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17 yo daughter diagnosed with Severe PTSD
About Kids & Teens | Last Active: Aug 6, 2025 | Replies (13)Comment receiving replies
@donnab2673
I can empathize with your struggles. I have a 16 year old son who has combined ADHD, anxiety, OCD, learning differences, migraines, Reynauds syndrome, and a heart defect. He was diagnosed when he was 8 years old after having 2 concussions. It can be exhausting to scaffold your child for extended periods of time.
What ADHD medications was your daughter prescribed and at what dosages? What anxiety medication was prescribed?
Did your daughter have Covid and the injections?
Does your daughter have any other medical conditions? What did her psychologist recommend after completing her psychological evaluation? Do you know what triggered and still triggers her PTSD?
Does your daughter have an IEP/504 plan at school to help her succeed and do her best? Does she have a tutor/mentor to help her?
Is she doing telehealth sessions with a counselor? Are you getting counselors to help you best parent your daughter and give you strategies to try?
Does your daughter have a smart phone, computer/laptop, iPods, and use the internet? If so, you need to require her to take her ADHD/antidepressant medication, go to doctors’ appointments, see a counselor/therapist regularly, complete some household chores, and go to school/complete assignments or you will withhold all electronics and shut off the internet until she does what she needs to do. You can allow electronic use for homework but nothing else until she is done. You need to use some tough love with her, set boundaries and get help for you to navigate through this. You need support.
Talk to her doctors and ask for help and recommendations, research to fully understand her condition and the resources available to her, support groups, etc.
Socialization and motivation is really tough for teens with ADHD/anxiety. You both need help to get through this critical phase. It is a very vulnerable period and mental health support is key.
1. https://www.additudemag.com/parenting-a-teenager-with-adhd-support-encourage-guide/
2. https://chadd.org/for-parents/parenting-teens-with-adhd/
3. https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/parenting-a-child-or-teen-with-adhd
4. https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/parenting-teen-adhd.html
5. https://www.healthychildren.org/English/health-issues/conditions/adhd/Pages/Effective-Parenting-of-Teenagers-with-ADHD.aspx
6. https://www.greatschools.org/gk/parenting/adhd/md-parenting-adolescents-with-ad-hd/
7. https://www.liahonaacademy.com/how-to-navigate-parenting-a-teen-with-adhd-odd-and-behavioral-issues.html
8. https://teenswithadhd.com/adhd-parenting-strategies/
9. https://www.additudemag.com/i-am-exhausted-adhd-parenting/
10. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/special-matters/201904/the-dos-and-don-ts-parenting-anxious-teen
11. https://www.choosingtherapy.com/how-to-parent-a-child-with-adhd/
12. https://yellowchaircollective.com/howw-to-support-and-parent-adhd-teens/
13. https://www.healthyplace.com/adhd/articles/parenting-teenagers-with-adhd-surviving-the-ride
Replies to "@donnab2673 I can empathize with your struggles. I have a 16 year old son who has..."
2nd part of reply...My daughter goes through episodes of taking meds and then not taking her meds. I do not put any pressure on her really because I understand what she is going through.
Getting up everyday is a struggle for her and keeping that momentum going through her day as well. Regardless of taking her meds or not. I have tried to set her up a schedule of routine things to do so that if she does these everyday it will become routine. That did not last very long. She said it was stupid. School is not her happy place at all. When she is there she is there only to socialize with a few friends and really does not get much work done. I am trying to get her in a school that is out of our district but caters to students like my daughter and is a small school with a small amount of kids so the teachers and counselors can give individual attetion when students need it and there is no pressure about work that needs to be done by next week so it alleviates a lot of pressure for her it is a go a your own pace school. We took a tour today and she said she thinks she likes it. Thats the first positive thing I heard from her in long time.
The school is called Second Start in Concord,NH. The students can work on their own after instruction or in the classroom and have lights off an a fidget if needed or even a snack as well. High school is to structured for students like my daughter. You know a set time for your classes or your late and no breaks in high school either.
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Thank you very much for your reply. She does have a 504 and her high school does not always adhere to it and is on medication that according to her nurse helps with PTSD and ADHD and another for her anxiety. Not sure of the names of both I think one is busiprone if I am spelling it correctly. She has an appointment with her nurse next week and we will see if she can help her with different meds because the one she is on are not working or the mg need to be upped.
Thank You Again