Can a GP ever prescribe anxiety medication to a child?

[Ocdsuckssomuch]

It's me again!

As I've said in previous post, we are 3rd time lucky on waiting list for camhs. We have been trying since year 7, my son goes into year 10 in Sep. Last time I spoke to GP was maybe Jan time which is when we were referred to camhs again. I explained that although we didn't initially want to go down the route of medication I felt that my son really needs it. He said, as a GP he didn't feel experienced enough to do this and had to be through camhs. Is it just our GP who is reluctant or are GPs just not allowed?

In my experience you will need to ask CAMHS to arrange for a psychiatrist to prescribe. I’ve known GPs to prescribe anti-depressants to 17yr olds but any younger seem to have to go through camhs

It says on this nhs page that usually anxiety meds are only prescribed to children by specialists

www.nhs.uk/mental-health/children-and-young-adults/advice-for-parents/anxiety-disorders-in-children/

It's not that they can't, more that they will refer to specialists.

OK, thanks. We will ever get to see someone though :-( 😞

I’m a GP. It’s really not recommended and should be done by specialists only.

@ChickenFeed30

I’m a GP. It’s really not recommended and should be done by specialists only.

I know so many children are on the waiting list but should I contact the GP again as my son just can't cope any longer. It's horrendous for him

My GP prescribed for me when I was 16, but I’m now 34 so a long time ago. From my experience, it’s Psych only now with a possibility of shared care with GP later down the line.

I'm a paediatrician, I'm not allowed to prescribe them (unless CAMHS tell me to).

The evidence for mental health medication in children is different from in adults. In adults, evidence says it works. In children there is a lot less evidence, and what evidence there is indicates bigger side effects (things like increased suicide risk) and less evidence that they do what they're meant to. Thus in children these meds have a higher risk for less benefit. Which is why its specialists only giving them.

For this very reason I am delighted dd turns 18 this year her friend was in the same boat and turned 18 last year and was finally treated by the gp and what a difference.
I get why gp’s want to hand this over to a specialist but there just isn’t the services out there for children and teenagers they are being really let down.
Dd has had a horrendous time with her mental health and two years of Covid and exam cancellations and home school have just made it so much worse.
Good luck I really hope you get somewhere

@Ocdsuckssomuch if your GP has sent the referral, there is nothing more they can do no matter how much you ask. They have no control over CAMHS or the waiting lists and won't be allowed to prescribe anything to help, nor should they as your child needs a proper assessment first.
CAMHS has huge issues throughout the country with horrific waiting lists and no easy answers for families. The only thing you could do (which probably won't work) is to contact them directly and ask how long it will be. Plus engage with other mental health services in your area and online. There are some counselling ones, mindfulness things like that (they won't fix things, but something is better than nothing).

@LooksBetterWithAFaceMask

For this very reason I am delighted dd turns 18 this year her friend was in the same boat and turned 18 last year and was finally treated by the gp and what a difference. I get why gp’s want to hand this over to a specialist but there just isn’t the services out there for children and teenagers they are being really let down. Dd has had a horrendous time with her mental health and two years of Covid and exam cancellations and home school have just made it so much worse. Good luck I really hope you get somewhere

It's horrendous isn't it. We first got referred to camhs end of year 6 and now hes in year 9 and still not seen anyone.

Totally normal. 17 yo DD was referred to CAMHS by GP for a prescription. I think waiting time was 6-8 weeks in total. The CAMHS psychiatrist was brilliant. We have now been discharged back to the GP. You have my sympathies, it's tough dealing with high anxiety. We are only a few months into the process - some improvement so far but a long way to go. We are also accessing therapy privately in parallel with medication.

We went privately to a paediatric psychiatrist who prescribed meds. GP was willing to take over the prescription. I had talked to the GP first about which consultant we needed to see.
CAMHS had refused to see dc several times, once when the paediatrician had done the referral.