Expert: Beverley Glazer - 4/2/2011

Question
QUESTION: My son 19 yrs old has depression he started taking zoloft in January. He sees regularly psychology. He has a problem with alcohol, he drinks every weekend heavily. He has admit the problem but he isn´t sure he wants to quit either cause it relaxes him and help feel better for a while. He has a very serious bullying history at school when he was younger (he saw therapist because of this.
Last weekend he drank so much he went some kind of psychosis? he came home and was full of rage and anger and he told he had broken some windows and beating some man badly. I was shocked! When I told him next day what he has told me he went in deep depression and shock he couldn´t move anywhere and hardly could speak a loud. Later it came clear that there wasn´t happen almost nothing, thank God! But he was very aggressive toward his friends and other people.I phone to his psychology and ask about this drug is it good to just keep taking them but they just told him to come in normal checking later this week.
There is a warning in this drug about causing aggressiveness in young people and suicide attempts. Do I need to be afraid all the time when he will take his life from himself? He will see his doctor in a month and that is a long time to wait. He wants to be without alcohol and I think he will be until he forgets that horrible weekend.
What we can do and what he should do?

ANSWER: Hi Kris,

Here's the information:

"The manufacturers of Zoloft do not recommend drinking alcohol while on the medication. Zoloft and alcohol act upon similar chemicals in the brain, which means that Zoloft could intensify the effects of the alcohol. If a person chooses to drink alcohol while taking this medication, he or she should only consume light to moderate amounts of alcohol. If you do drink alcohol, do not drink alcoholic beverages at the same time you take your dose of Zoloft."

I suggest that you go with your son to his doctor's appointment. He may not be telling the doctor the full extent of his drinking and you should have this on record. In the mean time, suggest that he goes to AA. There are youth groups, so find out if there are any in your area. Failing that, speak to the doctor about a rehab. He'll not only rid himself of the alcohol, but he'll be addressing his anger and psychological issues as well.

I hope this information is helpful

Thank you for asking AllExperts

Bev
http://www.untwist-your-thinking.com


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi! Thanks you for your reply. What should we do as a parents? How can we support him the best way? Do we talk with him why he is behaving the way he do. It is difficult to know when our support is just annoying him and doesn´t help him to grow. His doctor told him to take antabus but he refused he said he don´t like more drugs. So now we are just waiting what he will do.. should we give him a threat if he doesn´t quit the drinking he have to move out? Or is it just provoking him? He has promised to not drink and go to psychology at least once a week . He has his psychiatry appointment in a month away then we parents are going with him too. This is sooo hard....

Answer
Hi again Kris,

Unfortunately, all your advice and best attention will land on deaf ears. Your son wants to be left to do what he wants to do, so you have to stand firm in your beliefs and not enable him. He must learn by consequences, so don't enable him. Here is some information on this:

http://www.untwist-your-thinking.com/enabling-behavior.html

I doubt whether your son will take antabuse, because he doesn't want to stop drinking. The only way you have power is to tell him you love him, but you are not going to be abused any more. If you give him money, stop. If he doesn't work, demand that he gets a job. Make your demands known.

Don't worry about provoking him, because if you don't do what he says, you're always provoking him. Since he lives in the house, you have the power to tell him that if he doesn't get help, he must leave. However, once you've said this, you have to follow through. This is the hardest thing for any parent to do, however, he has a choice. He can stay and get help.

I hope this information is helpful,
Thank you for asking AllExperts

Bev
http://www.untwist-your-thinking.com