Pre-teen with ADD/OCD

[MsLeFever]

Hi all! My DS (12) has been dealing (struggling) with ADD for 4 or 5 years. Tried every dang drug - currently on one that may be working but I'm not entirely convinced of that.

About 5 months ago he starts dealing with his depression/anxiety by creating rituals when anyone outside of the family touches him or before he can eat or sit down anywhere - yup OCD - which his Psychiatrist tells me is not an uncommon dual diagnosis.

The poor kid is a mental wreck. He is angry and depressed and anxious. He lashes out and is generally not a person that anyone wants to have around. I'm aware that some of this is just puberty but we've gone way past that. I'm hoping that someone here may have a child with this issue or may have gone through it themselves and can give me some hope that DS can come through this with some sense of self-worth and happiness.

thanks so much Dis family!
Barbara

 

[Cheshire Figment]

I would suggest going to the "disABILITIES Community Board" which is a subforum of "disABILITIES!" This is a common topic of discussion in that forum.

 

[MsLeFever]

thanks - I will!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Hi all! My DS (12) has been dealing (struggling) with ADD for 4 or 5 years. Tried every dang drug - currently on one that may be working but I'm not entirely convinced of that.

About 5 months ago he starts dealing with his depression/anxiety by creating rituals when anyone outside of the family touches him or before he can eat or sit down anywhere - yup OCD - which his Psychiatrist tells me is not an uncommon dual diagnosis.

The poor kid is a mental wreck. He is angry and depressed and anxious. He lashes out and is generally not a person that anyone wants to have around. I'm aware that some of this is just puberty but we've gone way past that. I'm hoping that someone here may have a child with this issue or may have gone through it themselves and can give me some hope that DS can come through this with some sense of self-worth and happiness.

thanks so much Dis family!
Barbara

What meds is he on for anxiety/depression? Is he seeing a counselor? Counseling is your first step, even if it is for you.

Now my 14yodd is not as severe as your DS but it is not easy to deal with it sometimes.

There are things that you can do/must do in response to the anxiety and also your son needs to use anxiety strategies daily.

Meds are necessary but the counseling was key with my dd "breaking through" her depression/anxiety.

Now she did have a panic attack yesterday morning so now she feels like a failure, however I am hoping she is able to bounce back quickly using the strategies she made in counseling and encouragement from me.

Key is that you have to maintain calmness and move on, not "hover", stuff like that. I let her rest and then she went to school an hour late.
It is going to be a tough week for her. There is a perfect "storm" of crap this was going on which was just too much for her to handle.

Anyway, anxiety/depression is something that has to managed and not cured. That is really how you have to look at it.