Severe anxiety in my autistic son

[Chris1989]

Hi all,

I have a 8 year old son who was diagnosed with autism 4 years ago. He’s currently in mainstream school and doing well but for a while he has suffered terribly with anxiety and I feel as he’s getting older it’s getting worse for him.

Although he is doing very well in school and enjoys it he often gets anxious after a weekend or especially after time off and it’ll manifest in physical symptoms too which he can never pinpoint. While in school he is always on edge and worried about doing even the slightest thing wrong.

He’s also constantly anxious over the time, and needs to know the time constantly so he knows it’s not ‘too late’. We have to leave for school very early because he needs to be there 10 minutes before otherwise he’ll start to panic

He’s also starting to get health anxiety too - he thought he couldn’t feel his heartbeat and panicked he was having a heart attack. Even if he has the slightest cut on him he’ll obsess over it and worry

I understand this all comes with autism and we knew it would get worse but at his age do you think I should ask his GP about medication? I understand children his age can some SSRI’s and I know from experience these can help with anxiety. He seems like he’s way too young but from looking it up I can see it is an option and if I can get to see him relaxed even for a bit I would be so happy

He is currently speaking to a mental health worker at school every week to discuss his feelings and I think it’s helping slightly with certain aspects but I wonder if he could also benefit from seeing more of a professional

Any advice or experiences would be appreciated

Mine is exactly the same. Doing well in mainstream but the anxiety is off the chart. She has nightime anxiety that prevents her from sleeping so she's up most nights. Today's problem is that there was a fire drill at school. I am trying to get some help but its a long road involving drop in sessions in our area.
I've nothing constructive to add but some sympathy.

Our DD was older when she was prescribed Sertraline and then Melatonin.

They're not a magic cure but have been quite transformative.

She similarly had physical symptoms that usually manifested as stomach ache around 7/8 years.

Is there an ASD support group in your area?

A Gp won’t prescribe anti depressants to a child, it needs to come via CAMHs.

i would talk to your GP about getting a referral to CAMHs though. Ds is 14 now and has been on setraline since he was 9 - it hasn’t been a miracle cure but it has certainly helped

Thank you all :) his GP advised me to speak to his paediatrician as he’s still on their list and he has an appointment with them in August

Has he got something like a visual weekly timetable? My son was similar (14 now). Anxiety can be addressed by providing more structure such as a weekly timetable- you can get them from the internet. Then briefly go over it with him each morning so he knows what is happening that day, eg school, then any evening activities etc.
social stories are very good too, there may be some on health anxieties.
Does he get DLA? You may also qualify for carer's allowance. This would help cover the cost of support like the above.

I note that you say he becomes more anxious after time off/holidays which would tell me that a visual weekly timetable would be particularly useful to support his anxiety. Many autistic children find unstructured time a challenge.
Personally, I would provide things like the above before turning to medication.