I have a couple of great daughters. My eldest, who just turned 15 was recently diagnosed with dysthymia. If you are like me you've never heard of it.; "Persistent depressive disorder". She has been feeling depressed for 6+ months. We've been taking her to talk to a psychologist, she is on meds but not much seems to work so far.
From the outside you'd think she had a great life. All "A" student. Student body President. Star athlete....good friends. Volunteers to help the homeless. She's the definition of an overachiever, which is funny because it's something I have never been. But to hear her talk she's just never happy. She says it's worse for her on the weekends when she has down time and can "think". My wife and I have talked to her about whether she's putting too much pressure on herself to be "perfect" and assured her that we don't care about anything but her well being. We've given her the option to go to an easier school, just cut back, whatever she wants, but she tells us she wants to stay where she is. And the doctor seems to agree.
And now it gets scary. Today after she met with her doctor we were told we need to remove knives, razor blades, medicines nightly so she can't get them. We're basically on a suicide watch. I am sure some of you have been through something similar either personally or with family/friends. I am not sure what else we can do as a parents except try and keep a close eye on her 24x7 365, tell her often how much we love her and hope that she/we can get through this dark time. The alternative is that she's not going to survive this, and that's just something I can't think about without losing my shit. I am going to sleep on the couch near her room until we get through this because I don't think I'll be able to sleep in my room anyways.
If you have any suggestions I'd love to hear them.
"The great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do."
From the outside you'd think she had a great life. All "A" student. Student body President. Star athlete....good friends. Volunteers to help the homeless. She's the definition of an overachiever, which is funny because it's something I have never been. But to hear her talk she's just never happy. She says it's worse for her on the weekends when she has down time and can "think". My wife and I have talked to her about whether she's putting too much pressure on herself to be "perfect" and assured her that we don't care about anything but her well being. We've given her the option to go to an easier school, just cut back, whatever she wants, but she tells us she wants to stay where she is. And the doctor seems to agree.
And now it gets scary. Today after she met with her doctor we were told we need to remove knives, razor blades, medicines nightly so she can't get them. We're basically on a suicide watch. I am sure some of you have been through something similar either personally or with family/friends. I am not sure what else we can do as a parents except try and keep a close eye on her 24x7 365, tell her often how much we love her and hope that she/we can get through this dark time. The alternative is that she's not going to survive this, and that's just something I can't think about without losing my shit. I am going to sleep on the couch near her room until we get through this because I don't think I'll be able to sleep in my room anyways.
If you have any suggestions I'd love to hear them.
"The great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do."