Help for my 20 year old daughter suffering from anxiety and panic disorder

[Rileydog]

My daughter has struggled with ADHD, anxiety and panic attacks for many years. She started therapy at 15 and has been on ADHD meds since 12. When she went away to college things got much worse. She made it through 2 years and now she’s home and don’t know if she will return. Her father and I want to help, but not sure how. Anyone have success with either out patient or in patient facilities? We live in New Jersey and we are desperate.

[Hidden]

Anything that’s stimulating sends me into a panic. I would check her adhd meds. I can’t even have caffeine or a lot of chocolate. But definetly suggest an outpatient therapist and psychiatrist center and sticking with it. Sorry, I don’t live in your area.

[Rileydog in reply to Hidden]

Thank you so much! We’ve suspected for a long time that the ADHD meds were fueling her anxiety.

[Sunshinenacloudyday]

My 18 year old son is gifted & talented with ADHD/anxiety. His senior year he got agitated depression from trying to ignore the anxiety/panic. It's awful and he's still recovering from it. He's a wonderful guy and I feel terrible that I didn't realize that he was having anxiety/panic attacks. He wanted to tough through it and not burden us, his parents. I really urge you to re-evaluate the stimlant that she's using. My son can't tolerate them. He now takes Clonidine at night which is an off label non-stimulatory ADHD med.

[Rileydog in reply to Sunshinenacloudyday]

Thank you for your advice! Can you tell me what kind of Doctor you saw to get your son on different medication? The last Psychiatrist we saw put her on anti depressants and it made her worse in a different way. She’s very mistrustful of Doctors now.

[kvolm2016]

Great that you are being proactive to help her get through this rough patch! I'm not surprised that it has been rough while away at school if she was without a support/care system there. Does she want to return to the school community if these health needs can be addressed?

[Rileydog in reply to kvolm2016]

Yes. She is in therapy twice a week now. We are also looking at an outpatient holistic program to supplement the therapy. I just hope she can learn the coping skills without meds because she doesn’t react well to them.

[kvolm2016 in reply to Rileydog]

Glad to hear that she is currently getting this therapy support! I'm sure she will be able to learn to incorporate the techniques she is learning. It may be somewhat motivating for her to learn these so that she can carry on with her educational interests when the time is right.

As parents, I think we all have the tendency to be concerned about our kid's capabilities but honestly if she has made it through 2 years of college while dealing with this, she is probably pretty resilient! Has she expressed concern about learning and incorporating new coping techniques?