My son is 17. I am divorced. Just heard a bunch of crazy stuff going on that I had no idea about. Long story is most of it has to do with drama involving family (her side) co-workers and friends. Seems he has a lot on his plate. So he is depressed and went to the doctor. They are going to get him a counselor. But meantime they prescribed Zoloft.

I am afraid of the side affects, suicidal thoughts etc. I am also concerned the prescription will cause him troubles getting jobs or a gun license in the future (obviously assuming he gets past all this crazy stuff).

Any insight I'd be interested in. I called the doctor and left a message that I was opposed to an RX before he gets counseling.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: frayedends,

We have had very good initial results (3 months +) with Zoloft and our 13 year-old daughter. At her age, we are not concerned with future jobs and/or the ability to own a firearm; the need is more urgent, based on the here-and-now, of her mood and other issues.
In short, it has worked just short of wonders for us. YMMV and all that.
Our Rx came following a couple counseling sessions, by the way.
Good thoughts are being sent your way, frayedends.

Zoloft (sertraline) is fairly benign in terms of side effects and can be very helpful for patients with depression, anxiety, and OCD. It does not alter your consciousness in any way, but just allows your brain to utilize its own serotonin more effectively (SSRI=selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor).

There are no prohibitions on gun purchases, CCW, etc. The only restrictions I'm aware of would be with obtaining a pilot's license, but I believe it is now allowed with a special issuance medical certificate.

Final note: My daughter has been on it since age 10 and you'd never know it. Wonderful personality, was in speech and drama in HS, now in graduate school.

I think I need something but I'm afraid to go to a shrink because I might loose my rights.
Many are not seeking help for mild depression because of this, imo.
I made sure my Dr didn't have key words on my file fire the same reason.

I've been on the generic, sertraline for 7 months. 100mg upon waking, 100 mg an hour before bed. I don't know if it's doing anything. I was on Xanax .5mg for 3 years. Anxiety, couldn't sleep, worried about things I couldn't change. Xanax helped me.

Now, as I posted, I'm on 200 mg of Zoloft, 100 mg of Trazadone, 5 to 10 mg of melatonin & 25 mg of Benadryl... But the doc is happy I'm off Xanax, I'm getting a new doc that will put me back on my old meds.

I'll pray for you & your son, Lord knows a broken family will give broken hearts to all. Give him all the love you have. God bless you and all that support you.

My understanding regarding firearms and depression is that you must be involuntarily admitted for treatment for it to affect your rights. I have a long history with depression, including two psych ward stays but I always sought help of my own accord. I am not a lawyer, so don't take my experiences as absolute truth, but my owning firearms has never been more than a topic of conversation with my doctor's or counselors, whose concern is to be expected.

My 12 year old takes it for OCD and anxiety. Doesn’t alter him in any way other than helping him control the above. It’s a rather benign medicine used properly. If the kids depressed, that should put up a red flag in itself. If it’s external factors triggering it, those should try to be resolved along with the medication. If it’s internal, he needs the meds.

Clinical depression is a chemical imbalance in the brain, not an inability to cope emotionally.

Thanks for all the information guys. This is very helpful The nurse called me today about my concerns and the doctor will call me tomorrow. But now I have much more information. I told my son to wait on taking this until after Wednesday when I can see him and we can have a long talk about what's been going on.

I don't think this is clinical depression. It is more likely a large number or unrelated things that are stressing him out. I want to talk to him first. But if the zoloft can help get him through this I may not be totally opposed. I just want to have all the information I need so he doesn't make more bad choices.

quote:

Any insight I'd be interested in. I called the doctor and left a message that I was opposed to an RX before he gets counseling.

Excellent. A prescription for an antidepressant without an evaluation by a clinical psychologist or psychiatrist is foolish. It is the same as prescribing aspirin for a headache which may turn out to be a brain tumor. The knowledge of primary care physicians is limited in this area. People have problems in life that are best treated by evaluation and appropriate psychotherapy, not just with a drug.



Typically, firearms ownership is restricted if you are committed against your will to a mental institution. In most states this is a court hearing where clincal psychologists and psychiatrists evaluate the individual and the judge then determines if they need to be involuntarily committed. Admitting oneself voluntarily to a hospital is not a problem nor is taking of psychotropic drugs.

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Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:

quote:

Any insight I'd be interested in. I called the doctor and left a message that I was opposed to an RX before he gets counseling.

Excellent. A prescription for an antidepressant without an evaluation by a clinical psychologist or psychiatrist is foolish. It is the same as prescribing aspirin for a headache which may turn out to be a brain tumor. The knowledge of primary care physicians is limited in this area. People have problems in life that are best treated by evaluation and appropriate psychotherapy, not just with a drug.



Typically, firearms ownership is restricted if you are committed against your will to a mental institution. In most states this is a court hearing where clincal psychologists and psychiatrists evaluate the individual and the judge then determines if they need to be involuntarily committed. Admitting oneself voluntarily to a hospital is not a problem nor is taking of psychotropic drugs.

Thanks. I will push to keep him off the drug until he speaks to someone.

Situational depression is definitely different from clinical depression. What's the quote? Something like "Before you diagnose yourself with depression, make sure you aren't surrounded by assholes"? He may be reacting normally to bad situations and just be "out of cope". A good behavioral therapist (not psychotherapist) can tell the difference. I used to see a guy. He would let me bitch and moan, then say "And how is that working, for you?". I would reply that it isn't. He would reply "Okay, are you ready to make a change?". If I said yes, he would reply "Okay, what would that change look like?". And I would solve my own problems, with him as my sounding board. It sounds too simple but it works great for getting you out of a rut and back to the right path to happiness.

Second: have you taken him to a medical doctor for a check up? Is he having some kind of electrolyte or vitamin imbalance? Is he sleep deprived? Dehydrated?
If he checks out okay, try a proper sleep schedule, a multivitamin, and 8 glasses of water a day.
See if that doesn't make a difference, in a month's time and then reassess his possible need for medication.

Good luck and good for you for taking this so seriously.

Bruce

I was on it at 17. A little bit of depression, and doctor put me on it. After a month or two, I looked in the mirror, said to myself, "grow a pair and stop being a bitch", and threw the shit in the trash can. Haven't had a single depressed day since. That's my story.

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Originally posted by frayedends:
I am also concerned the prescription will cause him troubles getting jobs or a gun license in the future (obviously assuming he gets past all this crazy stuff).

Laws can always change, but the way the laws are written now, there is absolutely no need to worry about this.

There are two mental health-related ways a person can become a "prohibited person" who is prohibited from possessing firearms.

1. Be involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital. (That means a judge or other legal authority orders you to be committed against your will and you are legally prohibited from leaving. Many states have emergency mental health hold laws that allow hospitals to hold apparently at-risk individuals against their will for a few days for evaluation, that DOES NOT count as an involuntary commitment.)

2. Be "adjudicated as a mental defective." Essentially, this means have the relevant government authority (usually a judge, but it varies by state) legally declare someone incompetent to make legal contract or manage his own affairs.

I've seen a number of psychiatrists and psychologists over the years and taken a variety of psychiatric medications for clinical depression and ADHD. I have a whole bunch of guns, a concealed carry license, and some NFA stuff.

quote:

Originally posted by frayedends:
I don't think this is clinical depression. It is more likely a large number or unrelated things that are stressing him out.

Excess stress can cause symptoms similar to depression, but excess stress can also be a powerful trigger of depressive episodes for people prone to depression.

Just because someone is dealing with a lot of stress doesn't necessarily they aren't depressed.

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Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
Excellent. A prescription for an antidepressant without an evaluation by a clinical psychologist or psychiatrist is foolish.

Agreed... psychiatric medications should be prescribed by a psychiatrist.

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Originally posted by bubbatime:
I was on it at 17. A little bit of depression, and doctor put me on it. After a month or two, I looked in the mirror, said to myself, "grow a pair and stop being a bitch", and threw the shit in the trash can. Haven't had a single depressed day since. That's my story.

With respect, that doesn't sound like clinical depression. Clinical depression isn't "a little bit of depression," and it isn't something that people can just decide to get over.

quote:

Originally posted by bubbatime:
I was on it at 17. A little bit of depression, and doctor put me on it. After a month or two, I looked in the mirror, said to myself, "grow a pair and stop being a bitch", and threw the shit in the trash can. Haven't had a single depressed day since. That's my story.

It's cool that that worked for you, by that's patently terrible advice for millions of people, and there are countless people suffering without real help precisely because their friends and family are eaten the fuck up with notions just like yours.

You, probably, simply didn't have clinical depression or even a serious enough case of the situational variety. Good for you, sincerely, but that's no more effective for millions of others than it would be to ignore cancer treatments and try to man-up through those, or to ignore the need for eyeglasses and power through it nearly blind just to be "tough".

There's an enormous problem with the way such issues are perceived, handled, discussed, and otherwise. The associated stigmas are grotesquely counter productive, and the sooner people stop treating basic mental health issues like anxiety and depression as any weirder or weaker or deserving of ridicule than we do the need for allergy treatments or eyeglasses the better off everyone will be.

I'm no expert by any means but I'm close to numerous people with a wide variety of basic issues like these, many of whom have taken such medications for 10-20+ years without issue.

IMO an accurate diagnosis needs to be made by a true mental health professional, in the form of a psychiatrist or a clinical psychologist with a PhD, *then* see what medication may help.

Best of luck to the OP. I wouldn't be very concerned given what's been described.

The assorted antidepressants are fairly common and effective. If they weren't effective, they wouldn't be so popular. A lot of people talk a big game about what a person does and does not need and what is necessary and what works and what doesn't, bit the bottom line is there are a lot of people out there, likely including people you interact with everyday and that are functional and tolerable because of these meds. If the doctor is suggesting it and you aren't sure, talk to another doctor, not the internet.

If your kid starts taking it, keep an eye on him and his mood. The odds are it will help and the odds are that if it doesn't, he'll tell you. It isn't really any of a prospective employer's business if he's taking it and it won't affect his gun rights if he takes it legally.

Absolutely get an evaluation before resorting to meds.

My sister was a Pfizer rep for almost 10 years and Zoloft was one of her 4 drugs she sold/pushed.


She said that any side effects are usually gastrointestinal issues if any. The possibility of suicidal thoughts could be a side effect but very rare. She stated the side effects are almost non existant even if they are there on a low dose.

I am the opposite and extremely reluctant to take any meds like this personally and I'd recommend getting a second opinion for your son from another specialist.

Nearly 10% of Americans take a prescription antidepressant, and it's said that abut 1/3 of all people have such issues whether they're taking medicine for it or not. That's many millions of people who take it daily without going crazy, doing violent shit, or anything of the sort. A tiny, tiny, tiny group of people who were on such meds *might* have done some bad things *in part* because of such meds, *maybe*, but it's far from definitive.

Some people need or otherwise clearly benefit from them, others don't.

Seek professional help in determining whether or not they're necessary/beneficial for a given individual. Get two opinions if you're particularly concerned. This should include at least a bit of conversation with a real therapist and a physician (if they're not the same person, as is the case with a Psychiatrist...).

These things and how they manifest vary *greatly* from one person to the next, and of all the places arm-chair-experts pop up - this is an arena that's best left to true experts...

More than a couple of years ago I went through a bit of a rough spot. I was involved in "an incident" at work and then a week later one of my best friends was murdered on the job. I'm not saying I was an emotional wreck, but I wasn't sleeping well and was having trouble focusing. Doc prescribed me Zoloft. I took it for about six months. It took about a month to really be noticeable. The levels have to build up in your system. After that it was great. I was functioning better than I'd functioned since I'd started the job. Social anxiety was even reduced to the point that I did karaoke one night. My hatred of taking pills every day finally won out.

I never had any real side effects. My only issue was I ran out over a holiday weekend and decided cold turkey was a good way to quit. I was wrong. You really need to titer down. Withdrawal is not fun. At all. Vicious, viscous headache.

Its not a magic cure all pill, but it sure as heck helped get me through a rough spot and back on track.

quote:

Originally posted by DaBigBR:
The assorted antidepressants are fairly common and effective. If they weren't effective, they wouldn't be so popular. A lot of people talk a big game about what a person does and does not need and what is necessary and what works and what doesn't, bit the bottom line is there are a lot of people out there, likely including people you interact with everyday and that are functional and tolerable because of these meds. If the doctor is suggesting it and you aren't sure, talk to another doctor, not the internet.

If your kid starts taking it, keep an eye on him and his mood. The odds are it will help and the odds are that if it doesn't, he'll tell you. It isn't really any of a prospective employer's business if he's taking it and it won't affect his gun rights if he takes it legally.

This.

My fiance (then girlfriend) used to battle really bad with anxiety and finally listened to my suggestion to try a medication. She got on Sertraline (the generic of Zoloft) and it makes her immensely, immensely more pleasant to be around, and she will be the first to tell you that. Her doctor says she wishes it was just in the water like fluoride.

And no, it won't affect your son's chances of getting a job or a gun. I'm the po-lice, and know plenty of cops that take any manner of anti-depressants or anti-anxiety medications like Zoloft or Prozac.