Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi,
My son turned 18 a couple of days ago and was recently diagnosed with ASD after spending years in and out of CAMHS. A child psychiatrist prescribed him Prozac a few months ago as his major challenge is anxiety disorder. For the first time he seemed happy and coping much better with life. However, he is now refusing to take his medication, his mood has dipped terribly, and now he is 18 we have no input into his medical care.
Has anyone else had this problem? Any advice would be hugely appreciated!
Does he say why he's stopped? Like is it side effects or just not wanting to take pills for crazy people or something? If he has a reason that makes sense (at least to him) then hopefully you can try to help him see that the positives outweigh his concerns.
As someone who's only ever stopped taking meds because of real bad side effects and who would be happy taking whatever if it made my anxiety better, I don't have a ton of insight into what your son might be feeling.
Hi Tris, Healthwise he doesn't have any side effects. He is into boxing and feels that it affects his performance, making him less aggressive. However, at the same time he has started smoking and won't accept this is more likely to affect his performance.