Hi Scott,

Being a person who has battled depression my whole life from a very early age, I can wholeheartedly empathise with your situation. I reckon it’s even harder when it happens to your own kids.

I have quite a bit of personal experience I could share with you, both on and off meds, but I won’t get into it right now. Instead I’d like to ask how far you’ve explored the option of psychotherapy/counselling without meds?

Fortunately for me when I was young, meds weren’t such a ‘popular’ option, so I was recommended psychotherapy instead and put on quite a long extensive program of meeting with a therapist once a week for well over a year, and more was needed but unfortunately my therapist quit her job before we were done.

Even so, that time was probably the most beneficial year of my life thus far, because I learned so much about myself and the origin of the difficult emotions I was feeling, and most importantly that there wasn’t anything wrong with me for feeling the way I did, and that it wasn’t my fault. I also learned the art of introspective thinking and exploration which became an invaluable tool on my journey to come. Also, the time after that was the very first time in my life that I touched upon the feeling of sovereignity in my own being. I would later lose it, but I always had the memory of what it felt like, as a beacon of light carrying me forward.

What I see nowadays is that the counselling offered is very short-term and if it doesn’t do the trick, you get meds. But in my experience, getting anywhere with therapy takes a long time and commitment to the process, but it’s well worth it, because you get to know yourself better.

So that’s why I’m wondering how far you’ve explored that option, if it’s been short or long-term?

I’m thinking maybe if you haven’t explored it yet, it could be an option you might want to discuss with your family as an alternative before medicating your daughter. But remember, it takes time. There’s no quick fix.

Feel free to disregard this if it doesn’t resonate. But I felt I needed to at least share it as a perspective.

Wishing you both well,

Love,

Anastasia