Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional Rough weekend

Not sure why but DS12 had a very difficult weekend. He was highly stressed, defiant, and argumentative. Multiple episodes of screaming both days. We're trying to figure out the problem, but nothing is obvious. A few random thoughts:

1) He has been struggling through a language arts assignment that triggers his anxieties. I've written about this sort of thing before. His LA teacher seems to understand him one day but then seems clueless and insensitive the next, not to mention unaware of his IEP accommodations.

2) We've decided to take him completely off of prozac. That will leave him on clonazepam and abilify. The thought is we'll see how he's doing after a month off prozac and them maybe introduce a different SSRI. But today was the first day off prozac so that probably can't explain his behavior.

3) He has been bored with everything lately and unable to find pleasure in activities he used to love. I'll put some of this down to puberty, but it has been troublesome. He no longer enjoys the games he used to, don't want to go outside, and refuses to try anything new. My wife even took him shopping to a couple of stores this weekend and he didn't want anything he saw.

4) He has admitted being depressed. When asked, the depression is not of the scary sort, but still troublesome.

5) He is very strong at math and this year's topics are boring for him. We get him reduced math assignments, but he still hates doing them.

This has been a difficult time for the whole family. Luckily my wife and I are holding it together, but I feel sorry for DS14 who is mostly getting ignored through the process. He is a good kid, however, and doesn't need a lot of attention. We try to make time for him when we can.

In any event, suggestions are welcome. We're exhausted.

You were weaning him off Prozac slowly weren't you? Maybe you slipped below a tveraputic dose a few days before you stopped. As someone with experience in depression though he does sound depressed so maybe put the SSRI back in - I prefer citalopram though.

Has the medication change been done in consultation with his psychiatrist? Sounds like it would be worth calling him/her and asking if this is to be expected. I agree it sounds concerning. And yes, it also sounds like adolescence -- losing interest in things. But that is also a key symptom of depression, so I think you are right to be concerned and would suggest checking with psychiatrist.

All of the med changes have been done in consultation with a psychiatrist. We had a long meeting with his psychiatrist on Saturday and came to the conclusion that we should ramp down the prozac. The psychiatrist was not immediately concerned about the depression as he seemed to think that it was a phase, and didn't believe that DS was going to hurt himself or anyone else.

On the other hand, it has been very difficult for us to see DS in this state, especially since there seems to be little that we can do for him.

Yes we were. The higher dose caused panic attacks and he was missing a lot of school. He has been much better on the lower dose until recently.

Our goal is to try another SSRI. I understand that some SSRIs work better for people than other. Fingers crossed here.