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11 year old with extreme anxiety - struggling to cope

11 replies

MrsB03 · 17/07/2017 23:05

Hi everyone,
I'm new to mumsnet so apologies if I get this wrong.
I have three wonderful children who are everything to me and my husband.
My middle child, an 11 year old boy, is experiencing severe anxiety at the moment and has been now for some time. We recently went to the GP for support to be told that we would need to go private as CAMHS services in this area are so underfunded they could not see him for 10 months plus just for an assessment.
We are paying for private Psychology sessions and I'm praying these help.
My reason for posting is just to seek some support from others who have experienced this and to ask for any tips with coping with this.
He is barely sleeping, perhaps 4-5 hours a night and our evenings are spent stood next to his bed keeping him calm so the others can sleep. We are all exhausted and I feel so so heartbroken to see my boy struggling like this and not being able to help.
Thanks for reading. Would be great to hear from you if you have a minute x

OP posts:
OddBoots · 17/07/2017 23:13

I am sorry to hear what your boy is going through and what you are needing to do to get him support.

Do you know if there is a trigger like changing school that might have set this off?

The Young Minds website has some good information for parents and they have a helpline too.

taraer · 17/07/2017 23:18

Aw I'm so sorry to hear he's going through this .. bless him :( I know how awful it must be I remember my anxiety when I was young and I'd not told anyone or spoke about it I used to have it to nyself :-( I know it must be hard for you he's lucky to have such a good support xxxx
Hope he gets sorted

SlB09 · 17/07/2017 23:27

Reassure him hes not 'abnormal', it will pass, he wont feel like this forever and he will get better. Ensure your psychologist would be responsible enough to let you know if they feel he needs a psychiatrist at any point. Your doing a great job x

Funnyonion17 · 17/07/2017 23:36

Can you look at the Claire weekes free audios online? Have a listen yourself first and see if you think they would help. Those and mindfulness, aswell as magnesium supplements literally saved me.

taraer · 17/07/2017 23:38

Have you got a fan in his room or anything that may help calm him at night going to sleep x

Josiejumpismyname · 17/07/2017 23:44

Hello, I'm sorry to hear things are so difficult. We were in a similar position not so long ago with our 8 year old daughter. Like you we had no choice but to go private to get her the help she so desperately needed. She was eventually diagnosed with Severe Anxiety Disorder and prescribed medication to help. And help it has, I HATED the idea of giving my little baby girl this medicine but the alternative was to continue to watch her suffer with this crippling anxiety. She had also began self harming and that was so difficult for us to witness that level of distress in our little girl. She's still a very anxious little girl but it's soooo much better now nearly a year later. She sleeps now, good quality sleep, she eats better, talks more and the episodes are less intense when they occur. I don't know what the long term prognosis is, I'm still struggling to get my head around the idea that one so young can be so affected by this level of anxiety! The consultant child Psychiatrist who diagnosed her tells me this is not uncommon. It's hard, very hard. I wish you luck with your son xx

PhilODox · 17/07/2017 23:47

My DD has anxiety. Could he go to sleep in your room, perhaps, then siblings aren't disturbed? Perhaps lifting him later into his own bed? (Depends how big he is!)

user1498550798 · 17/07/2017 23:55

Hi OP, I don't have dc but I do have experience of anxiety. When I was a child I had a bad phase but it resolved itself for many years after that.

If you are able to say, was there any particular trigger and what broadly is the focus of his worries? Does he have any compulsions or things he has to do, either in his head or physically?

MrsB03 · 18/07/2017 16:08

Thank you so much for replying everyone.

Basically, DS is terrified of spiders and being left alone / hurt by someone scary. Apart from these two specific things he cant express any more detail and is really struggling to be able to switch off the huge anxiety he is feeling.

He is lashing out at the rest of the family both verbally and physically and any kind of punishment just ignites a huge explosion of anger from him. He will punch, kick, shout, swear, throw things - it's just horrendous. He's tried sleeping in with his younger sibling and then he can settle, but he's a restless sleeper and noone else gets any sleep.

Last night was really bad, I must admit I lost my temper a bit. He just refused completely to get into bed and I think frustration got the better of both me and my husband. I apologised after and told him that I was just frustrated with the anxiety - not him - and that I was just upset about what he's having to go through. I felt awful - I still feel awful.

Today was the first proper psychology session after the assessment last week. The assessment showed higher than normal obsessive compulsive disorder and much higher for physical injury fear, separation and generalised anxiety. The psychologist cant see him until the end of August now because of holidays. She has suggested a warm bath and a warm drink before bed and no TV / computer for an hour before bed and perhaps reading or audio books in bed.

I feel completely lost and alone with it all. My husband is trying but he is at the end of his tether and is tired and angry. My other two kids are sick to death of all the yelling and are showing how tired they are and my poor boy is really struggling. I'm just not sure a warm bath is going to cut it and I really don't know how we're going to cope until August.

To make things worse I'm suffering with a type of anemia which makes you incredibly tired and also am being investigated for arthritis as all my joints hurt all the time. We also both work full time in demanding jobs. We've also got other parents asking whats going on, neighbours hearing him shouting and swearing at us all night, well meaning relatives telling us it's just him 'playing us up'... it's just too much.

Sorry this is so long - I'm just struggling at the moment.

OP posts:
user1498550798 · 18/07/2017 20:47

Oh gosh, I really feel for you all. When someone is in a flare up of anxiety the whole household can be held to ransom by it. It is awful sustained stress. I am really confident that the worst will pass though, it may be an ongoing issue on and off, but even without treatment these things go through phases.

Thinking about how young he is, I would be tempted to keep it really simple. I had a very bad spell when I was about nine and I found it helpful to have little changes. For example, I got two goldfish to keep in my room which somehow felt like company. I have also found that anything that is a big distraction or change of scene helps. If he was older and this problem was of longer standing it might be different, but at this point whatever moves him on is good, without worrying about whether all the causes and treatment paths have been explored.

I completely understand why you lost your temper, any human would in this situation. It doesn't help the sufferer but it is inevitable.

It is probably tempting to reassure him a lot. That has a place initially especially I think when parents can be very good reassures to young children, but doing it repeatedly about the same things keeps the cycle going. it can also validate the idea that his fearful thoughts are important and require some kind of response, when actually he needs to accept that while the fear may be there, it is not a logical fear and he doesn't have to do or think anything in response. That pressure to allay the fear or do something to protect himself actually keeps it present, flags it as a real threat when it is really just anxiety. If you 'stay with' the anxiety and accept it without acting it will eventually fade.

That is really hard to grasp and harder to do. I would talk to him about his fears to factually correct him and reassure him, but then he has to learn to live with doubt. At first it is awful, but it will lessen once he stops fighting it so hard. He is probably trying so hard to get the anxiety out of his head and the more he does, the worse it gets. Suggesting that it is ok to feel scared or worried but that it will pass, maybe in the sense of a 'worry monster' who says silly things, but isn't right. So he can say 'that thought is just the worry monster, it isn't real, I might keep having it for a while but that doesn't mean it is true or I need to do anything'.

Non specific reassurance though, like cuddles etc, and anything he enjoys that might raise his mood, are good.

Also pointing out that even if, God forbid, a spider intruded and he was scared, in a few minutes it would be over and that he would cope. Encourage the belief that if bad things happen he could cope and survive.

Try to limit, and I know it is hard, the extent to which he feels his problems are causing trouble for everyone. Scans show that guilt lights up the same areas of the brain as the ocd/anxiety and makes it worse. There is only so much you can do but still.

Sorry, I feel like I have explained that badly but at great length! Please ask me anything if I can help. Rest assured that his anger is just frustration and the stress of being in constant fear. I also have anaemia and joint problems so I can see how hard it all is for you right now.

Sky99921 · 14/11/2018 10:42

Hi am new to this site
Just a question if someone could help me, my son is 11 and suffering from anxiety. He has suffered quite a while with it and at school his drama teacher who has been told of this a number time still asks my son to proform in front of the class. He now has been sick of school for 2 days to which he is making himself this way as he can't face going in
I've tried to speak to the school and like I say two day and am still waiting for a phone call I've tried to go in and to be told the year head will call with a appointment I feel me and my son are just being put on a back burner
Any suggestions would be great thanks

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