Son with Autism, depression and GAD

Blodwen

Hello, I' single mum to a 16 year old boy who has only in the past few years shown significant signs of autism. We are now waiting for his assessment results. He also suffers with severe depression and General Anxiety Disorder. He has been out of education for over a year, has recently started self harming, suicidal thoughts (and plans) hearing voice and extreme paranoia . He is seen by CAMHS and is in DBT. I am trying to get a social services assessment for him and for me as his sole carer, and was wondering if anyone has been through a similar situation and any advice please. X

tconrick

Hi. Your son sounds like he may have PANS or PANDAS. Please google it as he may need immune treatments. You can email me for more info. [email protected]

Blodwen

Hi, thanks for your reply. I've googled these conditions as well as many others over the last few days, and some kind of psychosis seems the closest to what my son is going through. He is currently on Sertraline, Aripiprazole, Melatonin, diazepam and Olanzopene. Quite a cocktail for one so young. His psychiatrist says he thinks his symptoms are probably linked to his ASD but refuses to diagnose psychosis 'yet'. When I asked him if was concerned about my son's safety he said 'yes'

VioletFenn

Hi @Blodwen

I have Aspergers and GAD and also periodically suffer from depression. Although I have similar issues it's difficult to suggest anything helpful purely because everyone is so different. For what it's worth, it was eventually decided that I probably had ADHD as well and my anxiety meds were altered to take that into account, which has helped enormously. Sometimes it does take a very long time to figure out what the root causes are and which medications and other treatments are suitable.

Could you speak to your son's psychiatrist again with a view to breaking down what the individual issues are? It really doesn't matter if each one is treated (and medicated) separately, so long as he gets the help he needs. Don't forget that some of the medication may be gradually withdrawn at a later date anyway, if your son's situation improves - my own son was utterly reliant on melatonin to sleep until he started on fluoxetine for anxiety, at which point he relaxed enough to sleep more naturally.

Violet
ASD Advisor, Scope