When dealing with a troubled teenager who has a disorder, the use of medication can be successful in treatment. Normally, the use of medication may be combined with behavior modification or psychotherapy, but medication alone can provide a direct reaction from the child.

Imbalances in the brain (nervous system) or internal chemical disparity may frequently be the cause of disorders. Medication can be useful to a particular degree in keeping these imbalances in check while increasing the teenager’s openness to psychotherapy.

Sometimes, not just one medication may be prescribed for your teen. In these cases, more than one disorder may arise in your child at the same time. If this is the case, a doctor may choose to prescribe one medication for the major symptoms of the more dominant disorder in your child, while at the same time prescribe another medication for the minor symptoms of another disorder which co-exists with the other upon diagnosis. This is called co-morbidity.

To give a specific example, a teenage daughter experiencing Depression may also be struggling with Anorexia nervosa at the same time.

Other medications actually prove to be more efficient when taken in combination with others. Medications also have side-effects which may be neutralized with other medications. As a parent, you may not fret, for doctors make it a point not to prescribe more medication than needed.

When a teenager is just beginning to go under medication for his/her disorder, normally a medical trial is performed. This is a testing period for various medications and their efficiency in treatment of the disorder. This may take from one to three months.

Generally, dosages of medication are gradually introduced to the patient as their outcomes are observed over the period of time. As with maintenance medication, it may take some time (from days to weeks) for the desired effect to reach the bloodstream of the patient.

At the beginning of a medical trial, your child may be carefully observed in order to check the efficiency of the dosages prescribed. Complete alteration in prescriptions may be made while observation is on-going. If failure persists, medication from an entirely different class may be prescribed.

Your role as parent of the patient is vital in this process of medical trials. Usually, a record or medication journal is made by either the patient under the supervision of the parent or by the parent himself. You must take watchful note of the medication prescribed, its dosage, time of intervals given, and record whatever your child may feel as he/she receives the dose.

Noting your teenager’s feelings after the dose is important, as well as possible side-effects you may observe. By recording these observations in a medical journal, you do your part in the evaluation made by the doctor concerning the medication’s efficiency.