Hand hold request re. 19 year old DC

[HappyBunny120]

This is going to be majorly outing but I’m beyond caring & have no rl support.

My DS who is 19 has recently been in a private psychiatric hospital as an inpatient for 2.5 weeks.

He has new medication & obviously received treatment whilst he was there (at great expense).

We were away for a week on holiday (which was horrendous) & he was due to have his first counselling session via video call this morning & then a monthly follow up appointment with the Consultant this afternoon.

The counsellor decided that he was “too unstable” to continue counselling at this point & the Consultant has referred him to the Mental Health Crisis team.

I don’t know what’s going on but it’s obviously not good.

I asked him if he wanted to be re-admitted but apparently they won’t re-admit within 6 months?!!!

Anyone with any ideas / advice?

I had similar experience with The Priory. I was an inpatient for a month covered by my private medical insurance so I was discharged when that ran out despite still being suicidal. My psychiatrist then referred me to the NHS for assessment under the MH act (sectioning) because they don’t like to take responsibility/risk for patients in crisis.

It sounds like your DS has just been referred to the crisis team so they will come to visit him and probably offer daily visits for a few days. The threshold for sectioning is very high so that is unlikely.

I guess you could try a different private hospital if you have the funds and the NHS are not helpful. Good luck, it must be a very worrying time for you x

@PottingSalmon thanks for your experience, we are self funding so you’d expect the Priory to be keen to have him back!

I just feel in such limbo, he’s not bad enough for the NHS to kick in but I feel like he’s falling through a gap & we’re in a very fortunate position to pay (within reason) to get him some help.

I think the Priory don’t want to take any risks these days so they bat people back to the NHS but the NHS MH services are so dire that they are failing people who are in desperate need.
If they won’t take him back in then there are other private hospitals as funding isn’t an issue for you.

You don’t say what symptoms your son is experiencing but reading between the lines, if they’re saying he is ‘unstable’ might it be some form of psychosis? What medication have they started him on and is he taking it? 19 is a prime age for young men to develop psychotic illness - I know this because that’s what happened with my son. Is he hearing voices? Acting irrationally, expressing grandiose thoughts? Does he seem angry? As a first step at least you have Crisis Team involvement. You need to be straight with them if you are worried about him spiralling out of control. A section would involve them judging him to be a danger to himself or others. Do you feel that he is? Initially this would be for 28 days. I feel for you. It’s a very hard thing to deal with. Good luck.