Is there a problem with my son's personailty?

Question

Hello doctor,

My son is a college student. He is 21 now. He has depression from about three years and has been seeing a psychiatrist for a while. He has been missing assignments and classes and got put on probation and withdrawal. And, he lies a lot. For instance, he signed a waiver to his college and I had access to his reports. He knew this, but he still lied to me about his grades. Sometimes, I feel it is not just depression but there might be some other problem with his personality. I want to know what we shall do as his parents. Shall we ask him to live with us so that we can watch him go to therapy periodically and have a healthier lifestyle? Shall we talk with him if we know he is lying?

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

Depression is now common in 2 % of the children and adolescents. Its cause is not specific, but a combination of multiple factors such as environmental, biological and psychological.

Firstly, we have to look for any specific underlying causes for his depression. And then, we have to remove the underlying causes of depression.

There are mainly two major ways to treat children's depression:

Interpersonal therapy.
Cognitive behavioral therapy.

If your child has symptoms of depression such as helplessness, guilt, hopelessness, irritability, loss of energy, sleep problems, etc. you should consult a pediatric psychologist for assessing the root of this problem.

The causes could be hypothyroidism, drug abuse, bipolar disorder, etc. Please do the needful.

Please do check his thyroid profile.

Do not worry. In 85 % of the people, depression subsides with one or two major episodes. A good healthy relationship between the parent and their children is protective against depression.

For interpersonal therapy, you have to go to a pediatric psychologist for understanding the approach which is necessary to change his belief and mind set, if no medical condition is present other than his psychological problems.

For more information consult an internal medicine physician online.

Answer 2

Hi,

Welcome back to iclinq.com.

Yes, as he has just entered from toddler to young age group this is a very delicate stage of growth of mind. So, we need proper guidance and a strong foundation of good believe and confidence for his future life.

His age group is more than 18, so I will suggest consulting an adult psychologist after doing all the necessary investigations like thyroid profile, complete blood count, renal function test, liver function test, serum electrolytes, and vitamin B12 level.

For further doubts consult an internal medicine physician online.