DC thinks they're being controlled WTF

Very very young to be diagnosed with that. Infact I’m not sure they would be old enough at 13

As a psychotherapist, I certainly would not be taking this child on unless they had been fully assessed by a psychiatrist. While therapy may help, in some cases, it's not the best approach, or certainly needs to be combined with other interventions.

as other have said OP, this definitely needs psychiatric assessment. It is unlikely that a heavy diagnosis will be made at such a young age, and even though your child is displaying these worrying symptoms, it does not necessarily mean that they have, or will develop psychosis. For example, OCD can be associated with these types of internal voices, as can eating disorders etc, so they are not unique to what we think of as psychosis. It is important to get you child properly assessed by an adolescent psychiatrist though.

as others have suggested, if you can get in (& you should, based on what you have shared), cAMHs will give the best joined up approach - probably not perfect, but joined up none-the-less

Sorry but it does sound like she does have schizophrenia which can appear during adolescence and sounds like she needs meds for psychosis. I'm with others in that she needs an urgent referral to CAMHS and would be firm with pushing for it. There are emergency admissions to CAMHS and it sounds like she needs that before it escalates.

Psychiatrist here.

A 13 year old with possible psychosis would typically be seen within two weeks (if referred to early intervention).

This sounds very much trauma-based/emerging personality but complex nonetheless and you would get much more joined up care with the NHS than by picking individual private providers who don't tend to take an MDT approach. An Early Intervention Service would be best placed to assess and monitor, and they don't come privately.

If you can afford to go privately OP, you need to take your child, tomorrow, to a psychiatrist. You cannot afford to wait while someone hears voices. You should tell them exactly what you have written here.

This doesn't half sound like a psychiatric emergency to me. She needs intervention now. Not when she gets to the top of the waiting list. Is there a crisis team you can call? The adult team may be able to signpost you.

Nowhere did I suggest this child was displaying symptoms relating to munchausens.

Has your DC seen a psychiatrist - they should really be referring them under CAMHS, which is obviously oversubscribed, but I would find this very concerning as a parent having DCs with their own struggles, esp one who can show tendencies of psychosis. You need to push for help - the squeaky wheel gets the results. It sounds like your DC needs more than therapy - there's a lot going on there.

My brother has schizophrenia..definitely seek medical help asap

The ability of anonymous posters on Mumsnet to diagnose serious mental health issues with limited useful, clinical, information will never cease to astound me. Munchausens is notoriously difficult to diagnose, so the fact that you’re managing to do that from behind a screen beggars belief really - at best it’s ridiculous, at worst dangerous. What if the child is really, seriously unwell and her parent chooses to ignore it going forwards on the basis of your internet advice of it being attention seeking?!

OP, I’m not sure what you meant by posting here but you’re going to get what you need from consulting with mental health professionals, who it sounds like you’ve already engaged with. No 13 year old exhibiting symptoms that even might indicate psychosis/early onset schizophrenia etc etc will ever be ignored.

Agree with others I think the disconnect between NHS & various different private bodies could be making this a disjointed story.

I’d really say you need to be seen, ASAP, by a psychiatrist. I have a friend who became like your daughter in school, she was really failed by the system and only got real help when her “inner voice” told her to jump off a cliff. She did jump off a cliff, she was incredibly lucky to survive that, and it was only when hospitalised afterwards that she really started to get the support she needed. She got really lucky.

I feel so much for you and your child. I have experience of this with my husband, he had the exact same symptoms and was diagnosed with psychosis, but he had immediate involvement from the Early Intervention Team who kept him very closely monitored and medicated.
But I'm presuming things are treated differently when it comes to a child. My son has been waiting to access cahms for a year and we've not even heard from them.
My only suggestion I can think of is you take her to a&e

Could it be a side effect of the medication she is taking? Google, some drugs have rare side effects.

What do you suggest the OP does about that?

This sounds really worrying and upsetting. I have a young adult DS with severe mental-health issues and it's unbelievably difficult. I don't have any answers because your child obviously needs skilled medical help. He/she must be living in a state of heightened anxiety all the time.

My only advice is to keep pushing for help and never give up (this is my life!).

It's really good that you can afford private healthcare as NHS mental healthcare is so poor.

And ignore the less sympathetic responses you've had here. If only children's mental health problems were down to wanting a few days off school - that would make it all so much easier!

This must be very very disruptive for the other 30 children in her class

As others have indicated, a Schizophrenia diagnosis (and many other diagnosis’s that may be relevant here) relies on a thorough mental health assessment by a psychiatrist or psychologist. I’d encourage any private consultations share the reports with her GP so you get a comprehensive connected history built up, which is hard to do if you are only using different private facilities. I hope you all get some clarity on what’s going on soon.

I agree with this.

I'm surprised they haven't prioritised you, at least for initial appointment, but they sometimes don't prioritise people who are already under private care so this may be slowing things down a bit for you.

That's good. Keep them updated with any changes or new developments as may affect priority.

This is also a situation where I would feel more comfortable with the multi disciplinary approach of NHS CAMHS.
Get on the waiting list, what have you got to lose by doing that?

Yes but it sounds like she's seen a load of (sometimes dubious) therapists and no psychiatrist has addressed what sounds like clear psychosis. Private isn't always best.

Ok, makes sense.

If she's not already on the NHS wait list though, I'd get her on it asap.

With the kind of symptoms you describe, CAMHS really is the most appropriate mental health service for your child at the moment.

Although private healthcare often offers better care, in the case of your daughter I actually think the NHS will be better. I know there may be a long wait list, but with the symptoms you describe she may well be under mental health services for many years to come, and NHS services can provide the most appropriate package of care. They can also liaise with school etc.. As I said before, she should be offered family therapy and the NHS would (or should) know that as they have to comply with nice guidelines. Private therapists can do what they like which is probably why this hasn't been offered to you yet (when it should have been).

Although the NHS is v flawed and CAMHS is far far far from perfect, having worked in this field for many years I do think in your daughter's case it would be very wise for her to be under CAMHS. The NHS also has a child& adolescent crisis/home treatment service which may also be useful as your daughter gets older and especially if her thoughts and the entity become more threatening or difficult to manage. Hooking in with this service will be easier if she is already known to CAMHS.

(CAMHS will be flawed. You will be disappointed. BUT, they probably are the best option right now, IMO)

My eldest DS started to display evidence of a serious MH condition ( bi-polar with severe GAD on top of ASD) as adolescence hoved in from 12. Please if your DD is not on CAHMS radar keep hassling your GP, school and all. Contact NHS Direct if you ever suspect she may be actively detached from reality. TBH NHS CAHMS pulled out all the stops to support DS once if became very clear how acutely and severely unwell he was.

I can recommend Young MINDS into support you as you navigate to get her the help she needs. https://www.youngminds.org.uk/parent/find-help/

If there is a significant history of trauma (and as you have tried EMDR I presume there is) then there are possibilities other than schizophrenia, paranoid or otherwise.

however either way this is quite significant mental illness and a long way above mumsnet’s pay grade.

I’d recommend finding a psychiatrist and speaking to them. You may also find family therapy helpful.

i won’t go into alternative diagnoses on here but if you want to pm me we can talk.