8 year old with anxiety/going out of my mind/north west HELP

[weeze444]

My 8 year old boy has been told by his GP he has anxiety. The waiting list for a referral is 28 wekks..........yes not until July!!!!! I'm looking for support or advise from anyone out there who can help? Myself and my husband are going mad with worry as our son is getting worse not better :-(
Breaking my heart to see him like this ............xxx

[user1477282676]

Can you tell us a bit more about what he's going through? When is he most anxious? Is it school? Or does he worry at night?

[weeze444]

He loves school so I don't think it's that? It's worse at night! He worrys about small things! If the news come on in the car or on TV he gets histerical, scared of heights, fears of being along, fear of our house being burgled, general worryier! It's getting to the point where he cant get to sleep until late and if he stays asleep without nightmares he wakes early.

[ohforfoxsake]

Have you spoken to his school? Many have access to counsellors.

[weeze444]

Yes I had a meeting with his teacher who are supporting us but nothing more has been said? I've just off the phone with CAMHS who have told me to tell my doctor to refer him to them? Their waiting list is much smaller and it's likely to be seen before April???? Better than nothing I suppose? Just waiting for a call back from the doc x

[ihatethecold]

We went to camhs with my 13 year old dd last year for anxiety. It was so bad she wasn't eating for 18 hours a day.
School and severe bullying caused her to feel so bad.
Our referral took about 10 weeks.
They said they couldn't help because she wasn't self harming, suicidal or psychotic.
They are so stretched that you have to be really unwell before they could help. That doesn't mean your area is as stretched as mine but just to make you aware.
We have found counselling through the school and looked for privately funded cbt.
I would approach your child's school and ask them to help you.
It might happen a lot quicker.
Good luck.

[ihatethecold]

@weeze444
Your school should have a dedicated worker that deals with MH.

[Jojoes]

So sorry that you are all going through this. There is a great book available on Amazon - what to do when you worry too much, and also a brilliant mindfulness app -headspace - first ten sessions are free and can be used over and over. These may be helpful while you wait.

[Spacecadet14]

Another recommendation here for the Amazon book What To Do When You Worry Too Much. I ordered it for our DD7 before Christmas (after reading about it on another MN thread) because she suddenly became really anxious about going to school and was in constant tears. Book has been such a huge help that we haven't had to go down GP/CAMH route yet. Agree wth JoJoes that it might be useful while you wait.