I don't want to put my child on antidepressants right away, can the state make me?

i can understand your concerns reguarding medicating your son. not all people that start of medication for depression stay on it for the rest of your life. if medication is nessceary , then therapy should be included. some people are so depressed that they cannot respond to therapy with out the use of medication initially. if the therapy goes well , he may be weaned off the medication. if it was my son i would not like to see him on medication at such an early stage in his life. it also depends on why he he tried to hurt himself. was he under stress, is the stressor gone, also most people do not know that there are more than one type of depression. one is were it is called cognitive depression, were it is the way a person thinks, and processess events and cirstances around them that make them depressed. the other is organic depression were no matter what you do , therapy will not work, unless it is with medication. sometimes this is genetic. sorry i do not know if the state can give him medication against your will. i do know however, that my experience is , that if he were to harm himself again, you may never know. he may do ok without medication, but that can be a dangerous situation for you and him. if the doctor feel that medication , at this time, if the only answer, if something does happen, at least you cant fault yourself. this does not answer your question, but i hope it helps you. good luck