 15.

hello

Hi, i am the mum of a 19yr old son who is very depressed, he is having counselling (only just started) and is on anti-depressants, its very hard to get him out of bed each day, I am wondering if anyone else has any experience of this?

my friends daughter is going through a bad time at the moment and she opened up to me about how she felt ,i suffer with depression so could understand everything she was saying to me ,i took her to the docs who has refered her to a consultant who we are still waiting to see,the only trouble is because she is a teenager (15) i am unsure whether it is hormones as she seems different two weeks b4 her periods or just a stroppy teenager she also tried to make herself sick because she said it made her feel better which is very scary ,my point is it might just be a teenage thing and hopefully they will grow out of it ,gp's ar far to quick to hand out medication as they did with me and they just made me feel worse because all they do is block out your problems.good luck with your daughter hun x

Hi,

I suffered from anxiety/depression from when I was about 17 so can understand what it feels like. Mine stemmed from my sister being seriously ill at the time and some other issues but not being able to talk to anyone about the feelings i had which i bottled up and ended up making myself ill over. I wont bore you with the ins and outs but having someone neutral to talk to really helped me as my parents werent available emotionally to support me. I dont blame them in any shape or form as we thought my sis was going to die. I did take some medication at the time but it was only for a short period to get me through this difficult patch and it did help. If your child does open up and let you in, then great but if not seeking outside help is another option and one I would wholeheartedly support.

outside support is the right way to go i agree,when you have this illness you feel so lonely because you feel no body understands how you are feeling so you end up pretending that everything is ok and just laugh it off but inside is feeling so different and if your anything like me i just feel so tired all the time .

My 15 yr old daughter is depressed too. Im always crying as im so worried about her. She used to be full of fun but its like I dont know her anymore. My heart bleeds for her and I just want to hold her and to protect her from the world. My GPs wonderful and shes getting all the support she wants from her school. I feel useless as a mum. I question my parenting skills, did I do something, say something. I know how you are feeling. I find solace in my partner daughter and mum and dad. I hope you have someone to help you through this difficult time.