This is my first time here tonight. My son is 19 and was diagnosed with an anxiety disorder a few years ago. I am very interested as a parent to learn about others with similar situations direct from them. I am still learning how to cope with certain attitudes and actions of his. I am very concerned about his future. We ended up home schooling him through high school. He couldn't function in the public schools. He took 1 semester at a community college and hated it. He went to work full time and hated what he was doing enough to decide that he wanted to go back to school but not the community college. He has always loved movies and wants to learn about making them. Mostly writing screen plays. There is a school in Florida we have recently learned about that he would love to go to but we can't afford to pay for it. It's very difficult because I would love for him to go but not only can I not afford to pay for it I am concerned about how he would survive. He does not want a room mate. Everything about others really can aggravate him. I'm not sure how he would cope without being at home but I want him to be out on his own.

**:) How do I help my 19 very dependent son with a very real anxiety problem become independent and happy? That is my big question of the day. Any one out there with an answer?

dsloan,

I recently turned 20 and am a sophomore in college. I had intense anxiety and mild depression my entire life. I finally hit a breaking point this year and sought out help about a week into the semester. Freshman year was a nightmare for me. I had even lost 40 lbs while most were gaining the freshman 15 (although I was somewhat overweight) because of the anxiety, and slept at every available moment because every day life was so draining to me. I roomed with someone I kind of knew, but I began to hate him because of the anxiety. I had intense social anxiety, and was almost afraid of talking to people.

Things did not get better for me until i started medication this year. I started with 10 mg of Lexapro, which was increased to 20 mg and that began to ease the anxiety along with going to therapy once every other week. I later was diagnosed with ADD and my Lexapro was raised to 30 mg while i was also put on Strattera. My life is so much easier now and the anxiety is only a fraction of what it was. I'm not saying i still don't have some issues with it occaisionally, but I used to have panic attacks which have all but disappeared, and I don't dread simple every day tasks which I once did.