18yo mental health crisis and services reluctance to admit

[WhatsitWiggle]

My child is 18yo, has struggled with mental health - severe anxiety, burnout, eating - for almost 4 years. Diagnosed autism and ADHD.

CAMHS discharged without any therapy as Teen turned 18 before reaching top of waitlist. Now under adult services and going through fortnightly chats with lead practitioner who is getting to know her and relaying Q&A to MDT.

Mood worsened significantly last week, Teen is having visions of killing me and herself. Described as POV videos in her head.

Teen was accepted into a community crisis assessment unit on Friday night after all other avenues exhausted. This is like a mental health A&E, it's intended for up to 23 hours. Teen has been there since 10pm Friday as she is deemed too unsafe to be told to leave.

Teen wants to be admitted to a psych ward, she just want to get better and is scared of coming home because of what she might do. Nurses seem reluctant to push for this, despite me telling them I cannot watch Teen 24/7 and Teen saying she will hurt herself, she has a plan and the means to do so.

As an example, Teen is not allowed her laptop and phone chargers in the unit in case she uses them as a ligature. I cannot realistically secure all the cables in the household each day/night.

WWYD? I'm not sure if me telling the nurse in the morning that Teen needs to be admitted will make any difference.

If they’re not detainable, they would have to go in voluntarily. And there is such a beds shortage at present. I wouldn’t pin all your hopes on hospital, I know it’s hard because you Dong have other options apart from home treatment, but hospitals are really helpful, they aren’t usually very nice, in terms of the other patients going through their own struggles. Doctors might put them on some medication, thats really it. They’re unlikely to get psychology or any other therapy.
It’s really tough, and I know you’re probably terrified, but I rarely see happy endings when young people are admitted. Especially ND young people. It more often than not starts a cycle of admissions and dependency on services to keep themselves safe.

😭 thank you for replying. Deep down i know this, im just really scared at how bad she is right now. It's been getting progressively worse over such a long time, im so tired trying to keep her stable and stay calm when she harms herself, destroys things in my home, tells me multiple times a day she wants to die.

Reading this really broke my heart. If your teen is saying she has thoughts of harming herself and you, and she's asking to be admitted because she doesn't feel safe, I would keep making that very clear to the team and ask for a senior clinician to review things if needed. You know her better than anyone. I've also seen ADHD Certify talk about how autism and ADHD can sometimes complicate mental health presentations, which is why specialist input is so important. I really hope both you and your daughter get the support you need. It sounds like you've been carrying an enormous amount on your own.