In this episode Neil along with his co-host Robin, respond to questions from a mom about her young adult son with depression and OCD.  This young man is on medication and getting counseling, but is not engaging with the family or doing anything productive.

Today we’re hearing from Sophia of Elizabeth, NJ. Sophia writes:

Dear Neil,

Our son withdrew from college last spring and is living at home.  In college he was isolating and missing classes and essentially playing a lot of video games instead of doing his work.  At home he’s been doing much of the same, isolating and not participating in our home life much.  He is seeing a psychiatrist who diagnosed him with OCD and depression, and he is on medication.  He has a therapist he sees online but I’m not sure what they talk about or if it’s helping.  At home he won’t do anything to help out, he sleeps most of the day and is awake at night.  When he came home we told him he needed to get a job and he did for a while and then stopped going and we still don’t know why or what happened.  Things don’t seem to be improving and we don’t know how to help him.  

I really don’t know what to make of all this.  He was a happy, motivated kid in high school who played tennis and had good grades. When we quarantined, little by little he lost interest and got depressed.  We were hoping that going to college would make things better, but here we are. Our home is not a happy place.  His father used to get angry with him, but now has pretty much given up and ignores him. His older brother and younger sister try to engage with him and support him, but they don’t get very far with him and they just give up.  I try to stay positive with him but I’m not getting anywhere. If he won’t work, or participate in the home, yet he’s on medication and seeing a therapist, what else should we be doing?

Neil offers that the situation is entirely hopeful if they don’t just wait for things to change.  Neil describes a therapeutic approach that will work and why.