Uni son mental health crisis

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DC taken to A and E by welfare/security at accommodation. I collected him the next day to go home. So worried.

We have support from local crisis team here, but his anxiety still awful. He might have to change to different accommodation, but the possibility of that is making him panic.

That sounds very tough. Thank goodness he has people around him looking out for him.
Are the Crisis team visiting daily?

Just let uni well-being services know for now. They will sort out uni. You just focus on DS.

Tomorrow, but so worried re January return to uni

They know already and have already said different accommodation possible. But he’s worried about that and reputation with flatmates

What are his worries?

I just don’t know how to make him less paranoid

PM me if you want, I work in student mental health and would like to help if I can

That flatmates won’t be comfortable sharing with him after instability outburst. That they will tell everyone

He might find this helpful. Young Minds is a mental health charity for young people and their carers. You can also contact Rethink which is a mental health advice line.

You are already in contact with the Crisis service and they're pretty comprehensive. You can also contact NHS Direct option 2 if he has a crisis.

Yes, good advice and we have got got same from the crisis team

I can sympathise with those feelings. I was sectioned last year - I went too high rather than too low and had hypomania episode. It was a total shock and not being able to sleep at all fried my brain for a bit. I thought my life would never be the same but the medication worked a treat and nobody who saw me in the leadi by up to my hospital admission has an issue and everything has pretty much carried on the same. I found reading articles and listening to interviews of famous people who have the same condition as me really helpful. At the time I could only dream of being so open. I’m still cautious about discussing it but I am starting to come to terms with it.

The reality is his flatmates may not react well to it. That’s not in your son’s control and is not an indicator that he’s done anything wrong. There will be plenty of people at uni who will support him and happily be friends with him. My DH and kids reacted amazingly but other family did not. They’ve not rejected me but they don’t want to know either. To be fair, I think they have similar health issues to me in definitely runs in the family and I’m not the first to go ping. My close friends have been super amazing but I’m a lot older. I did have a depressive episode when at uni and my housemates didn’t want to know but I found some amazing friends 2 doors down and one ended up being my DH.

I hope you’re doing ok and have some support for yourself.

Thank you ChristmasDieHard

I am just in the aftershock mode at the moment but I think we will all feel better once more help, answers and a way ahead becomes clear.

The important thing now is that he is well. That he engages with the mental health support and works on getting better.

All the rest of it - return to uni, accommodation, his course - just details. He will have loads of options including not returning and taking a year off if that's what he needs to do. All of that sort of thing can be worked out later. Please reassure him that he has options which can be explored when he feels ready to do so. No rush.

(And a big hug to you, I have a 21 year old currently not attending uni after a bit of a crisis, hoping to return next autumn. It's hard).

Thank you. I’m feeling he will be ok and get back quite quickly. However, we will need a support backup in place so just have to see how that happens.

All the best with your 21 year old.

That sounds really tough, but it’s good he’s got the crisis team involved. Maybe focusing on one step at a time, like stabilizing his anxiety, could help before making decisions about accommodation. Let me know if you need any ideas for extra support.

I was going to suggest similar . Is him transferring to a different uni closer to home where he has your support an option . ?
His well-being is the priority - the rest less so !
All the best - take care of you too x