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Q. My 17-year-old son is feeling depressed. He is sad and tired and would sleep all day long if we allowed it. The doctor prescribed Prozac, but after the second day of taking it my son said he had thoughts of suicide. I immediately stopped giving it to him.I would like to know more about the alternatives for treating depression. It is very hard for him to focus, so he didn't do well in school. The only thing that seems to interest him is composing songs and playing his guitar. I hope you can help us.
A. You were wise to be attentive to your son's reaction to Prozac. There is a growing realization that some people may become suicidal shortly after starting on an antidepressant.
Don't give up on treatment, though. Counseling (such as cognitive behavioral therapy), exercise, daily sunlight, fish oil or perhaps a different antidepressant might be helpful in reversing his depression.
We are sending you our new Guide to Dealing with Depression for a discussion of the various medications and non-drug approaches to treating this disorder.
I've been reading "The Rhodiola Revolution" by Richard Brown, MD and have been fascinated with their findings on using Rhodiola (I had never even heard of it before) for depression and anxiety. It's worth reading.
This is regarding the teenage boy who is suffering from depression. I listen to a doctor on the radio and he said that in Europe in general, and Germany in particular, the first treatment they give for depression is a vitamin B Complex, including folic acid. He states that in many cases, the person shows improvement in mood with the B-Complex therapy. I buy this doctors nanized b-complex in liquid form,and have found it helpful in this regard.
I was about 17 when I was put on Zoloft for depression - long story short, about 2 or 3 months of use without any reason at all I decided I wanted to die.....crazy I know! Gets worse, I actually walked to a corner store bought over the counter sleeping pills and took them all in my room, alone. I had no reason to be upset and it, at the time, seemed perfectly normal. Of course when I started to feel like I was ...well dying from an OD I brought myself to the hospital, explained as best I could before I passed out.
I woke up in the psych ward and was told my heart had stopped etc. and a bunch of questions as to why I'd do that. I couldn't give them an answer, I just had no idea. Scared me a lot to think I was that close to being dead. This was before SSRI got a black box warning and how it can induce suicidal thoughts in teenagers - well NO one explained to me why it happened and as a result I never touched medication for my depression for years...many miserable years. I know better now to do research always!