Re: Teen Social Anxiety..Response

In Reply to: Teen Social Anxiety posted by Diane on December 13, 2000 at 21:28:26:

Hi Diane,
First let me say that I can TOTALY sympathize with what your son is going though, I had the exact same problem when I was growing up and because of it I missed out on alot of things growing up, the parties, the good grades, the weekends with friends, all of those things were a huge chore for me, however your son has a big advantage being a teenager at this moment in time, back when I was growing up ( in the 70's, Im 30 now by the way) there was no understanding of these things..they just thought I had behavioral problems so I ended up having to drop out of high school, even though I hung out with the "popular" crowd it was still too painful and stressful to continue, however now there is more understanding of these things..I recomend you take your son to a Psychiatrist and have him write his diagnosis down on paper and take it to the school principal and teacher, they cannot dispute that this is a REAL disorder and they MUST be accomadating to your sons needs.

It wasnt until I was in my late 20's that I realized that there are medications now available to treat this condition, I took Paxil for 4 months and it TOTALY helped, the differance was unbelievable! I felt like I was reborn ( so to speak )The only downfall to Paxil was that I eventually had to discontinue it because it completly diminished my sex drive, however since your son is only 14 yrs I dont think that would be a major concern to you, I recomened you look into it, Im very glad to hear you are taking an active interest in helping your son, when I was young I had NO ONE to turn to, I guess you can say I was suffering in silence, it wasnt until recently that I was able to go back to school and I got my high school diploma, Your son should know how absolutley lucky he is to have such a kind and caring mother as you..best of luck to you and your son.

: My 14 year old son has just been diagnosed with social anxiety disorder. He has chronic stomach aches and a truancy problem at school. He is extremely intelligent but is failing in school. If you have any information, I'd love to hear from you. I am trying to learn and understand. What can I tell his school that would help him.