Thanks FooZe,

It is my daughter that has decided to take an antidepressant and she does have dyslexia. A very long "toxic" relationship has led to her experiencing "depression" and I do worry about her resorting to believing that an antidepressant will be the "magic answer" for her.

I have read about those with dyslexia experiencing "depression" because of the challenges that come with learning because of how the dyslexic brain processes differently. It does not mean a "lack of intelligence" either.

I have read that it is common for those who are dyslexic to turn to food/self harm/alcohol to find a way to have a "sense of control" too.
I just read about that yesterday too. I didn't know that, however I have observed that my daughter does take "challenges" seriously and tends to pursue challenges that others would not take on.

Her GP recommended that she take Xanax to help her sleep at night and to also take Lexapro for the depression. I urged her to read about the "side effects" of Lexapro and to also "before just taking the medication" get another opinion to see if there may be even more "side effects" to those who are dyslexic.

Well, unfortunately, I am just the "mom" and the sentiment was, that I should not "stress and have a need to voice my concerns". Ugh

The truth is that when I read about antidepressants, there are articles that talk about how antidepressants may cause damage to the hypocampus and change the chemical balance in the brain that can be more harmful then is often discussed by the pharmaceutical companies that are promoting them and of course making money from what is now a wide usage of "antidepressants".

I find it very frustrating to get to the "truth" and I certainly do not want to see my daughter make a decision that she may really "regret". I do not feel that a GP is necessarily up to date on this highly specialized area of human health either. In fact I had a GP throw my medical records at me in anger stating that he resented the fact that a psychiatrist would assume he was qualified to prescribe medications outside his area of expertise when it comes to treating "MI".

Sigh.....I just thought if I could find some information, other than my own opinion/concern about how the dyslexic brain may not benefit and may even be compromised by antidepressant use, I could convince my daughter to consider it more than just "going ahead and taking a medication and if she finds she doesn't like it in someway, then just stop using it". That is the message I got from her yesterday. Grrrrr, unfortunately that is not what anyone should do IMHO.

OE