Cherie knocked on her son Will’s door. “May I come in?” There was a brief silence, then “Sure.” She entered and found Will curled up in his bean bag chair — in the dark — with his back to the door. “How’re you doin’ honey? It’s about time you got ready for school, don’t you think?” Will responded, “I’m not going.” Cherie sighed. Here we go again, she thought. “Honey, you really have to go to school. I can tell you’re feeling awful, and I wish I knew how to help. But you have to go.” Will didn’t move. The weight of darkness on his chest was suffocating, and he couldn’t face doing anything beyond lying here, hanging on. Her teen was withdrawn, listless, depressed. “I can’t Mom. I just can’t.” After struggling with him another half hour, she left to get ready for work.
Her son was shut down, not moving.
Once she was dressed for the day ahead, she came back in his room. He hadn’t moved. She didn’t understand what was going on with him, but she instinctively knew it wasn’t rebellion. She could see he was in some sort of pain… she just didn’t know how to help.
“OK, I need to leave for work. Spend today psyching yourself up to go tomorrow. We have to find a way to get through this, whatever it is that’s going on.”
When Cherie got home from work, she went upstairs to check on Will. At this point, he was was lying in his bed, his eyes closed, the blinds darkening the room.
Cherie opened the blinds and light streamed in.
Will covered his head with his pillow.
“Mom, what are you doing?”
“Will, have you been here all day? Did you eat?”
“No.”
Cherie was exasperated. She felt like she was pushing a boulder uphill. Overwhelmed, she walked out of the room before she said something she regretted. She loved her son, and could see how he struggled, but the law said he had to attend school. What do you do when your teen is withdrawn, listless, and depressed? She felt so helpless.
Her own life was stressful enough, with a project at work that required all her wits to complete, and Will refusing to go to school felt like the straw that broke the camel’s back.
After changing clothes, she started dinner in the kitchen. Once everything was ready, she called Will.
After two more calls for him to come to the table, she climbed the stairs to confront him. He was in the dark, in his bed.
Silence.
“Will, what are you doing? You need to eat something.”
“I’m not hungry, Mom. I don’t feel like doing anything. Please just let me be by myself.”
Cherie was becoming alarmed. She called her sister…she needed someone to talk to. This had been going on for weeks, and if anything, Will seemed to be getting worse. She wanted to force him, but he was 14 and not that easy to force.
Also, some part of herself questioned whether he could actually help this. His behavior may have looked like rebellion, but somehow she didn’t think it was. So what was it? What was going on? His room smelled bad — clearly he hadn’t showered recently. (She couldn’t remember when he last had a shower.) His hair was oily. He was just so out of it.
She called her sister, who also had a teenager. Two, in fact.
Cherie described Will’s behavior, his shut-down demeanor, his withdrawal… and the helplessness she felt. Reecie empathized.
“Adolescence is so hard, Cherie. I’m so sorry you and Will are going through this. Of my two kids, only Maddie has struggled like this. I finally took her to see a psychiatrist. Her diagnosis was major depressive disorder. They say it can run in families, so maybe it’s no surprise that he has it, too.
“You can get pretty desperate when your teen is withdrawn, listless, and depressed…even showing signs of phobias… you just feel so helpless.”
“Reecie, what did you do? Did anything help?”
“I’ll be honest with you, Cherie. It was a tough time for awhile to find something that would help. She tried two difference prescriptions, which took months to try out, and neither made any difference. Didn’t help her at all. Meanwhile, her school work was suffering. I finally had to withdraw her from school. I homeschooled her to try to help her keep up so she would graduate on time.
“Then, I read about IV ketamine treatment. It’s become more and more widely used in the last 8-10 years, and is apparently extremely effective with most people. Not everyone, of course. No medicine is effective for everyone.
“But in Maddie’s case, it really brought her back to life. We re-enrolled her in school and she’s been doing very well ever since. That was 18 months ago and she seems happy, well-adjusted, and full of hope. She sparkles with joy like she used to before this happened.
“I don’t know about Will, but social anxiety became a huge problem for Maddie while she was depressed. She just wanted to stay in her room. But ketamine treatment resolved that, too. She has friends now, and is active in a few clubs at school. It’s amazing..!”
IV ketamine treatment
Cherie got online and searched IV ketamine treatment for depression. She didn’t know if depression was Will’s problem, but his demeanor seemed similar to what Reecie had described in Maddie. So it was a place to start.
She read several articles about ketamine treatment for depression. She could see this was a prominent and cutting edge treatment, and she found a psychiatry practice with a leader in the field, so she called for an appointment.
A couple days later, Cherie called in to work, and drove Will to the appointment. After taking a thorough history, the doctor confirmed major depressive disorder and recommended IV ketamine treatment.
She explained that 6 infusions was the standard minimum for depression, but that it could take more than that. Everyone was different, and they would gauge it by his response.
They agreed to start his treament the very same day, after careful preparation for what to expect, and a wonderful app to accompany treatment that the doctor curated and provided with recordings, readings, check ins, and rating scales for this that no one else seemed to ask about—not just symptoms but flourishing, not just negative thoughts but self-compassion.
It was pretty incredible.
They set appointments about twice a week over the next few weeks.
While he didn’t feel much different after the first few infusions, he wondered if it was his imagination that he possibly felt the slightest bit of lightness after the third. After the fourth, he found himself taking a shower and dressing in fresh clothes… then making his bed. Cherie noticed all this, but didn’t say a word.
With each subsequent infusion, he became more cheerful, more talkative. His withdrawal seemed to be subsiding.
After the 7th infusion, Will told his mom he wanted to go to school the next day. They requested a note from the doctor before they left and decided to eat out and celebrate that he was feeling so much better.
Words can’t express the relief Cherie felt for Will.
Will started back to school and relished seeing his friends. He met with his teachers to work out a plan to make up the school work he’d missed. What’s more, he embraced the work with enthusiasm and caught up as quickly as he could.
He was on a roll.
But, after weeks of makeup work, Will was feeling worn out. He didn’t want to do anything but play video games…and he was worried the depression was coming back.
Cherie called the doctor and described Will’s behavior and outlook.
The doctor explained that stress can cause depression symptoms, and Will’s diving into school and makeup work so quickly might have been too much too soon. She recommended a booster infusion to get him functioning again.
As it happened, that seemed to be just what he needed. The booster restored his hope and mental/emotional energy…he was back on track. Her teen who had been withdrawn, listless, and depressed was once again hopeful, enjoying life, and laughing with friends.
It was good to know that a booster could help so much.
Cherie was glad that Will’s makeup work was completed, because she wanted to help him avoid too much stress for awhile… to give him time to become established in his healthier, happier outlook.
She encouraged him to walk often, either with her or with friends. She encouraged him to invite friends over and just laugh together.
Will kept getting better and better over the weeks that followed, and seemed eager to shower… and clean himself up for a girl he’d met at school. He also joined the debate team, and traveled to out-of-town meets which took the team to the state competition.
Will won a 2nd place trophy, and came home beaming.
Raising a human was challenging, that was for sure! But Cherie was flooded with relief to see her son engaging in life again and enjoying the rewards.
Treatment-Resistant Depression in Teens
Do you have a teen who resembles Will or Maddie? Is your family suffering with a child who can’t seem to cope with life any longer?
There’s hope through IV ketamine treatment.
If you have a teen suffering withdrawal, sadness, and no motivation… and nothing is helping, call us.
This can be a deeply troubling experience for both parent and child, but there is hope for recovery.
See what IV ketamine treatment can do for your child… and for your family.
To the restoration of your best self,
