Can a GP prescribe antidepressants for under 18’s

[ilovebagpuss]

My DD 14 is struggling with OCD which she has intrusive thoughts with. It has been ongoing for many years and we have always hoped it would become more manageable. However this is not the case and we have been back to the GP regarding having some medication which I feel she desperately needs.
The GP said they cannot prescribe without the CAMHS advise and we all know that will take months.
Is his true or is it just flannel?
I would have thought a GP could prescribe anything? Otherwise what’s the point ? I understand they are not specialists but I’m not sure who to believe.
Will I have to pay for a private Psychiatrist to get anything prescribed and/or support outside of a crisis situation?
Any information gratefully received

No they can't sadly and not sure if GP would accept private prescription?

In my experience, CAMHS have to do the initial prescription; and then the GP can carry it on.

GPS can’t prescribe everything. They can’t prescribe a lot of heavier painkillers, or specialist meds, etc.

There’s a lot gp’s cannot prescribe.
You can pay privately for an assessment and prescription or wait for Cahms.
If you have the money to do so I would suggest privately.
Children’s mental health is vastly unfunded and has been for decades unfortunately.

Calm harm is a free app and might be useful

Be warned, even if you have a private prescription, that's within UK licensing guidelines and from a NHS consultant psychiatrist working privately, if you have an unsupportive and obstructive GP he/she can refuse to prescribe it even with the consultant authorisation and you'll have to pay for it privately. Fortunately, most ADs for this condition are relatively cheap in cost.

Our CAMHS is useless and actually harmful and our GP is a twat.

No GPs can't prescribe certain medications to under 18s, ADs being one of them. Which means teens are suffering for months while they wait for CAMHS
You could go privately and get something prescribed but it's likely you would have to continue to pay for the meds privately. Worth asking your GP what the protocol is in that situation though, just in case. It can vary from place to place I think.

You can self refer to somewhere like psychiatry uk which are internet based and do video consultations with a psychiatrist who can prescribe and will write to your gp. They are NHS approved and so once the psychiatrist has prescribed via private prescription your GP should take over prescribing. DS2 was prescribed meds for ADHD in this way and GO now fulfil repeat prescriptions. He had been referred to Camhs but the wait was too long.

GP.

Some GPs are initially unwilling to take over prescribing but you can always go to CCG if NHS approved.

Yes, I was prescribed AD when I was 14 but that was 30 years ago. I am still on them and accept that is life now.

My teenager was prescribed drugs for anxiety by a paediatric psychiatrist we saw privately. The GP was happy to take over the prescription.
CAMHS had declined to see her twice so we had no other option.

They can. But it is very high risk.
So if something goes wrong all the risk is on them.
So for this indication unless your GP specialises in Mental Health it is very very unlikely they will prescribe the medication.

Oh and as Krook suggests, I had consulted the GP as to which professional I needed.

In addition to prescription meds I would also advise meditation apps like Headspace to learn to observe intrusive thoughts rather than being caught up in them. Also NAC (n-acetyl cysteine) is a supplement that has been used for OCD.

No they won't prescribe antidepressants to under 18s. To be fair camhs were really quick with my DS and he was assessed by a camhs psychiatrist and started on fluoxetine within 4weeks of him hitting crisis point.
I do know somebody who had their DD put on antidepressants by a private psychiatrist but I'm not sure if the repeat prescriptions are issued via the gp or by private prescription from the psychiatrist.

@KeepOnKeepingOnAgainandAgain

GP.

Some GPs are initially unwilling to take over prescribing but you can always go to CCG if NHS approved.

Can you? What is this? Can you do this all over the UK or just in England? Mine has two meds and one is super expensive but hte GP is a dick.

This for ADHD. NHS right to choose. The provider has to be approved for a particular condition and only applies to England.

www.psychiatry-uk.com/right-to-choose/

What l have learnt is that is you have a child\ teen with mental health issues, you are very much on your own.
MY experience.of CAHMS, was more helpful than GP. GP an absolute waste of time.
Meditation is useful, l listened to Russell Brand and Mooji interview yesterday on YouTube and in my opinion, Mooji had excellent advice on learning to deal with your thoughts, l am very interested in this myself as l used to suffer from anxiety and panic, and this was the way out for me. I know anti depressants can help, are a Godsend for some, but understanding my thinking patterns helped me enormously.
Good luck to you both.

We went private initially and GP took over prescribing on shared care agreement.

This was for ADHD which is why we went with them. There are likely other providers with similar arrangements for other conditions.

My 17 was prescribed anti depressants by the GP

Thank you everyone I was at a bit of a low earlier and your replies have helped a lot. We have looked into and booked a private Psychiatrist for the initial consultation and we hope this will kick start her support.
I’m glad the GP wasn’t lying but I’m also angry that everyone knows child mental health services are broken but no one will help.
If they could give GP’s more support to be able to try some simple medication to see if it helps it would help so many families. I’m not talking for that initial low mood but this is years and years of illness. People know their kids and they know when they need help and not just “talking therapy”
Thankfully we can afford the initial consultation but we aren’t well off by any means. Still I would sell a kidney if I had to.
I have read that this is the only way to get any action and it will be reported to the GP.
I also rang the GP today for a phone consultation as I mentioned so they have the record of me trying to go through them.
Thanks again and sorry for anyone else left alone with their very ill child and no NHS help unless it’s physically unwell.

People are fighting all the time for child mh. Well mh in general.
The sad thing is once cuts are made it’s services like cahms that get hit first. Now you are aware you can help locally by offering whatever support is needed. Usually just petitions and donations (not just money)

And things are worse within the nhs now because of CV and restrictions on how many patients can be seen by the various clinics, and staff redeployed to other areas that need staff.

Plus of course working closer with schools etc to deal with impact this has had on mh means waiting lists grow even more.

I just wanted to pop back in as this board has been so useful in my time of need trawling for info.
The private appointment went well lovely chap possible underlying ADHD and OCD. Not diagnosis which I didn’t expect or need to be honest I just wanted some options.
Prescribed lowest dose Fluoxetine and some Melatonin to calm the OCD and lack of sleep.
Had to pay for that initially and it was expensive as it’s a small dose of the tablet hard to get apparently.
Further review in a month to see if the medication is helping.
GP will be advised and prescription passed on if helpful.
Apparently the GP would be reluctant to take in the prescription initially as they prefer it to have gone through their endless channels of non existent specialists. However when it has been prescribed and in use they then take it on.
Anyway she has only been on them a day so I will report back further in with any progress.

Thanks for the update- Please let us know how your daughter gets on. My daughter (10) has ADHD but now developed OCD symptoms. She’s been seeing CAMHS for talking sessions but they warned me there is a very long wait for psychiatrist so thinking about the private route too.

2 weeks in and she’s not sure the medication is helping hugely. I’m aware you have to give these things up to 4 weeks and it’s a low dose at 10mg.
I feel she seems a bit less frantic and on edge but I’m not her.
It’s no worse though and it feels good to be trying something rather than accepting the doing nothing approach of our current NHS system.

DD is on fluoxetine & melatonin. she had to come off the fluoxetine for a while and went backwards but has recently gone back on.

We really only found any effect after 2+ weeks (stepping up every 3 days from 5mg, to 10 mg then 15 then 20). We found energy increased but underlying anxiety not particularly impacted, though we were able to stop the morning propranolol.

The melatonin really helped as it made her sleepy enough to get past the anxiety (also on propranolol) at bedtime. We have found that not letting anxiety increase in the evening is key, so DD has a ridiculously early bath preceded by her propranolol, then stays in bed watching 'light' TV.

This time round we are going to be stepping the anti-Ds slowly up to 40mg.

Good luck.

(Oh we had to go private too. Referred to CAMHS last May. DD now y11 has been out of school/education since early in the first lockdown).