18 yo. College Freshman - Seems Depressed, Help?

11/08/09

KelBel

Topics:Depression , College , freshman , support , Depression Drugs , Teens And Depression , Question

My son is 18 and a freshman in college. He's going to school 320 miles from home, from his girlfriend, etc -- but it's the perfect college for his major. His grades are good, but he has undergone a LOT of things lately: the move to college, college midterms, a major argument with his father that left them not speaking, his vehicle died ... the last three within three weeks.

He is complaining of being tired after sleeping all night, stomach disturbances (always feels like he's going to throw up), feeling like he wants to cry or just go off sometimes, being overwhelmed, etc.

I deal with my own depression battle; mild to moderate, treated with 10mg Lexapro daily, which works fine and I feel OK most of the time. My question is, my son will be home at Thanksgiving and I want to get him into our family doctor. Our family doctor is not a huge proponent of antidepressants (I had to make two trips to get it prescribed) but I'm not sure where else I can take him on such short notice.

ALso, is it safe for an 18 y.o. male to take antidepressants?

Thanks for any input.

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Answers (1)

Sunday, November 08, 2009

Judy

Hi, KelBel. I wonder, if you call now, if you could get your son into a mental health clinic for an appointment with a psychologist, who would be able to do an assessment and even figure out if medication would help. Do you think he would be willing to go? The other thing he could do is go to the student health services at his college, I think they're quite used to dealing with students with depression.

No, I don't think 18 is too young to take antidepressants. Both of my sons have been on them since long before that. I know they say that teens and young adults have a greater risk of getting more depressed or suicidal ideation on some of them, but I don't know if that risk is worse than the risk of getting more depressed and suicidal by NOT taking them.

I hope you can help him find a solution; it might make more sense for him to get help where he's going to school, since he's there most of the time. It's good that you're recognizing the symptoms. Let us know how it works out.