Dealing with an Anxious

Son -- Without Medication

Medication, in some cases, is the only answer. Depression and anxiety can signal a chemical imbalance that can only be managed with medication. Ask yourself this, if your child is anxiety-ridden or depressed: if my child had any other type of disorder - for example diabetes or any other chronic illness - would I say no to medication for those problems?

Mine is 12, OCD and Anxiety ridden. On Zoloft. Not working. He obsesses about having Meningitis, spiders, religion (seriously! which one will guarantee he goes to heaven? they all think only they will), etc. He is in Cognitive Therapy as well. I find myself, every day wishing I had a "normal" boy and having no clue how to talk him off his roof, so to speak. Logic does not work. He's flunking in school, disorganized, has a bad self image. A train wreck. I look at him and blame myself and his angry dad (we are now divorced and live in different states.) When my son goes to him every summer, as in decree, I get back a mess every fall. Sigh. I need a magic bullet.

This sounds intresting - will take a closer look. My daughter - a premmy baby- has anxiety to the power 10 but I can't say her personality has changed as she's always benn this way but yes it affects her sleep and I do feel there are more tears than smiles - often. I have never considered medicatikon but will certainly read what Mimi has to say. Thanks

This post really opened my eyes to all the stress that even kids can feel. We can't discount their feelings just because they're young.

So proud of this blogger, and in her opening up,. It takes bravery to say your life is with struggles. Happy to see her here and so grateful of the platform that BlogHer provides for the small blogger to reach larger audiences than we ever could on our own.

Thank you BlogHer!

I love that Mimi is being featured here. She has the opportunity to help so many other parents and establishing a support group would be a great way to help each other cope with this issue.

What an amazing post! You thoughtful moms are doing the right thing by listening to your intuition and considering everything that might be helpful to your child.

Check out the program MiMi is using with her son "Turnaround:Turning Fear Into Freedom" at www.myanxiouschild.com. We appreciate her writing about her experience with her son and using Turnaround.

I am saving this post. I have a daughter and I suffer from an anxiety disorder. I don't know if she will have one or not, but this is good information to have on hand and in mind just in case. Thank you.

Jenna

callherhappy.com

i love that MiMi is blogging about this. i love her posts and have learned a lot. through the comment threads i also realize there are many families and children dealing with anxiety. i appreciate that she stresses the importance of making educated choices on what will for each child and family. Through sharing her journey with others i feel that she is blessing many lives and helping families.

Go MiMi!!

I've learn so much about my own anxiety issues from reading Mimi's blog. I didn't even realize how bad it was as a kid, I just dealt with it.

Love that she's sharing her journey to help others!

I never had anxiety in my entire life until AFTER I was put on Paxil for stress. It caused anxiety that literally made me want to rip my own skin off and run away from myself.

However, I would endure what I did a million times over if it meant that it saved my children from a similar situation. Maybe I was meant to find other ways to deal with my kid's problems instead of putting them on medication.

good points, thanks. You know, I cringe when I hear about medication, because I'm always the freak trying to make the world a better place through modifications in DIET. However, all the points you mentioned: who wants their child to live that way??? Nobody. My son has a good deal of anxiety, but certainly nothing to that extent. My sister and brother have suffered with anxiety for years, so I absolutely have a ton of apathy for this.