Question: My daughter came home early from a college semester abroad exhausted and distraught. She had no prior history of depression or panic attacks, although she had anxiety, like many college students. We took her to the local ER, as she was unconsolable and hadn't slept in days and my wife and I just weren't sure how else to help. After she told the doctor in the emergency room that she had had suicidal thoughts while abroad, she was admitted to a psychiatric hospital for observation. There, upon admission, she experienced severe blockage, or difficulty communicating. She didn't want to go there. The inpatient doctors began to administer anti-depressants. Then, they shifted to a mix, including lexapro (20mg), risperal (1mg), and clonazepan (0.5mg). After 3 days on this, she suddenly began telling us that she was going to jail. She said she felt incredibly guilty for causing us pain, and must be punished accordingly. She said she had just wanted to be home and grew even more anxious because of the separation caused by hospitalization. But, this jail business was totally new and out of touch with reality. Could it have been caused by the drugs? She was discharged after 13 days as an inpatient and 7 days as an outpatient. She persists with the jail business, although less often now. And she wants to come off the meds. She is not high functioning yet, but I also would like to see her come off the meds. Are there alternatives? How quickly can current drugs be tapered? I've read about chronotherapy as a possible approach.

She says she should go to jail because she feels that she has hurt us badly emotionally, even committed a crime against us. When I walk her through a motive behind such a crime, she admits to never having intended to hurt us, ever; when I ask if she has committed a crime for which there is any evidence, she says she can see the hurt in our eyes; but after some logic, she admits there must not be a crime. Yet she feels guilty still. She also feels everyone is against her. But she says she does not hear voices, or see things that aren't there. Is there paranoia? Yes, some.

You said you hope there were no symptoms like...others are talking about her. She does say, from time to time, that others are talking about her. She has even said that the town is against her. A few times she has said the news is about her. She eventually recants and denies it. But these statements do recur intermittently.