do you take psych pills?

[Spexxvet]

Originally Posted by Elspode

I've been on Lexapro...

Same here. Alot of what's been said here hits the mark. It all came to a head last year when we found out that my oldest, at 14, was cutting herself, was on the phone for hours in the middle of the night with a "kid" from Cincinnati that she met on-line, and then started to run away, to Cincinnati, but got scared and called from 30th street railroad station. It was enough to drive me to drugs. As long as I can remember, though, I've had thoughts of hurting myself, and that maybe my loved ones would be better off if I just wasn't around anymore.

[SteveDallas]

Originally Posted by Spexxvet

It was enough to drive me to drugs.

Do you mean to say that, to control your reactions to your daughter's behavior and how you dealt with the whole situation? Or are you saying you think your feelings or behavior influenced your daughter negatively? Has your taking Lexapro had any impact on her?

[Spexxvet]

Originally Posted by SteveDallas

Do you mean to say that, to control your reactions to your daughter's behavior and how you dealt with the whole situation? Or are you saying you think your feelings or behavior influenced your daughter negatively? Has your taking Lexapro had any impact on her?

Yes, yes, and yes.

I think that she was behaving unacceptably, and my response was probably more severe than it should have been, which cause even more poor behavior on her part. I was sweating the small stuff, and not seeing the big stuff. Relations with my wife were tense, and that spilled over into my dealings with the kids. When things came to a head with my daughter, it scared the shit out of me, and put things in perspective, but I was on an emotional roller coaster, and could break down at any time. I would wake up in the middle of the night and have to check to make sure she was still in bed, my legs would shake, I was almost incapable of doing anything that wasn't urgent and necessary, and lost my appetite (I called it my daughter diet). After starting Lexapro, I was able to just let things go. When she acted out, I could see that she just wanted a reaction, and was able to withhold a reaction. Our household is much more relaxed now. My daughter is still a 15 year old girl, with all those issues. My wife sometimes sees "letting things go" as "losing", and letting my daughter "get away" with poor behavior, which she sees as poor parenting. But in the long run, my daughter is happier, communicates with us more, and has stopped, as far as we can tell, her self-destructive behavior. I wouldn't say that Lexapro is solely responsible for all that, but I feel like it enabled me to do things differently.

Wow, I never put that on the intenet before.