Mom of depressed

[MarshaBrady1968]

Newbie here. I have been looking for a forum with parents of depressed teens/college aged. My 20 year old is 1000 miles away and constantly suffering depression and anxiety with suicidal ideation. I have not slept in years, and cannot focus on work or my other child. We have tried all the usual: psychiatrist, meds, psychologist, peer groups, college has team of counselors as well. Now she has flunked out of college and somewhat isolated from friends. Says she won't move home unless its in a body bag. I will not be ok until she is. Please tell me how you handled it?

[hypercat54]

Hi nice to meet you. This is not specifically a site for parents of depressed teens which isn't to say there probably aren't several parents here in that situation.

What you might find here is more understanding and more ways you might be able to help your daughter. x

[Calm_mama]

Hi MarshaBrady 1968,

I know how you are feeling. And I'm so very sorry for what you are going through! You must be so worried. I have a teen with anxiety and all of its manifestations. She's doing OK for now. Not amazing, but OK. I have anxiety too but it had been quiet for a bit. Her spiral caused my anxiety to go berserk. I hid it quite well from her, but I was having a nervous breakdown right alongside her.

As her anxiety worsened, and then the depression set in, I started to educate myself. I have a medical background, and I knew a lot about this already. I also have had some help along the way from therapists myself. So I was about 1/2 way there in terms of educating myself. But the other half was so important! for several reasons: To help me get better once and for all, to help my daughter learn about herself, and to be able to support her and parent her well given what she was going through.

I searched and searched for the right information, and finally found Dr. Claire Weekes' book, Hope and Help for your Nerves. I spent all my free time reading it , over and over. I listened to her audio over and over. I needed to read it repeatedly as a way of "unbrainwashing" myself. I had some notions about anxiety and depression that were just WRONG. I found a few other resources that had the same message as Dr. Weekes, with just a slightly different way of saying it. I completely changed the way I felt about anxiety and the inevitable depression, and I recovered, and expect to be recovered indefinitely. I've listed all of these resources on my profile. Please feel free to have a look at them. They helped both me and my daughter tremendously.

From one mommy to another, please know that I feel your agony, and please also know that I am keeping you and your daughter in my prayers.

[crowningglory19]

I'm sorry, I know how hard it is to be out of reach to our kids and unable to help! I will tell you what helped myself and my son: Taking a quality magnesium (malate is best) and ginseng are great to calm the mind body and spirit. They help w sleep and are great for the heart too. They get rid of sticky negative thoughts and anxiety! Trust me, they really do, way better than scripts, w no bad side effects. Also, getting outside, lay in sun on grass, look at sky and at night- stars, very beneficial! Prayers lifted for you both! =)