Our daughters Pediatrician has requested that she see a Psychiatrist to discuss the possibility of her having depression. We are ready know she suffers from anxiety. What suggestions does anyone have in regards to preparing for the appointment? What usually happens on the first visit? I’ve heard that if a Psychiatrist advises medication on the first visit with children, we should be leary, meaning we should cautious about medication happy Psychiatrists. I’m not anti-medication. Anyways just looking to see what we should expect.
I agree that you should be skeptical of meds 1st… my son also suffers from anxiety & depression with his ADD. We found he is less depressed when he is less anxious. We have chosen to use Intuniv (with Vyvanse) to deal with rebound & anxiety and his behavioral therapist helps us help him with dealing with the depression.
My only advice would be to ask as many questions as possible. Why this, is there an alternative, why do you prefer this…
Good comment and good question.
For first appointment try to provide as much information as possible since the doctor is not there to see what you have over time. Describe what you call depression from the way she used to be. Depression and anxiety almost always go togther - so if you see one to some extent you will see the other. Any impact on reducing one of them will have some impact on reducing the other.
I would recommend you have your daughter (and you) seen by a qualified therapist, a psychologist would be top preference but there are good masters level therapist out there as well. If they think medication would be useful then you will not have wasted time getting around to it. If the psychiatrist recommends medication - ask the rationale for that andf the issues of medicating a youngster. Only significant cases should go the rout of medication and only if therapy has failed to reduce the symptoms. If you child is also ADD/ADHD then that needs to be addressed and any impact there will likely reduce the levels of depression and anxiety.
You did not indicate the age of your daughter so I can only say that the older the child is the more they can profit from therapy and in their description of feelings and situations. Parents need to be intimately involved the younger the child is.
Good luck,
Dr Marc - Our daughter is ten years old, diagnosed with adhd since the age of 8. She currently takes vyvanse. She has a very difficult time communicating or putting into words what is bothering her, etc. It usually takes weeks of care questions & drawing out to get to the heart if an issue. But the last 2 to 3 months she is has been withdrawn (more then usual), very tearful and no longer wants to go to school (normally she loves school). We did find out that her Math & Reading Teacher has not been abiding by her 504 Plan most of the year. So we know this has contributed to her stress. Plus our poor daughter is not sleeping due to her medications. We know it’s not just one thing that is the issue, but a bunch of little things (big things to her) that have built over time.
DrMarc said:
Good comment and good question.
For first appointment try to provide as much information as possible since the doctor is not there to see what you have over time. Describe what you call depression from the way she used to be. Depression and anxiety almost always go togther - so if you see one to some extent you will see the other. Any impact on reducing one of them will have some impact on reducing the other.
I would recommend you have your daughter (and you) seen by a qualified therapist, a psychologist would be top preference but there are good masters level therapist out there as well. If they think medication would be useful then you will not have wasted time getting around to it. If the psychiatrist recommends medication - ask the rationale for that andf the issues of medicating a youngster. Only significant cases should go the rout of medication and only if therapy has failed to reduce the symptoms. If you child is also ADD/ADHD then that needs to be addressed and any impact there will likely reduce the levels of depression and anxiety.
You did not indicate the age of your daughter so I can only say that the older the child is the more they can profit from therapy and in their description of feelings and situations. Parents need to be intimately involved the younger the child is.
Good luck,
If I remember correctly the first appointments can be "intake appointments" and you will provide new patient information as well as describe your concerns about your child. The psychiatrist might already work with a psychologist for the therapy component and might recommend one. The psychiatrist can prescribe medications, sometimes on the recommendation of the psychologist, who does not prescribe medication. Medicating children takes special care, so I would ask about that.