Navigating children’s mental health services as a parent? (Like Minds Ep 14) BBC Stories

Navigating children’s mental health services as a parent? (Like Minds Ep 14) BBC Stories

[Music] I had presumed if your child had got mental-health issues you would get help straightaway he’s always been you know an anxious child really and things started to get on top of him and it got to a point where he just couldn’t cope and mentally everything collapsed around him one day he just wouldn’t go out of the door and couldn’t go to school I unfortunately went through a period of time where I was kind of locking him out the door saying you are going to go you will be fine it’s just a headache you’ve got to go to school his behavior was totally of character for him and that there was something that seriously you know wrong [Music] went to the GP and they cancel you need perhaps need to access Jordan mental health services so we were advised then to give them a ring Gus off I would ring every week and say is anything happening and eventually we had a letter saying oh you can’t refer the GP has to refer he deteriorated dramatically we had to removed have learnt to remove sharp things from his bedroom because he was just so desperate I rang probably on a weekly basis I’m either deny that I minded and they got really fed up of me and I think that was why I was just saying we are desperate we are desperate you’ve got to help and then the psychiatrist was I think it was another couple of months down the line after that it’s you know he absolutely ridiculous wasting time and they don’t offer anything else there was nothing else available it was just CBT there nothing else they cried every night himself to sleep wanted to die tried to throw himself out of cars you know he was absolutely desperate totally desperate and so we so we had one psychiatrist who we felt was fantastic and totally understood my son he knew he got him and he said right we need these the next step so I’m going to try and push this for you then we didn’t see him again I think since we’ve been there we have seen five different psychiatrists so none of them know him there’s no continuity every time you sit there they haven’t really looked through the notes and that’s a worry we were doing the therapy yourself you know I researched CBT I looked at how we could help him that’s the way I was floundering really to be honest those children are are absolutely desperate are the ones that their priority and you could understand that but if early intervention doesn’t happen there’s all these children are going to escalate until they’re out there absolutely desperate and then and then they’ve just got more and more of this and it’s a bigger issue to solve them [Music] I asked him with this morning what do you think could have been done better by comes how do you think they could have helped you and he said I don’t know he said but they haven’t done anything and that’s really that’s really sad thankfully he’s a you know coming through and he has come through the other side he’s you know back in school and he’s going out with friends when he can and he’s a much much happier person but it was a very very dark place and we would not want to go back to [Music]

For some parents, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) are a lifeline. But for Adele and her 15-year-old son it was a case of frustration, long waiting times and a lack of continuity.
We approached the NHS trust responsible for Adele’s son’s initial referral to CAMHS, but they were unable to comment as they are no longer responsible for his care.
Produced by James Stewart
If you, or someone you know, have been affected by mental health issues, the following organisations may be able to help. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/1NGvFrTqWChr03LrYlw2Hkk/information-and-support-mental-health