Scared for my 14 year old's life?

[Motherof3beautifuls]

I feel like she's out of control. She's a very sweet girl. Very caring and empathetic. She's creative and she plays guitar and writes. But then lately, she has started smoking
cigarettes. I can't stop her because if I take them away she'll cut herself. I just asked her not to do that in the house, but she still does. She feels horrible every time she does, or so she says. I just don't understand why she keeps doing it. She was diagnosed with major depressive disorder and she's been in the psych ward twice. She keeps telling ,e about a "character" she has in her mind. She also says that she "can't tell if her minds evil or not." I've noticed that my 18's medicine, she just got her tonsils taken out, her medicine is getting less and less and I think my 14 year old is taking some of it. I'm so worried about her. She also sexts guys and sends them nudes... but then she cries all night because she feels so awful about it. She's on 100 mgs of Zoloft. She hasn't had major trauma in her life, really. I'm confused and I feel like I've tried everything. I just don't know what to do!

[schoolpsyc]

I'd sit down with her, ask her how she's feeling and ask if she'd be interested in receiving some counseling to talk through things and maybe receive some behavioral interventions. She needs to be on board though. She may also need an outlet, basically something she is interested and invested in that is good for her like an activity, sport, or hobby.

The character in her mind thing and the risky behavior is concerning, and I would consider an evaluation by a psychologist.

[hollster9]

I've been there done that! My daughter was the same age! Couple of things! First, I would bet money the zoloft is a huge issue. My daughters third inpatient stay resulted in me
begging for a med wash. We weened her of the zoloft, kept the risperidone, and then began her on lamictal! We used some PRN's to help her through this process...before to long, BANG a different child! No joke! The zoloft was fine for her for a year, but then symptoms began to get worse, we upped the zoloft as an answer but didn't see improvement. In the end it ended up that the zoloft was making her manic. (she is now diagnosed bipolor two) Along with this, I'd strongly reccommend in home services for her. We did this for six months, I don't know what is available in your area, but we found an agency that gave us a BHP and clinician. It really sounds like the smoking is self medication...and the things you say about the "character" in her mind and her worries her mind is "evil" is almost word for word how my daughter was talking! Good Luck!