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18 year-old son refusing meds

NAS92901
6 months ago

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!

Parents
  • 6 months ago

    I have anxiety too and have previously been on meds. They did have unpleasant side effects and I decided to come off them for this reason. I am now a lot worse and debating going back on them because the side effects are not as bad as the anxiety. It has, however, taken me over a year of feeling like the world and everyone in it is conspiring against me, I've become very paranoid recently.

    It's worth considering the social pressures of meds - there is so much negativity in the media and society in general about meds for mental health. There are lots of horror stories about long term side effects that could be concerning him. There is a lot of pressure to come off meds from other people who don't really know anything about them. 

    As Alienatedhuman says, it might be a side effect that he doesn't want to talk about with you for example they can cause weight gain (maybe this is what he thinks is affecting his boxing?) and sexual problems which can continue to affect someone even after they stop taking the meds. 

    Other side effects that you might not have noticed are numbing of all emotions (so the joy is reduced too which was particularly upsetting for me because I get so much joy from my interests) and less ability to recognise my own emotions (which I struggle with as an autistic person anyway).

    All you can do is keep talking but don't pressure him because that would be likely to backfire. 

Reply
  • 6 months ago

    I have anxiety too and have previously been on meds. They did have unpleasant side effects and I decided to come off them for this reason. I am now a lot worse and debating going back on them because the side effects are not as bad as the anxiety. It has, however, taken me over a year of feeling like the world and everyone in it is conspiring against me, I've become very paranoid recently.

    It's worth considering the social pressures of meds - there is so much negativity in the media and society in general about meds for mental health. There are lots of horror stories about long term side effects that could be concerning him. There is a lot of pressure to come off meds from other people who don't really know anything about them. 

    As Alienatedhuman says, it might be a side effect that he doesn't want to talk about with you for example they can cause weight gain (maybe this is what he thinks is affecting his boxing?) and sexual problems which can continue to affect someone even after they stop taking the meds. 

    Other side effects that you might not have noticed are numbing of all emotions (so the joy is reduced too which was particularly upsetting for me because I get so much joy from my interests) and less ability to recognise my own emotions (which I struggle with as an autistic person anyway).

    All you can do is keep talking but don't pressure him because that would be likely to backfire. 

Children