Posted by laurah952 on July 1, 2013, at 13:57:39
In reply to Re: 14yo daughter - bi-polar, not MDD - new info HELP » laurah952, posted by Emme_V2 on June 30, 2013, at 12:26:49
> > If I had a child with bipolar disorder, I would opt to try psychotherapy first, followed by lithium and anticonvulsant mood stabilizers. I would then consider the need for neuroleptic antipsychotics and antidepressants. It often comes down to evaluating risk/cost versus benefit. Ideally, one would want to be treated by a pediatric psychiatrist.
>Hi - We've gone the psychotherapy route, and by itself it wasn't enough. What are the anticonvulsant mood stabilizers? Could you list a few you believe might be good ones? Also, what are neuroleptic antipsychotics? Is Seroquel in that category? I absolutely believe that I need to assess the risk versus the benefit.
I don't believe I've mentioned this before, but it may be helpful for some to know. When I first discovered Taylor's cutting, and got her into therapy, (This February) she told us that she had been depressed for 2 years. She hid it well, and it was mild enough that it went unnoticed by our family. Here we are 2 years later, and her untreated depression worsened to the point of where she had to be hospitalized. Even the therapy was not enough. She became so completely obsessed with suicide that she barely had time for anything else. She wrote pages and pages and pages about how she was going to kill herself in a completely fail safe way. She set a date for this as well.
I believe 100% that the medication (seroquel and Zoloft) along with therapy drastically reduced the suicidal ideation, and gave her what she needed to start going out with friends again, and finding joy in her life. She's not "out of the woods" but has made remarkable improvement.
Thanks,
Laura
poster:laurah952
thread:1045977
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20130617/msgs/1046176.html