Anxiety Disorders in Children Support Group

Unfortunately I had to put my child on low dose anti dep meds..It worked wonders even though I hate doing it..I would suggest if you can...find out where the exact problem lies? ie: why does your child not want to attend school?...bullies? fear? etc..then you can start to address this..maybe you can or the school guidance counselor can help.. unfortunately until you get to the real reason your child does not want to go to school. you cant do too much other than drive them to school and walk them into the principals office for a little talk...

My 12 1/2 year old son was diagnosed with performance and test anxiety last year. He is taking celexa and it has worked wonders. He has the same teacher as last year and she can not beleive the difference in him. He is finally participating in class even doing oral presentations in front of the class etc. His self asteem is so much better to and he has a lot more confidance,

It is really important to understand why they won't go before adding medicaitons. If you have been to a counselor and they are telling you that medications are needed to effectively help you teen, my advice would be to listen to their advice. Perscription mediciations can work very, very well. You can't help the patient if they can't digest the therapy. If they can't digect the therapy, they will not improve.

After trying therapy with no improvement my daughter was put on Zoloft two years ago. It was a very reluctant decision on my part, but it was the best decision we have ever made for her. For the first time in her life, she was able to sleep through the night in her own bed. Her therapies have been more effective and her performance at school has dramatically improved. She brings home A+s pretty much every day.

But if you are trying to exhaust your options before prescription products Agawart is supposed to be a natural based valium-type product, which might work. I have only heard of it through my physician's office, but have never tried it myself.

Just don't discount anti-depressents. They are very effective and help millions of people function, perform at school and at work, and more importantly, provide therapy to people that cannot get it with CBT alone.

I am a nurse and tried to avoid meds for several years. After watching my son struggle we put him on Celexa and he is now to a point where he can participate in the treatment he needs. Hopefully, one day he won't need them but I wouldn't tell a diabetic not to take there insulin. Get the point?
I have heard that Inositol is very effective. My neighbor has a son with PANDAS and the Inositol has actually helped the whole family as we all struggle together.

dont know if it would work for your child but mine was on hydroxyzine for years and it helped. it is a script but it is a very safe antihistamine that has a calming effect. i checked it out before i used it. very little side effects, very safe to use.

What is it about school that makes your child anxious?

It seemed to be many things but we finally realized it was the fear of being physically sick at school and maybe throwing up or an upset stomach. Unfortunately it did happen on many occasions at school, so eventually it just built into a constant fear of "what if's". Everything else just seemed to get more difficult because of this one constant fear, until just the idea of going to school triggered the anxiety.

Hi there

That sounds like our child!! My 9 year old daughter has been diagnosed with emetophobia- the intense fear of vomiting, so I know exactly what you are going through with your child. This past fall, we began dealing with school refusal issues because of this fear. She is not really afraid of school or anything about being at school, it is just an intense fear of getting sick (even though she very rarely does vomit). When this fear is active, she does not really want to do anything because she is scared. It is a very challenging fear to deal with because we can not predict when she might actually get a flu or get a stomach ache, so she wants to avoid everything and she is always thinking "what if today is the day I throw up?" It got to a point that she was not eating and the anxiety was consuming her, so we finally started her on meds. She is on Prozac and doing well. When she is under alot of stress (for her when there are any big transitions) we see the symptoms return, but the meds made a huge difference. She is going to a new school next year, so we are very fearful that the big transition will send her into another tailspin with this fear. At least now she is on the med, which can always be adjusted and she is in therapy, so if this happens, we have services and support in place.
I hope that this helps.

I wish your