About Emily Expertise I can answer almost all teen issues such as self harm, suicide, eating disorders, depression and other mental health disorders, drugs, alcohol, assault, harrassment, family problems, trauma, friendship problems and a lot more, so just ask. Pretty much anything that teens have to face I can answer. I'm also Christian and non-judgmental so I can answer questions relating to religion. I will not judge people about anything.
Experience I've experienced a lot of stuff in my life including facing death in several ways, self-harm, suicide, alcohol, harrassment, family and friendship issues and more. I've had to deal with my dad being sick all my life with MS and cancer, and I've dealt with severe depression, anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder. I tried to kill myself more than once and now I want to help other teens who are having trouble.
Education/Credentials In college studying psychology among other subjects. Plus life experience.
Question I'm 17 and I live in Turkey. I've been a shy and quiet person since I was a kid. I've had problems making friends and keeping them for the last 5-6 years. That had never bothered me before, I had a few friends I hung out with from time to time, though never in groups. Otherwise I was alone and I was fine with that, I read a lot.
But lately I hate my asocial, shy, awkward, quiet self. I just can't be myself around people my age, unless they're as shy as me. I feel ashamed of that. It seems that everyone talks too much and is outgoing, though. I talk too fast or too quietly or too loudly and stumble over my words. I feel inferior. They have a large circle of talkative, outgoing friends but I don't, they go out a lot but I stay at home, they have interesting stuff to talk about but I don't... I've been using citalopram for a few weeks now with my mother's advice(she's a pharmacist) but I don't see how it will help me. Is there a way I can get past my shyness? I suppose I'm somewhat self-conscious as well..
Answer Hi Deniz.
Your mother might be a pharmacist but you should absolutely never take a prescription drug, especially one like citalopram, without a prescription from a doctor or psychiatrist. Citalopram is an SSRI and you should be being monitored by a doctor for at least the first 12 weeks of taking it. An SSRI is Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor and it is used to treat depression, anxiety, mood disorders and more. It is incredibly dangerous and quite probably illegal for your mother to hand out a drug like that, especially when you don’t know the correct dosage. Your mother is a pharmacist, not a psychiatrist, so she can’t correctly judge the right dosage for you because it differs among people. This really is dangerous. She could lose her job for doing this. Well, depending on the laws anyway, I’m not sure if it’s different in Turkey, but common sense would make it obvious that drugs affect different people and you are supposed to have a psychiatric assessment before you are prescribed with an SSRI. I can’t stress enough how unsafe this is and I’d stop taking it immediately. Your mother should instead organise for you to see a counsellor or even your family doctor so they can decide whether drugs are the right thing to help you or not.
If you stumble over your words you could try reading poetry out loud to yourself every night just to practise saying the words and getting them all out neatly. Seeing a professional could be very worthwhile because that way you can talk about your problems and also find out if you might have an anxiety disorder. I’m sorry if I came across as rude earlier, I just want you to understand that it is very unsafe and probably illegal for your mother to give out drugs without a doctor’s prescription, especially a drug such as an SSRI. You can read more about them on the internet if it helps you to understand. I wish you the best of luck with things
