Medication for anxiety in teens

Did your doctor suggest she take antidepressants? These are drugs of the benzodiazepine series, which were invented in the middle of the last century. They have a different principles of operation, but all such means are potent.  They are released strictly according to a doctor's prescription, they cannot be mixed with alcohol and other drugs, and it is important to take breaks in the course of admission so that addiction does not develop. In addition, hospitals create treatment programs for anxiety or depression, for example, fherehab.com/.../.  It will help if you read more about it. Perhaps this will be the way out of the situation. Remember, you are not alone!

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Blue,  I think Headspace is unlikely to cause anxiety as it is specifically (and very  professionally) designed to help with anxiety.  It is very friendly, not judgemental, and was recommended to me by the NHS. In my experience many young people are happier using their phone than talking to people, specially if they are autistic.

The app allows you to pick and choose what you feel comfortable with, e.g.just watch relaxing videos of nature or craftsman at work, which can be helpful if you don't want to do the meditation. It gives you a few minutes each day to escape and settle the jangling nerves, if nothing else. 

However, in the highly unlikely event it causes anxiety, then the app can be deleted.

She currently has fortijuce, vitamin gummies, oral vit d spray and we fortify foods/drinks where we can to add calories as camhs did say her low bmi could make symptoms of anxiety worse, but when she's more anxious she doesn't want to eat, so that becomes a vicious circle too. 

Or the application can cause her to become anxious around the use of the application. The child's restricted diet may be making the anxiety worse. Possible trying some omega 3 and multi vitamins supplements might help. they come in all forms from milk shake mixers, gummies, capsules and dissolvable tablets.  

Try 'Insight Timer', it has over 100,000 FREE meditations that you could try.

Its dangerous, for children and young adults to be prescribed anti depressants and anti anxiety medication early in life, It alters the developing brain on a fundamental level. They often become dependant on them. antidepressants and anti anxiety medication are not designed for long term use and often result in stomach, liver, intestinal disorders later in life.

Many doctors are not spending enough time during medication reviews and a lot of the medication is put on repeat and not being properly assessed in their usage.

A lot of children are being put on these medication that they are having extreme negative effects, their are a few cases where the medication is right but their are far more children being prescribed the wrong medication. Individuals who have autism and ADHD do not responded well to antidepressants, anti anxiety medication or anti psychotics and cause the symptoms of anxiety & depression worse. 

A lot of individuals who are prescribed medication early in life for anxiety and depression often relapse after the age of twenty five and become tolerant to the medication. this poses risk of psychosis and increases the chance of suicide greatly. Not to mention that the medication is not designed for individuals with neuro developmental disorder but for the neurologically typical. autistic individuals often require highest dosage to see any positive effects but like I have said in causes complication later in life.

The medication should only be used as temporary band aid while learning coping mechanisms. that's what anti anxiety medication and anti depressants are for.

I think it would be fine for a 14 year old, and may make her feel more grown up. It's all at your own pace no obligation. 

Are these apps suitable for children? I will have a look, but getting her to engage is a whole different story! But anything is worth a try 

There are alternatives to drugs for managing anxiety. 

Try an app called Headspace, 3 mins a day to start with then increase at your own pace, it helped me. There are other similar ones. I am rubbish at meditation but this did help me.The first month is free but I paid to carry on.

And yet I have just been reading many many examples on my local autism forum, of teens who have really had their lives turned around by being prescribed the right medication - ie. certain anti-depressants to help with anxiety, enabling them to take back a bit of control in their lives. So I wouldn't say that medication is pointless. I would say that everyone's experience is different and that you need to find what works for you. Medication will, I believe, be of enormous benefit to some people, but not for all.

Grounding techniques can be dangerous for individuals with sensory differences, Anxiety is usually caused by too much or too little stimuli or certain stimuli in individuals with sensory differences.

Grounding techniques are often given to patients without a seconded thought, everyone who has had dealings with bad mental health treatment has been given grounding. They are not designed for individuals with Neurodivergence's but designed for the neurologically typical. It commonly develops in autistic children developing patterns of self harm. like cutting them selves and burning themselves when they hit adolescence to mange their emotions. (I am talking from the perspective of an autistic individual).

I agree it's a last resort, we've been through every service over the years, healthy child, compass reach, early help... Its certainly not something we've rushed into and if it doesn't work, then it doesn't work we've tried and we wouldn't continue, but she needs a life and if it works then she might get her childhood back.

I'm open to different opinions thoigh as I know what works for one might not work for another... 

It can work on Autistic individuals but it needs to be tailored with an understanding of autism. however if an individuals has complex Post traumatic stress and autism it can be extremely harmful. 

CBT doesn't tend to work for ASD. The very nature of CBT is that your way of thinking is wrong & unhelpful, so it seeks to change it. Imagine being told that by somebody supposed to help you? With ASD our way of thinking & being is different, NOT wrong! I'd disagree that medication is pointless. It is generally the last port of call for desperate people. If coping strategies etc worked for everyone then 100% its the right way to go. Often with the best will in the world there is no other option. Anxiety is a medical condition which treatment is available for. To deny treatment is akin to telling someone with a broken leg to stop complaining & get up & walk. The leg won't heal without treatment & neither will the mind. 

She's only recently started going in alone, she's done 4 sessions without me and about 50 sessions with me. To get her to engage during the sessions where I attended we played a board game through the session and only when she rolled a 6 would they do things with her, to get her to enjoy the sessions and engage, she will not discuss what they do now, I oy knew what her 'homework' was as the lady discussed after the sessionm she did look into grounding techniques, but not with camhs with a different service, but I think she was too young to grasp them at the time, perhaps something that we could revisit

Medication in this instance is pointless, Anti Anxiety medication used at an early age can affect brain development which can have negative complication in the future. The human brain typically stops developing at age 30. 

I have been given so many different medication from age 16 to 24 and nothing has help the anxiety. The best thing you can do is explore autism friendly stress management and grounding to help her learn coping strategies. 

I do not blame her for dis engaging with CAMHS, Has she been left alone with them because they can do some horrific things in secret from parents. I've had a similar session at CAMHS where they accused me of attention seeking, Turns out I did have autism and ADHD. Sometimes they ignore and dismiss what saying to them and they repeat the same thing until they get the response out of you that they want.        

Thank you for your reply, it gives me positive hope. Its just getting her to understand the benefits of taking meds over her fear.

Cbt didn't work for my daughter, that's when they put her forward for an asd assessment, they said they did feel she was perhaps autistic from the beginning, but low weight can also give similar symptoms.they said at the time cbt doesn't want to rk with autistic children We changed camhs worker this year and what she's doing pretty much mirrors the cbt she did with food, but in different situations, manly social, scoring anxiety before. During, after, she cannot even do the activities. We tried to take her to the supermarket checkout last week and she didn't speak for tw days after and had a meltdown at the till the camhs worker said she would try a different approach, but now she just won't engage at all, so we are no further forward, just ten steps back as she refuses to attend the appointments now. I'm just wondering if she took medication, if that would ease things a little that she might engage and progress.. She can't even do a full day in school as she cannot do social situations because r eat around others, even in a quiet area, so she comes home at lunchtime everyday. She cannot walk to school or walk home, she waits at school for me to collect her younger brother and then go for her, even though its walking distance home. 

Sertraline has helped me too, pretty much the only antidepressant that has worked for me. Also Quetiapine. I see they have been mentioned here before.

My daughter went on Sertraline when she was 18. It literally gave her her life back. She went from refusing to go to college, not wanting to leave her room & crying at the doctors surgery to going back to college, getting a part-time job, learning to drive & finding a boyfriend, who she flew over to spend a month with in his country.

For her, the effects were dramatic & swift. I would definitely recommend trying them for severe anxiety. Sometimes nothing else works, & things like CBT often make things worse for those with ASD.