15 year old girl prescribed anti depressants

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It is my niece. She has been very lethargic, unable to cope with her school work, problems with friendships lately, and has been off sick from school a lot. She complains of tummy aches, headaches, etc.

She has had the usual teenage angst issues, but she was also abducted by her father last year, there was a big court case for access, so a very stressful year for her, then her cousin was found dead in her sleep one morning (they were very close), and her best friend was bullied out of school after he was headbutted by the alpha male in the class, and all the parents of the boys in the class were protecting the alpha, and my niece had to give evidence to the police and was thereafter an outcast in her class, etc.

But anti depressants?

My sister took her to the doctors as she was suspecting ME after glandular fever, and was surprised to come out with a prescription for ADs for her daughter.

Would you give your teenager ADs?

Is there anything else she can do?

I would give them AD's if they needed them. I had them at 16/17 although with hindsight I probably had anxiety not depression so probably not necessary but that is neither here nor there. I don't think it is necessarily bad to give teenagers, or even children, ADs if they would help.

Sounds like your niece has had a terrible time and could do with some help. However, because her depression is most likely due to events rather than a chemical imbalance, I would have thought she could benefit from counselling. My first thought was grief counselling after the loss of her cousin but maybe she is suffering from Post Traumatic Stress disorder. The doctor should be able to advise on the best person or type of counselling to use.

God I would home ed. Sounds AWFUL! Councelling too.

My teenager is on ADs, this is a case by case decision. I certainly would not want him on ADs wihtout having any other sort of therapy.

Is the doctor organising some counselling for her. Sometimes the ADs are needed just to lift that black cloud enough in order to fully access other kinds of therapy. But on its own I'm not sure it is the answer whatever age you are.

She is given a quarter of normal dose, so half a tablet morning and half a tablet in the evening, and to come back for a review in 2 weeks. HE is not an option.

If she had diabetes she would be given insulin and advice on her diet. As she has depression, why should it be any different?

Doctors don't given them out easily to kids, but agree she would benefit from therapy too

She has not been offered therapy.

But I think it is a difference between diabetes and depression. Depression (at least in her case) is a reaction to experiences and her life as it is at the moment. The best cure would be to change her life and circumstances, I suppose. (like give her dad a personality transplant, the alpha male to move, or them to move, etc) Seeing that they cant change anything, would more exercise, new activities, vitamins, etc help?

I am just worried that ADs will have some sort of profound long term side effect on such a young brain?

It takes about 2-3 weeks for ADs to work and the dose is usually built up over this period. She can't change whats going on in her life but does need help coping with it. There are certain ADs which they will not use on under 18s and I'm sure her mother has been told to watch for any side affects by the dr.

Excercise can help as it gets the endorphins going which lifts your mood. The doctor needs to be pushed to organise some counselling. It sounds like she would benefit from talking through all these issues with a professional. She has had alot of s**t to cope with.

Your poor niece, what an awful time she's having.
In my experience prescribing ads is a knee-jerk response by some gps, when they should be referring for counselling.
Given that there are usually very long waiting lists, are there any drop-in youth counselling places in her area? She really needs to talk about these experiences and how they have left her feeling. That in itself may lift her mood.

Also, although AD's aren't a quick fix they are quicker than counselling to take effect, especially if she has to wait for an appointment. A dual approach would probably be beneficial - the ADs to bolster her now and the counselling to make sure the ADs aren't just masking her problems and to help her make sense of what happened.

I just came off the phone with my sister, niece has agreed to go to her martial arts class today. Will go for long walk tomorrow, rather than school which is horrible at the moment.
She will start the ads on saturday morning, so she has the weekend with her mum, as it is all new for her. So they can spot any ill effects straight away, rather than before school.