My family would rather pray instead of getting me medication or therapy. What should I do?

You can let them know you appreciate the prayers and respect their belief system, but believe you need some additional, professional help. It might be possible to get faith-based counseling if you would like to start there. If you’re 18 or over, you can seek treatment on your own, which will be completely confidential. Otherwise, each state has different rules regarding parental consent. The difficult decision will then be whether or not to let your family know or simply to take that step on your own. You can maintain your privacy or say you know they want you to be healthy and happy even if they disagree with the means you’re choosing to help you feel better, so you’d like them to respect your choice as much as you respect theirs.

Dr. Lynn Ianni