10yr old DD wrote letter saying she wanting to die.

[MrsWhirly]

My 10yr DD has written a letter to her dad saying she wants to die, and feels like stabbing herself. She also wrote a similar note at School which was found by her teacher.

She doesn’t show ‘usual’ signs of unhappiness or appear distressed. We are a fairly ordinary family, although me&DH bicker a lot.

DD shows little interest in school and has recently been getting into trouble for doing very naughty things like stealing food from other children’s lunch boxes, And narrowly escaped expulsion.

She is anxious and very scared of being alone, she has slept in bed with me for the last 3yrs.

She also - I think - lacks empathy. For example, when caught stealing she was the only child in the group who wasn’t crying or overtly remorseful.

I want to take her to my GP but not sue this is the right route to take.

Would appreciate any thoughts.

Thank you.

GP as a first point of contact.

Thank you.

Her head teacher suggested she may benefit from a refferal to CAHMS, but appointments take a long time.

I'd the headteacher could arrange a referral that would be good to at least get that in progress.

Do you feel able to talk to your child about how they are feeling?

She did say she would refer if GP wasn’t helpful. I can talk to DD, we are close. When I asked her why she would write such things and if she knew what it actually meant, she just said that how she felt/thought when she was upset.

It’s also the escalation in her behaviour which worries me. She definitely knows right from wrong, she never goes without anything, so stealing is the last thing I would expect to do.

She just doesn’t seem to fear consequences or show any real remorse. Last week she snuck my phone into the bathroom and changed my wallpaper to a photo of her 6yr old brothers bottom.

Hearing her teacher say she was struck by the fact she was the only child not to cry or appear genuainly sorry for what she had done, really hit a nerve with me because I think the same.