Online Child & Teen Psychiatry for Clearwater, FL residents

Because panic is a physical event driven by the fear system, not the heart, and a normal workup does not stop it. The fear of the next attack is what keeps the cycle going. An evaluation sorts out whether this is panic disorder, another anxiety problem, or depression traveling with it, and the plan follows from that.

A parent consents to care and is part of the first visit. After that, part of each visit is often with the teenager alone, which is where the useful history usually comes from. We are direct with families about the limits of confidentiality, including that safety concerns are always shared.

Sometimes. The best-supported treatment for panic in teenagers is cognitive behavioral therapy, and for frequent attacks a daily medication from the antidepressant family may be added; it takes several weeks to work. We do not use sedatives as a routine panic plan for adolescents.

No. Ascend has offices in Tampa (Carrollwood), Wesley Chapel, and Lakeland. Pinellas families are served by HIPAA-secure Florida telehealth. If a visit has to happen face to face, it is scheduled at the Wesley Chapel office across the Courtney Campbell Causeway.

Yes, and it is one of the reasons to move quickly. We provide documentation of the diagnosis and the accommodations we recommend, which you bring to the school team; the school decides under its own process. The treatment goal is getting back into the building, not accommodating absence indefinitely.

We work with many major commercial plans and offer self-pay options. Coverage varies by plan and service. Our team will confirm with you.

Margot Krahn's Zocdoc calendar shows her open new-patient video times, so you can see the real next opening before you commit, and a video visit means nobody has to cross the Courtney Campbell Causeway to keep it. Parents who want a person on the phone before booking can fill in the request form instead; a care coordinator usually returns those calls within one business day. Keep the discharge papers from Morton Plant, HCA Florida Clearwater Emergency or wherever your teen was seen, because the first visit picks up where that workup left off.

Eleos, the organization formerly called PEMHS, which Central Florida Behavioral Health Network, the state's managing entity for the region, lists as the Pinellas provider. A 988 counselor can help connect you. A Mobile Response Team is for a mental health crisis, such as a teenager who talks about suicide or cannot be kept safe, and it is separate from Ascend Mind and Body. If anyone is in immediate danger, call 911, and 988 takes calls and texts around the clock. Tell the care team afterward so the next video visit can account for what happened.

Start with your school's 504 Coordinator; Pinellas County Schools names one at every school and points parents there first. If your teen already has exceptional student education services, call the assigned ESE case manager as well, since the district prefers to work through the school-based team. Ask what the team needs in writing. When it is clinically supportable, Margot can document the diagnosis and the accommodations she recommends. The goal is getting your teen back into class, and the school makes its own decision under its own process.

Yes. NAMI Pinellas County is the local affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, and it is a reasonable first stop for a parent who wants support of their own. For a question that is not an emergency, the county's Care About Me line connects residents and family members with a behavioral health specialist by phone, text or chat. Neither replaces your teen's care with us. Watching a teenager struggle with panic is hard, and getting help for yourself is part of carrying it well.

Younger children too. Margot Krahn, PMHNP-BC, sees children and teens from age 5 through 17, so an eight-year-old with stomachaches before school and a high school junior in Countryside with panic attacks can both start with her by video. A parent or guardian is part of the first visit at every age. When a teen turns 18, Margot can keep treating them as an adult, provided they are physically in Florida for each visit, which matters if college is out of state.

For outpatient care, she does the same core work. Margot Krahn is a board-certified psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner (PMHNP-BC), licensed in Florida as an APRN, with 12 years in practice. She evaluates, makes the diagnosis and manages treatment, including medication when it fits, and she coordinates with the therapist doing cognitive behavioral work. She is not a physician, and if a teen needs a higher level of care than outpatient visits, she will say so and help the family get there.

For a first episode, or for anything new or different such as chest pain, fainting or real trouble breathing, yes: Morton Plant Hospital's Cantonis Emergency Center and HCA Florida Clearwater Emergency are both open around the clock. Once a doctor has ruled out a medical cause, ask Margot during the evaluation how your family can tell a familiar panic attack from something that needs the ER again. That plan is specific to each teen. If your teen talks about suicide, call 911 or call or text 988.