He's seeing a psychiatrist and a therapist for talk therapy. They both want him to work on some coping skills outside of what they are doing. They say he needs to incorporate some of his own techniques until he finds things that help. I think the therapist is doing meditative work with him from what he's told my son and mom says they are continuing to try to find medication through the psychiatrist. He's not socially motivated, doesn't find it necessary to seek outside socialization. There was a thread on this board about this very thing the other day. I let my friend read that so she knows that there are many children his age holed up in their rooms with no desire to do anything else.
I think I will suggest a bowling trip tomorrow. He and my son used to love to bowl together. We'll drop them off and have some mom time. Actually sounds fun.
One of the things I did--was take an anxious moment....and AFTER the fact, come up with a more rational response.
Example: I was crying at work (this was YEARS ago). I would freak out when my customers (really "co-workers") were late to deadlines. There was no need for this. They had a boss who would get on them. But I really internalized it as not being able to do my job properly and that I was this horrible employee...all sorts of crazy stuff.
My therapist would have me take moments like that--and "rewrite the ending" so to speak. So I made up this chart on the computer, since I can type faster than I write and they wanted me to write it....and would put in the incident, the irrational response, and what would have been a rational response. ETA: Eventually, I bypassed the old irrational way I responded...kind of stopped myself...and then went on with a rational response. Finally, it occurred automatically without me even thinking about it.
I had anxiety out of work, too--but it was really obvious to me that I was irrational at work. I also documented the physical feelings I had as a way to measure progress.
The deal with a teen boy--I don't see how they would "cope" with the touchy feely stuff like that.
I would hate for you to think that you have to take him out all the time or something.
Do you happen to know what types of anxiety issues he faces? Does he have phobias that add to the mix? Does he fear failure?
For some folks, taking up a hobby that one can be passionate about, may help. Something new that gives him purpose. If he has nothing to do, he will just dwell on his problems instead of trying to fix them.
Running? Swimming? Woodworking? Painting? Sculpting? Gardening?
What if he got a pet and trained it? Some people have responded well to having a dog. Now, the dog's well being and life have to be considered. You wouldn't want a situation where they felt they had to get rid of the dog. This is not a decision to be entered into lightly. But it may be helpful?
I don't have a dog, but I grew up with one in middle/high school. And things always felt calmer when I was with the dog.
