Prize for anyone who guesses what 11yr old dd was asked by child psychiatrist today

[ishouldbedoingtheironing]

Go on guess bet you never get it in a million years

There was a story in the paper this week about an 8 yr old who killed herself after watching a film in which a woman committed suicide. I'm no expert but don't think and 11 yr old would really understand what suicide is, in the sense that at that age the rest of your life is so hard to imagine.

I would be angry, too.

Thanks to everyone for listening I am now of to drink wine [lots and lots of it] while placing pins into a very special doll which I have just managed to make.
I think I will speak to my GP who referred me and tell her of my concerns
As if life wasnt bloody hard enough!!!!!
So much for the professionals!!!!!!!!

Your GP needs to take this up - he/she is your advocate.!!!

nearlythree - some children definately have an awareness of suicide and attempt and suceed in committing.
please don't anyone be mistaken on this

I would put in a formal complaint to the practice about the line of questioning used.
I know you may feel bad for the studant but im sorry whether its ona sheet or not there is something seriously wrong with anyone who can look at an 11 year old girl and ask about sex drive!

clearly the studant can read but not think.

I am so angry for you and your DD.

Stinkypete, I most definitely do know that children committ suicide, sadly. What I was trying to say (very badly) is that I think the idea can be put into the heads of the young because they are so impressionable, so this question might potentially be harmful.

Ishouldbe, I do understand and I think I might feel the same way as you if it were my child. I just wanted to reassure you that asking about suicide has no influence on the suicidal thoughts of another person. Imagine if you were having problems in your marriage and I asked you if you had ever thought about getting a divorce - it would not put the idea in your mind or influence you if the thought was not already there.

I had suicidal thoughts from the age of 9, and wish I had been able to speak to someone about them, but it is usually a taboo subject even for adults, let alone children.

I'm sorry to hear that, Franny. I know from my own experiences that I was definitely influenced from outside.

nearlythree

It is a difficult subject, it is naturally going to bring up strong feelings

tbh - I reckon the student present a standard questionnaire which attempts to profile a client to put them in a box ('depressed' / 'anxious' etc. or a scale 'rarely / frequently have sad thoughts etc.) But either way, this surely shouldn't be used for children. Probably by ommiting one question (for example suicide) they wouldn't be able to properly calculate a score, so they've just left it in. I'd bypass the GP - it's not their mistake and go back to the Director of the centre or a senior member of staff there. There must be similar questions more tailored to young people, possibly using simpler / more appropriate language too.

franny, it's so unfair for you. I most definitely agree with hubtodee, surely a competent psychiatrist could ascertain these things without resorting to tick boxes.

Should add the my influences were the media and an unhelpful friendship, not a health professional, and I was a bit older. And I thought about suicide, not dying - it was more of a grand gesture and wanting to be intersting in a Virginia Woolf type of way rather than actually dying, which wasn't really in my thoughts at all. My friend and I used to egg each other on. In the end she got a boyfriend and it stopped.

Sorry, none of this relevant to op and I will leave now as I really don't know what I am talking about.

How stupid and inappropriate. Student or not, your dd shouldn't have been asked this. How fking stupid. I would complain.

nearly3, I think it was the same kind of thing with that 8yo girl - she'd watched Girl, Interrupted on dvd (in her own bedroom ffs ), and then re-enacted a suicide scene from it .

I think films, books or music that glamourise or romanticise suicide can be an influence, of course. However they can have some kind of positive effect as well, as some young people do feel suicidal without any kind of prompting, and knowing that they are not the only ones who have felt like this can be reassuring.

I don't think a simple question asked by a health professional along the lines of "have you ever felt suicidal?" can be responsible for influencing a young person to take their own life. Agree it is upsetting to hear about and that the sexual question was inappropriate.

I think the sexual question was inappropriate and you should telephone and ask to discuss this issue with the head of CAHMS. The suicide question IS an important one, as other posters have said - some children this age DO have these thoughts...But I think it could have been asked more sensitively and in a less overt way - eg. Do you ever feel like hurting yourself ? Have you ever thought about harming yourself ? are a bit softer.

It is really important to feedback these concerns as it is the only way people in the profession get to reflect on and change their behaviour .

I witnessed a trainee complete a similar "inventory" - and she asked an 11 year old girl if she was "promiscous" - the poor girl didn't even know what the word menat

I was asked by a dentist when I was 11 if I was sexually active. I thought he meant my periods and said yes! so called professionls can be bloody dim sometimes.

Was he asking because he was a perv ?

no, he was about to send me for an Xray. Still a weirdo, I was the most innocent 11 year old!

Oh I see... x-rays / fetuses etc.

I don't know if it's possible, but I would really recommend perhaps finding a counsellor rather than a psychiatrist for your daughter

The approach might be more appropriate, in general

There are lots of great child counsellors and therapists

Just MHO

Colditz... did he then further clarify to see if you were possibly pg, or did he just not do an xray ?

My mum butted in and told him I wasn't, and that I probably didn't know what it meant. She was right He made me wear a lead apron anyway though.

... just incase you had your mum fooled re your total innocence wrt The Big Bad World of Boys, LOL....