Reply To: Going off the Derech

smc- You might be right that things will improve after he works through this depression, but I’m not sure something traumatic always has to precipitate going OTD. It could be a combination of the strictness of the yeshiva system, a few insensitive Rebbes (an oxymoron, right?) and the child’s sensitivity or personality. We unfortunately keep them in that system bc we may not know that our child is suffering. Also, we can’t leave out the hand of Hashem. I have seen my son make some significant moves to improve his life, putting in tremendous effort…and then getting knocked down by things beyond our control. It has become more clear to me that Hashem has hand picked these scenarios in order to guide my son through a journey meant specifically for him. Although they are disappointing and painful, I believe that after all my tefilla, (and even without it) hakol l’tova. B’ezrat Hashem, we hope to see better days….and nachas.