Depression in Children Support Group

Hi. Do you have a good relationship with your son so you can talk to him about the self medication? I have a daughter who also is almost 17 and we have been working with a doctor to get her depression and anxiety under control. Lots of med changes. She too has tried self medication with marijuana. We do talk a lot. I would like to think we are close and talk about everything. But I do know she hides things. As far as she told me she only has tried marijuana a couple of times. She is also has been self injuring her self for a couple of years. We have been working on that too. My best advice is to talk to your son and tell him to give the meds a chance. How is he going to know if they are working if he is self medicating. Right? I know it is hard. I feel YOUR pain too. :) I hope this helps.

Be more open with him. Maybe sit with him for a while and calmly tell him about how you feel, and you want to know how he feels, and try hard to make him happy.

My 14 y.o. was doing the same thing.

I tried taking him to a therapist, but six months later made the hard decision to admit him for residential treatment. His drug use got worse, and I felt like we were out of my league.

He was started on Wellbutrin two and a half weeks ago, so I am hoping that starts him down the healing path.

Its sad to see our children going through this and not be able to fix it for them.

Hang in there, and follow your instincts.