Darryl-Lee Prince

The core framing of all of that is that they are a tool.

They're not a solution to isolation.

They're not a solution to dysregulation.

They're not a solution to all of that.

They are part of a program that starts with the basics.

But when the nervous system is really bombarded and starting to lose its capacity to produce its own amount of chemicals, you basically are reliant on something to boost that.

But it has a limitation to it because suddenly you see this change because suddenly you've got more serotonin in your system.

But then it settles down and the problem hasn't gone away unless it truly is a neurochemical cause for anxiety or depression or something like that.

So what happens then is there's an instant response of, oh, look how flexible they are.

They're getting on better.

They're getting on better.

What a pill can't do is teach coping skills.

They don't teach how to handle your environment and they don't replicate therapy.

They're not that.

I think the role of SSRIs is it creates neurological conditions for change, but it doesn't do the change for the kid.

I think it's important to use it for moderate to severe anxiety or moderate to severe impairment.

So I always say, I'm not just giving this because I don't know what else to give you.

There needs to be significant functional impairment before you just chuck an SSRI at it.

And of course, one of the biggest risks of these things is, and I think that's missed a lot, is two things.

One is this initial activation, which can present as worsening suicide or worsening thoughts of self-harm or self-deprecation.