obsessive compulsive bipolar
What is the age needed to take medication for a mental illness?
How old does one have to be to take medication for Obsessive-Compulsive disorder (OCD) or Bipolar Disorder?
Thank you.
I am a psychologist and I don’t know. That’s because I am not a psychiatrist. Every medical doctor has training in knowing the exact answer to this question. They know what different doses to use for younger people and what different types of medicine work better for younger people. It is fortunate that there are all these differences because giving a child an adult OCD medicine not prescribed for them can kill them. Doses are wrong, some medicines do require a certain age or they work differently with the body’s chemistry.
But if an MD or a psychiatrist prescribes a medication for a child then the child is not too young to take it. There may be some side effects though, just like for adults. I take a psychiatric medicine that makes me sleepy for example. No big deal really, because I know to expect it. So talk with your doctor and see what all the pros and cons are about a medicine. He or she has to tell you if you ask, it’s the law.
Good Luck
Body Dysmorphic Disorder in pictures.
