[wkat4242]

Exactly. And it's a combination usually. It's really hard to do constructive therapy when you are depressed. Stabilise with the meds and then tackle the root causes with therapy.

But some people just are very prone to depression and need the extra help.

You wouldn't say "don't give that kid ibuprofen, let them just deal with the pain"?

And SSRIs are not very strong. They do have some nasty side effects especially sexually but this is not relevant at that age so that makes it even more suitable for kids than adults.

[quantum_magpie]

I would be very cautious advising SSRIs for anyone, especially developing children, considering my own experience (on sertralin), which was complete disappearance of a libido, and massive weight gain, +40kg (70 -> 110) in ~10 months. 5 years later I still have not undone the damage from it.

[wkat4242]

Yeah but it's something that affects people differently. I took escitalopram and my libido was a bit reduced but mainly it became harder to orgasm. That was not all bad, it's nice to be able to last an hour and a half :) I was already heavy but didn't gain any more weight. I did lose some when I moved to other stuff though.

But these side-effects just need to be checked for (and the libido issue isn't relevant to under-teens anyway).

[jacobgkau]

How you acknowledge serious side effects some people have, sweep them aside with "but some people don't," and act like getting children on lifelong medication won't result in them having adult-relevant side effects once they're adults is mind-blowing.

[johnisgood]

> You wouldn't say "don't give that kid ibuprofen, let them just deal with the pain"?

Of course you would say that after the Nth time. You are supposed to find out what causes the pain, not mask it.

[marky1991]

I've had recurring headaches my entire life. Have been to many neurologists, none have any idea what causes them, they just give me different pills to prevent them instead. This isn't unusual for headaches, quite often the cause is basically unknown. (If you ask people they'll give you a series of common things, eg water consumption, eating enough, etc, but it's just all unprovable folk medicine) Expecting everyone to "find the cause" is unreasonable.

If you have a headache, it's totally fine to take a painkiller. (If it happens on a regular basis, eg at least once a week, it can be a good idea to get those different pills from a neurologist, because the two main painkillers have bad side effects in the long run, but those different pills are just "masking" it in a different way)

[johnisgood]

I am not trying to say that you are never supposed to take medications long-term. I take medications, too. Unfortunately the causes are known (or rather, there is a diagnosis), but there is no treatment or cure.

What I am trying to say is that after the Nth time you would take the kid to the doctor to find out what causes the pain, instead of just giving them painkillers. It could easily be something treatable, or rather, curable.

[johnisgood]

Have you tried sumatriptan by the way?

[pqtyw]

You're talking about an adult, though, not a seven-year old child..