“We don’t want meds but I’m not sure where else to turn.”
Stay away from the SSRIs. -Or just read the warning label. Seems most parents don’t do that.
What is the living arrangement? It sounds like he lives with his mother, closeby to you.
Twelve y.o. male = hormones coming in. FME male hormones don’t do well and are not understood in a woman-run household. He may be frustrated and depressed due to his development being in conflict with his surroundings and an (imposed) way-of-life, ergo value system.
“Stay away from the SSRIs. -Or just read the warning label. Seems most parents don’t do that.”
The SNRI’s and newer Atypical Antipsychotics are even worse than the SSRI’s.