Please tell me your experience with medication...

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My son is 6. For a little less than a year, he's been talking a lot about death and suicide...just a little at first, with a long time passing of no mention to it...building up to quite a bit over the last 3 weeks or so. We worked with 2 diff psychologists that were not helpful. He is not receiving services through the school district because they say he's not on the spectrum. The formal diagnosis is PDD-NOS.

I tried to find him another mental health professional to work with, but was told he should be taken to the ER because of the suicide talk. We went. The drs recommended inpatient treatment but we opted for outpatient. He's on his 3rd day there and they want to prescribe him Risperidone (sp?) and...Prozac. (Don't remember the actual drug name.)

I don't know what to make of this. We have worked really hard to get my son to where he is and I would hate to see us lose any of that. I don't want to give him drugs as a convenience to me. But if they would help him, of course I want him to have them. I just don't know what to make of this. Things with him got so bad so quickly and I'm not sure what to do for him. Any guidance or experience you could share would be so appreciated. I can provide additional info if needed.

The drugs they want to put your son on are very dangerous.

Now is your son depressed with suicidal thoughts, or is he just having suicidal thoughts?

My mom is a nurse and I asked her about Risperidone she says most the time that it is given via injection, so that is something you really should consider as well.

There's a thread in the parent's discussion on this very subject at this link:

http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt75333.html

Be prepared to read much about the negatives of Risperidone (sp?), and they very well may be valid (I have no experience with the drug). But considering what is going on with your son, I would be open to all research that you find. It's truly scary to think of a six-year old feeling suicidal. I would want to do whatever I could to change that, and quickly.

I hope that things improve for your son, and you, as soon as possible.

Is your son depressed, sorry - it's not quite clear enough in your post.

If he is extremely miserable to the point of feeling suicidal, you have to do something.
I would put my trust in the doctors. However having said that.... risperidone isn't an antidepressant, I don't understand why the doctors would look to use Risperidone... unless your son has more of a morbid preoccupation or obsessive interest in death.

Maybe I am not answering your question - I take medications and I think they are wonderful. But it took a long time to find meds. that suited, that I didn't have nasty side effects from.
However I'm an adult.

The drug companies have known since 1988 and studies have been confirmed in the last 10 years that giving children Prozac has deadly consequences.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/01/03/pr ... /index.htm

Prescribing Prozac for a child with suicidal thoughts is like prescribing an anemic person blood-thinners. Stupid and deadly.

Your son needs therapy, not medication.

Those drugs are really powerful for a 6 year old.

Re: Depression...I don't know if he is depressed. He seems depressed. He has not been diagnosed with depression. At first they seemed like obsessive thoughts and we talked them out and they went away, but then they came back with increasing frequency. We were working with 2 psychologists and neither was helping. I called my ins. co. to find a 3rd one and got a list of providers...went through the list, each one couldn't help for one reason for another (no exp. with ASD or my son was too young)...the one who said she WOULD see him, said she COULDN'T see him because of the suicidal thoughts and she said we needed to go to the ER right away. We did, they recommended inpatient treatment. DS started freaking out about being left at the hospital and I figured that that would make him look more angry and aggressive than he actually is and possibly lead to him being drugged without my consent. (Like, if he attacked the doctors or whatever.) One drug is (supposedly) to make him less anxious and the other (supposedly) is supposed to help with his mood. I'd like another way to help him. I've been prescribed antidepressants a couple of times and one time they were great, no side effects but after that, the side effects (even with the same drug) were terrible and they just kept prescribing me more drugs to treat the side effects until I was taking 7 drugs daily. I was 23!! ! I didn't think that was right so I quit them all and now prefer to moderate my depression by knowing that I am depressed and taking that into consideration when making decisions and interpreting my own situation.

HTH.

the side effect of suicide is suicide.............my son was suicidal for quite a long time. he was hospitalized, in an outpatient program, has had therapists............yes, your son is young. if indeed, your drs are suggesting meds due to son's suicidal ideation, then i would take what they have to say seriously. meds are not foolproof, nor does every med work for everyone. as with any medication, you need to weigh the pros and cons. you need to watch carefully for any contraindications.
currently,son ( age 16) is on low doses of prozac and seroquel . things are calm, he's alert & happy- and when you're the mom of a kid who wants to die, calm & happy are WONDERFUL

Obsessive thoughts feel terrible. They can make life unlivable. So - you have a choice, let your son continue to live with the misery of repetitive thoughts - or try the medications the doctors are suggesting to see if they can improve the situation for your son.

Your son's place is with you, not as an in patient in a hospital.
If the medications have too many side effects, you can stop them.

I hope the doctors can help.

My almost 9-year old HFA son has talked about suicide this year. He doesn't seem to be depressed, it seems more like an obsessive thought or curiosity. It's a big concern because he has virtually no fear or impulse control. So, when he said casually that his "mind was telling him to kill himself" it was all I could do to not completely freak. Especially when his older brother, who has ADHD and suffers from depression, tried to commit suicide just over a year ago (though my younger son knows nothing about this).

The neuropsychologist who diagnosed him and his pediatrician have recommended we try Prozac, mostly for anxiety, rather than depression, but he hasn't been on it long enough for us to see if it's making a difference.

I hope that the doctors can help your son.

have you tried the approach of pointing out that a brodmanns brain area sending a signal to the ego mind of "die"
is just really asking for ego death, not body death?

Theres a way to transcend most of this- it won't work for those who are truly preoccupied with morbid death- but thats not whats going on most of the time.

change your perspective on the problem.