I feel for you. Have been in a similar situation with my own DD, 14. Have struggled for a year now to get the right help for a child struggling to keep her head above water. Keep pushing. It sounds as if your GP is a strength and a resource. And make sure you're looking after yourself too. The place you are in is frightening and lonely.

CAMHS are pretty terrible for gatekeeping. Our involvement has been for different reasons, namely DS1's ADHD (he already had a diagnosis of ASD with hyperactivity). Most of our contact for the first 6 months, until diagnosis was with a mental health nurse who concluded that because school and I were seeing different problem behaviours, it was down to his ASD only and didn't need further involvement. Thankfully, the psychiatrist wanted to see us, anyhow and we finally got to have a proper conversation about what was and wasn't working and where to go from there (drug treatment, but not following the conventional protocol because the risks were toe, given his current symptoms and behaviour patterns)

Even though we now have a named consultant psychiatrist, getting hold of him in a crisis is pretty darned impossible, as he's now hidden behind a layer of inefficient admin. We can't email him at all. We can't call him and expect to be able to speak to him or even make an emergency appointment. We're lucky if routine appointments even get through to us or if consultation summaries get through to us and the GP and changing an appointment is such a farce we've given up trying, no matter how inconvenient the one we have is.

Sorry your DD is feeling so bad. Obviously this treatment plan is entirely inappropriate. I am quite new to this too, my DD has just been referred to CAMHS for self-harm and anxiety. I am just beginning to understand the inadequacy of the system for children with mental health problems.

So I don't really have the answers but what I would advise is to make a list of everything that is concerning to you, especially: the loss of reality and the suicidal thinking, and the rages (any violence?) And make absolutely sure that the social worker gets all this information. These things are serious so it should result in them referring your DD as a matter of urgency. But there is no way of guaranteeing this. If you are really worried about her seriously being a risk to herself, then you would be justified in taking her to A&E or contacting your local crisis team. That would escalate her treatment I would hope.

There is a thread here about self-harm and about navigating the services, you might find some of that helpful.

toe = too great!

Hi Perma. Psychiatrist's appointments seem to be hard to come by, very unfortunately. My advice is to phone CAMHS every day and ask to speak to the duty clinician. They will phone you back at some point, hopefully the same day. Tell them everything, every symptom, don't hold back. If you're talking ang telling them stuff for half an hour (and I have) you'll be getting the size of the problem over to them. Let them know how worried you are, if you're near tears, don't stop them coming. Tell them about suicidal comments, the disassociation, the insomnia til 5am. All those point to needing psychiatric help rather than a nice chat about hobbies and sleep hygiene. Been there, done that, have the depressing t-shirt. All the best, for you and your DD.

Hopefully they'll see for themselves what's needed. I see your appointment was yesterday. How did it go? I found CAMHS reluctant to accept the GP's opinion, they would much rather decide themselves. You would think they would take the word of another doctor though, wouldn't you? I hope the proper help comes soon. It's a hard time. Feel for you all

We were fast tracked to be seen by a psychiatrist when I ended up calling 999 and spending the night in A&E. DD (14) had such a bad 'episode' that I didn't know what else to do. We were visited by Camhs the next morning and seen by psychiatrist within a week, where medication was prescribed. We now have regular sessions with him and medication reviews....would probably still be waiting were it not for the trip to A&E in an ambulance. Don't get me wrong, it was terrifying for all of us, but when your child's mind is in such a state, they need help, and sometimes a parents love alone just isn't enough. We are slowly seeing improvements - certainly not out of the woods yet - but at least the ball is rolling!