Hello,

My brother is 15 and started having anxiety problems and withdrawing heavily from family and his daily life a few years ago. The situation overwhelmed my parents who eventually took him to a psychiatrist who has prescribed medication. No research has been done about medication, my brother just takes what is prescribed.

My parents, in their well-intentioned ignorance, think my brother is "not all there". My brother is consequently under the belief that his situation is not beatable. instead, he thinks that he's going to find a magic pill that will cure him of his disease.

I am looking for people's experiences with psychiatric medication in general and specifically with cymbalta, bupropion, and adderal XR. I'm not looking for technical details or descriptions of side affects, I want "real" information. For example, how quickly did you up the dosage? If you lowered your dosage, was it difficult? What is it like like getting off of psychiatric medications? Have you struggled with addiction to medication? Have you found the medication has altered your cognitive abilities or your personality?

My goal is to find information that will help me get my parents to realize how serious it is to put their child on medication and to motivate them to take an active role in helping him. Most importantly, I want my brother to have confidence that he can overcome this situation and live happily, even without pills. If anyone has suggestions or resources that can help me have these conversations, I would appreciate it.