[dobryan]

My son, now 17, has generalized anxiety and depression. He came by it naturally, my wife has had it her whole life. No external source to cause it to be there but external influences definitely affect him more than other folks.

The issues did not really manifest themselves until 7th grade. He was so locked up with anxiety that he could only handle sitting in the counselors office or the admin office and read books to escape from the stress of a classroom. They would bring him his class work to do and he did it. Still got A's and B's.

My wife is very well balanced on meds and we were not surprised when our son showed similar signs. Basically their glands/brain is not producing the right chemicals to keep them 'normal' like us. (Not that I am at all normal...)

We got him a psychiatrist to help (awesome guy who was also his Cub Scout Den leader so knew him well as a young kid) and a psychologist too. The issue was not our son refusing to do the work it was his brain chemistry wacking him out so much that he would emotionally fritz. It took many months but we finally found a combination of meds that pushed the anxiety/depression to the background enough that he could handle life. The meds do not alter his personality in any negative way. And the psychologist was able to teach him coping skills to live in the moment and not fixate on an anxiety moment.

So my advice is to keep looking for a professional(s) who can help. It sounds like your son may be somewhat similar to mine. He is trying hard but cannot cope with some situations. I hope you all find the right path for help. Every person is unique.

(BTW at 17 my son now goes to every class as a high school senior and is a straight A student and has an afternoon job. He is an extreme introvert so he spends a lot of time decompressing on the computer when he is at home. But he is basically happy and that is all that counts.)

PS Homeschooling would not have solved our son's issues because it was not a 'school' issue. The public schools he has gone to were all perfectly fine and they bent over backward to help.