Worried about my son of 16; he seems to suffer from anxiety

[Nail Perfection]

Hopefully my lovely salon geek friends can offer me some advice here.
My son is not himself at the moment and i am making myself ill with worry.
He says he has a feeling that he is not quite here, almost like he is in a dream.

He does suffer from headaches very often some seem like migraines but he has not been diagnosed. He has been like this for about a week. I took him to doctors last thursday but it would appear he didnt explain his symptoms properly, i.e. how he felt he was in a dream. The appointment was a waste of time really.

After this appointment he got worse and didnt leave the house for 4 days, i..e no school, football etc. I did manage to get him to school today and I have another appointment today at the doctors.

Anyone any experience like this?

 

[Kellsy]

Sorry to hear this about your son. Does he suffer with anything else, learning disabilities etc?
I also have a 16 year old son, I've found when taking him to the Drs, I need to interject in order to explain things as my son tends to just clam up. Hth x

 

[Nail Perfection]

Hi, no he does well in school and has lots of friends. I do have to speak for him sometimes as he does clam up! I am hoping its a phase due to hormones.

 

[lucindatracey]

Hi, sorry to hear about your son...
I am 19 and have been suffering severe migraine and tension headache since the beginning of last summer, with that came my anxiety... mine is more of a social anxiety, not being able to look people in the eye in conversation, talking and laughing are a problem too I'm always worried(sounds strange) .. I think with mine is a big confidence issue that I am overcoming too.. I think you should go back to your GP with your son, and make sure he explains it all properly so he can get his life back on track and regain normality, anxiety is not nice :-( xx

 

[Nail Perfection]

Hi, sorry to hear about your son...
I am 19 and have been suffering severe migraine and tension headache since the beginning of last summer, with that came my anxiety... mine is more of a social anxiety, not being able to look people in the eye in conversation, talking and laughing are a problem too I'm always worried(sounds strange) .. I think with mine is a big confidence issue that I am overcoming too.. I think you should go back to your GP with your son, and make sure he explains it all properly so he can get his life back on track and regain normality, anxiety is not nice :-( xx

Hi, thanks for replying, it helps to know you are not alone. Most people won't admit having anxiety and that makes it worse!

 

[angelina221]

My daughter is suffering with anxiety. I wanted to get her to see a counsellor. She lives in London and couldn't get in with a counsellor down there for a couple of weeks. I rang my doctors to see if I could get her in there as she was due home for a few days . They were very helpful and told me to look in the Yellow Pages!!
So I booked her a hypnotherapy session. She wasn't overly impressed with it but she did learn a couple of techniques that she said she would use.
She has since had one counselling session which has helped her a lot.
I don't know what else to suggest. It's awful as a parent not knowing what is best to do for your kids.
I'd try and arrange a counselling session as they are trained in this kind of thing.
Hopefully the doctors appointment today will be better than the last one.
Let us know how you get on x

 

[Nail Perfection]

My daughter is suffering with anxiety. I wanted to get her to see a counsellor. She lives in London and couldn't get in with a counsellor down there for a couple of weeks. I rang my doctors to see if I could get her in there as she was due home for a few days . They were very helpful and told me to look in the Yellow Pages!!
So I booked her a hypnotherapy session. She wasn't overly impressed with it but she did learn a couple of techniques that she said she would use.
She has since had one counselling session which has helped her a lot.
I don't know what else to suggest. It's awful as a parent not knowing what is best to do for your kids.
I'd try and arrange a counselling session as they are trained in this kind of thing.
Hopefully the doctors appointment today will be better than the last one.
Let us know how you get on x


Thanks I never even thought of getting him counselling privately. The most worrying symptom is that he feels like he is dreaming all the time.

 

[angelina221]

I'd see how you get on with the doctors and go from there.
Hope you get it sorted x

 

[xxAmyxx]

The feeling that he is in a dream all the time is called derealization and is a form of anxiety, you should definitely bring him to see a doctor x

 

[gillian w]

My son started to suffer from anxiety after two friends in his school died suddenly from undiagnosed heart conditions.The school children were offered counselling which my son didnt go to but the after effects for him were awful.Panic attacks caused breathing problems which in turn caused him to believe he too had heart problems.
He said his body felt numb,he got headaches he used to constantly catch his breath and would always be jogging his limbs up and down with nerves.He became someone I didn't recognise he was so unhappy.
We would have waited 6 months to see a councillor on nhs so I paid for private treatment and it has totally changed him.He had about 4 one hour sessions and I think basically it was cognitive behavioural therapy.He is fine now,a bit of a hypochondriac but no more anxiety.I also think the stress of exams and coursework was part of the problem and worrying about the future.I think boys don't tend to share their worries with each other like girls do.

 

[angelina221]

I also think the stress of exams and coursework was part of the problem and worrying about the future.

It certainly doesn't help. My daughter is at uni and she's a lot better when she is at home. She does so much work and then she gets tired and she's 100 times worse when she's tired.
I can't wait for her course to be over.
How did it go at the doctors today?

 

[Sparkle*Nail]

websites like Mind can provide a good foundation about anxiety. often if we read more, we understand more. yes by all means encourage him to see GP but please don't pressurise him. just don't be afraid to talk about mental health. visit Time To Change

i am not a trained professional but experience depression, anxiety and borderline personality disorder that includes dissasociation that means i lose substantial chunks of time, about 3wks ago i have no recolection what so ever og doing a set of nails and that the lady had engaged. the only way i know it was me that did it, had the rubbish from it in my bin and the smell of monomer.

i dont remember anything that day from moment i got up to moment i woke up in hospital next day (as i had put myself at risk)

Sent from my GT-I9300 using SalonGeek

 

[Sparkle*Nail]

sorry hadnt finished.

have you noticed that he has put himself in a dangerous position bevause of lack of awaress as he said he feels like he's dreaming?

feel free to inbox me xxx

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[Nail Perfection]

Thanks to you all for your great advice. He refused to come into doctors today but has agreed to a telephone consultation tim. The doc said after this she can refer him to hospital which he seems happier about. She also mentioned betablocker but not sure about that.
He seems ok just now, seems to blow hot and cold.

 

['chelle]

Hi, my daughter is nearly 17 and suffers from anxiety. She has no tangible reasons for it, her grades are good, she's popular, she's slim and attractive, but she suffers terribly. There are some issues relating to her biological dad who she's never met which we think may be the root of it, but she has a very stable home with me and her step dad who she sees as her dad.

She's just started seeing a counsellor so its early days but I'm hoping it will help, but her mood is very up and down so I'm taking her back to the doctors this week because bi-polar runs strongly through my family, I have it, and I suspect she might too.

I'm not one of those parents who has to slap a label on everything, and I loathe having to face up to this and take her to the doctors because I want nothing more than for her to be ok and not need this intervention, but her moods and anxiety are beyond rational and there comes a point where you have to accept that there's no shame in asking for help.

I would have a talk with your son and see if you can identify a root to his anxiety, though dont worry if you cant because its likely he doesnt know what the root is himself, and take him along to your doctors. Most importantly make sure he knows he can talk to you about absolutely anything at absolutely any time day or night :hug:

 

[Lauren04]

I've suffered from anxiety since I was 14 I had no reason and it came on all of a sudden and I too felt like I was in a dream, walls closing in, don't want to go out etc but I went to counselling then an anxiety group with people my age who suffer the same thing, I found that most people felt alone when suffering from anxiety so maybe going to one of those groups could help? Hope everything gets sorted soon xx

 

[Nail Perfection]

Well he spoke with doc today. He agreed to.go see her Thursday but in the meantime she
Wants him to take low dose diazepam for a few days. This is because she feels this will relax tension and therefore his headaches. I really don't think he needs the drugs yet and he is not keen. She suggested an eye test which I have booked for tom. He is saying now that he doesn't want to go to doc Thursday but I will keep appointment for now. He does seem to be fairly normal just now so part of me thinks if we stop dwelling on it it will subside, wishful thinking maybe!

 

[waffle4]

Has anything else been going on prior to him feeling like this? I know my 16 year old daughter starts getting tension headaches/stress/ anxiety etc whenever she has exams looming. I have to make a conscious effort to keep checking she's ok, going to bed at a reasonable time and also not just constantly revising as she has been diagnosed with depression in the past. Bach rescue remedy spray really helped her and also St. John's wort tablets as she didn't want to take anti depressants either. She also had counselling sessions at the local youth Connexions branch when she was at her worst and all these things together did help. Really hope your son starts feeling better soon x

 

[Nail Perfection]

Thanks again for all your advice.
I am now thinking of giving him Kalms herbal tabs or rescue remedy. He is the type of person who needs to be taking something to help him if you know what i mean, and I think this could help.
As for the feeling of being in a dream and detached I read a good explanation for this. Your brain cannot cope with all the constant worry and over thinking that it shuts down slightly for protection, hence the feel of being not quite there. i have explained this to him and hopefully it will help.

I will also look into counselling even if I have to pay for it as I think the doctor just wanted to medicate him which i feel is a last resort.
It really depends how he feels, if he feels that bad surely he will demand i take him to the doctors rather than saying he doesnt want to go? At the moment he has gone to the gym with a friend so he seems ok for now.

 

[Elaine143a]

Very sorry if this offends, it's seriously not meant to, but have you asked him about any illegal drug use? I am not suggesting your son is taking anything, but this is the age when they often start experimenting, so it may be an idea to broach the subject with him, just to rule it out.

Whatever the cause of his problems, I hope you get to the bottom of it soon xxxx