Need the teens advice

[happymama1817]

Hi all,
My son who is 10 yrs old is showing sign of depression and anxiety. He was so nervous yesterday he kept fidgeting with his hands and he had a lot of noticable tics. He is in therapy (only 2 sessions so far) but not on meds. I am bipolar myself and very afraid he is going down that path. Mornings can be absolute hell when he is depressed as he will say he is sick and I can see in his eyes that he is petrified and so anxious. I'm considering home schooling but am afraid that will just allow him to sink further down. Your thought and opinions would be so appreciated by me. I love him so much and hate to see him like this but dont know what to do.  

I want to know how young all of you started noticing your depression? I have had people tell me he's too young for this and just tyring to get attention which makes me so mad and sad for him, but I can tell when the fear, depression and anxiety are real.

[happymama1817]

ps - I'm so sorry about your brother, how incredibly sad and horrible for you. Its no suprise that you took it so hard and fell so hard. Things like that can send even the most stable person into depression but those fo us that already suffer can be totally beaten down and immobilized by grief. I bet your parents fell apart also. Do you all lean on each other for support? Do they know about your attempts?

[happymama1817]

Hi Bran_Bran

Thank you sooo much for sharing with me..you brought out the mama bear in me and i want to help you now! My son is in 5th grade, he went to school a bit anxious today but he went which is good. He has been fine for the past week but i know how it goes..fine one day and crashing the next. Depression and bipolar run in my family and in his dads so he got it from both sides. His friends and his friends moms all adore him so he is safe in our "village" but i worry so much. I'm very worried about him drowning in middle school in a sea of kids and no one teacher to watch out for him. it terrifies me but i cant let him know that. This weekend he kept talking about how his best friend didnt throw the football to him and was not choosing him, its like he obssesses over stuff for a long time, the negative stuff only, and it eats and eats at him. I dont know what to do, so therapy will help.

Thank you for being proud of me..it means a lot. Especially when i'm feeling like i'm doing everything wrong. my daughter who is now 23 started showing symptoms at 14. She went through intensive outpatient therapy 3 times, attempted suicide 1 time (that I know of), was on a laundry list of meds, went through 3 bad boyfriends, had to take a leave of absence from work and college to get back on her feet. She is good now, still a bit of a hermit but has a nice bf and is stable. So that is good and i'm very proud of her.

So when I see my son showing symptoms of course i freak out after going through it with my daughter and doing all the wrong things. She finally told me one day "stop trying to fix me, just sit quietly with me and hug me". I will never forget that day.

You can also message me if you need an ear or a shoulder. Take good care of yourself.

[Bran_Bran]

I started noticing signs of depression when I was 13 and it was pretty level for a couple years until I was 15 my brother was hit and killed and things took a turn for the worst. Within half a hear I was thinking of ending everything (ending me)  in under a year I started attempting and have now attempted 5 times. I don't anymore because I promised God I wouldn't but if it weren't for that promise I wouldn't be here right now. Because there have been so many times I wanted to attempt. So many times I craved and crave the warmth of the
bag.

My friend who is 18 has been struggling with depression for at least 10 years. So I don't think your son is to young at. I think he's to young for it to be fare for him to go threw this since when your 10 everything should still be innocent. But also it's not faire that anyone should go threw depression.
I think she is also bipolar

I'm glad you have him seeing a therapist. I didn't start seeing a councilor until october. When I told my youth pastor about my last attempt and how scared it made me. So she contacted someone and then one day I was called down to guidance at school and I've been talking to her since. It would of been so helpful for me to see someone earlier.

I think if I had gotten help earlier I may not be on verge of a eating disorder if I don't already have one.
Anyways I think it's great that your getting him help. Before it's to late or before its a lot more serious.

Because I know grade 5 and 6 can be really stressful years because of the cliques and I'm guessing he's in grade 4 or 5. And junior high is even harder. Everyone tryin to figure out who they are trying to fit in. Believe it or not there are still cliques in junior high good news is once you hit high school their pretty much gone the cliques.
But then there's the stress of grades

So it's good your getting him help because the road ahead is going to have it's stresses and with depression those stresses are magnified and depression can make them impossible to get threw

I am really proad of you for getting him the help. I wish my parents would notice the pain I'm in and stop yelling. You doing a great. Job. Don't give up hope things will be hard that's the nature of depression but I know you can get threw it just have faith
Don't ever let him think you don't care. Depression does that makes you think no one could possible care about you especially your family. To get threw this he's going to need to know you care. Otherwise he might turn to some very dangerous things for relief. Let him now you care and don't let him forget. Small things can mean the world to a person.

Ps I am a 16 year old girl you can message me any time if you need. I will give you all the information you need that I can to help your son and your family!

I really really hope things are going good for you!