poverty of thought

[Lee58]

I am asking for any information that you can give me on poverty of thought.  I was told by my son's psychiatrist, yesterday, that he has poverty of thought.  He is 15 years old and is going to a regular highschool but is in  a special class at this point.  He has average intelligence but in the past 3 years or so he has suffered with depression (suicidal ideation) and anxiety, specifically social anxiety disorder.  He is currently on geodin, 60mgs. but the doctor said this is a very difficult illness to treat.  I have not had much luck finding out about this and most people i have spoken to have never heard of it.  Is this something that gets worse with time and what can I do to help him?  Thanks for any information that you can give me!  

[Jaquta]

Depression is difficult to treat?  Depression can get worse if left untreated but having said that it is also said to resolve itself naturally over time.
If you're interested in learning more about poverty of speech you could try Googling it.
Very simply it can mean that speech is decreased in amount and is not spontaneous.

I personally would make enquries into psychotherapy.  This may help him work through some of his issues.
I also would query the use of an anti-psychotic medication.  That may not be helping him much either.  Hard to say.  Maybe it's appropriate considering the severity of his depression.

If you type in some key words into the search bar on this forum you may come up with some more answers.
I saw a posted titled, Thought Poverty.  It may or may not be of interest.

I think treating the underlying issue or the primary problem is key.

[cooplist]

Ive heard that Poverty of Speech is associated with schizophrenia and manic depression, which may be why he is on the Geodin. My roomate in the hospital was schizophrenic and the Geodin really helped her sort out her thinking. Wish I could help more.

[Roger Gould, M.D.]

that phrase is used as a descriptor rather than a diagnosis.  It may mean nothing more than your son is difficult to talk to because he won't verbalize what he is thinking.  I think you should concentrate on the anxiety and depression, both of which make him turn inward, and see about some psychotherapy as well as medication.

[Jaquta]

The doctor should be clearer or more specific regarding diagnosis then.  I think it's unfair to mislead people (patients and caregivers alike).
What you say is true.  Poverty of speech isn't limited to depression.  I think it's also found in hypothyroidism and dementia.  Amongst other things.  Schizophrenia being one of them.  I think the thought processes in mania may be slightly different.

I guess I tend to over-react when I hear of doctors prescribing medication because I think some are a little too keen to write out prescriptions versus investing appropriate resources into a persons care.  Some I think are too anxious to fix us.
I would be concerned about the effects of the medication on a young persons developing brain.
Maybe the med is appropriate, maybe it isn't.  ??

It's interesting observing others improvement (or lack of) when in hospital.  It would be interesting to see our own timeline and see how we compare both before and after.

I think all comments help.  Thanks for sharing your thoughts.  Feel free to jump in any time.  I don't think the doctor minds us posting our thoughts and feelings here too much.  He comes across as being very open and inclusive.

By the way, there is a new mental health chats group if people are interested in posting stuff there.