Should I be worried?

[AugustRose]

DS1 (18) was referred for counselling via school last year, he has seen the counsellor about 6 times and she referred him on to the local youth mental health team. He has seen this woman twice and she told him yesterday that she is going to refer him again to an NHS psychiatrist. Should this concern me? She had asked him if he gave permission to contact me if she felt concerned and he said yes, she hasn't contacted me but this further referral is a bit worrying.

He was telling me some of the questions she was asking and it all seems to be about checking his basic intelligence and cognitive abilities, drug and alcohol intake, religious beliefs. She also spoke to him about possible future medication but didn't specify for what - will that be what the referral is for?

He does suffer with anxiety which is heightened by his a-levels at the minute and various allergies but I don't think he discusses these concerns which I think account for a lot of his feelings.

Should I contact the mental health team to discuss it, being 18 I'm not sure I can do it without his permission.

Any advice or experience would be greatly appreciated.

Have you noticed anything worrying about your son's mental health at all apart from his anxiety about A levels which is very normal. When you say a referral again to a psychiatrist - has he been referred before? This local youth mental health team - is it part of the NHS Community Mental Health Team (but specifically for youths/young people) If so they can refer to a psychiatrist if they are concerned and think the person needs to be assessed and diagnosed by a psychiatrist.

Given that your son gave his permission for the counsellor to contact you, I think you should contact her, and maybe she could meet with you and your son to discuss any concerns. I know your son is an adult but with MH issues the family are very important as they are the first line of support and usually notice if someone's MH is deteriorating and can contact whoever is supporting him in the NHS. Has he seen a GP - although they often refer someone to the CMHT for assessment.

Hi thanks for the reply. No he hasn't been referred before I meant that he has been referred on to another person - so this will be the 3rd person he will see. The youth mental health team is part of the NHS but I am thinking perhaps the woman he sees is not able to make a diagnosis without the psychiatrist.

I haven't been too worried about his mental health really, the original referral was because he suffered after the breakdown of a relationship with someone also attending his school, she had been seeing someone else, other knew but he didn't. It all got a bit much along with his exams, he doesn't find it easy to build relationships with people (of either sex) and I believe the counsellor thinks he has some paranoia issues but as someone who lives with him, I wouldn't say it is obvious or causes a problem.

We have 3 other children who he gets on with fine - just the usual arguments like siblings do, he spends time with us at meal times and sometimes when we go out - but like a normal 18 year old he doesn't want to go for picnics or visit places like a 4 and 8 year old.

Only medically qualified people can diagnose. A GP can diagnose the more common MH problem e.g. depression/anxiety, but anything more complex needs an assessment and diagnosis by a psychiatrist.

He sounds fine really - are you able to talk to him and find out if he is worried about anything?