How to survive a long wait for CAMHS

[adviceneededtoday]

What do you do with an extremely depressed and distressed dc when the wait is months?

Ds can hardly sleep or eat. We get told to keep waiting. There’s no urgency but we need someone to do something?? GP useless can’t prescribe anything to call him down . He has ASD and other MH issues but over the years those were diagnosed then no action no therapy no real advice ? No risk to self so a and e not appropriate but what do we do ? At this rate he’s just going to get worse and worse

Could you afford to go private?

Private adolescent pyschiatrist.

Can you afford private therapy? If it’s really dire you might have to use a credit card. You could also try an app like Headspace or Calm in the meantime.

Private is too expensive. I just don’t know what to do as he’s begging for help but there isn’t any ?

In the same boat, got told we shouldn't go private because they don't want to take patients on without a full referral from the private counsellor to explain what approaches they've already tried. They refused to put her on the waiting list while she was having private counselling, even though I was happy for them to discuss things with the counsellor at the point of handover.

They said she would need to finish her private sessions before she could join the back of a 12 month queue, so their plan was for her to be totally unsupported for a year!

At that point I decided they were impossible to work with, just a bunch of "computer says no" box tickers. So I have continued with private counselling.

To spread the cost out a bit we are doing one session every 2 to 3 weeks, which works well with her autism as she finds talking to people very tiring.

Can you call on a regular basis and ask if there are any cancellations. It depends how close you are. We did this and got one. They said if you can be here in 30 mins, you can have the appointment. It was a bit of a fluke but we saved a year.

Yes I’ve been doing this and I’ll keep doing so just in case

Are there any third sector organisations offering counselling etc? Where we are a few of these organisations have much shorter waiting lists for offering support than the NHS.

Sorry, it is really rubbish.

Do any of the rescue remedy type products work ? Or anything similar ? I had hoped the GP might have been willing to prescribe but they said on Friday absolutely not even something short term.

If you own a house, you remortgage/extend the mortgage to get the funds, then go private.

Unfortunately we are renting so that’s not an option and no savings to even use. Going to see if there are any low cost counselling services for under 18s but I’m not sure if we need something more specialised.

That was my next suggestion. I dont know what job you do or if you have a partner but there are of guilds bssed on professions and charities that will occassioally fund something. Even work insurances sometimes.

Whikst ee were waiting my sin got signposted to kooth which is online support.

Being honest he needed medication which had to be from a psychiatrist

@adviceneededtodaywhere in the country are you?

Have a look on the hub of hope directory to see what charioare in the area x

We went private for my teen (age 14) and was prescribed promethazine, in case that’s useful to know.

he took 10mg in evening to help with anxiety and sleep. He took it for about 3 months and it really helped.

you can actually buy online although we got given a private prescription.

www.mind.org.uk/information-support/drugs-and-treatments/sleeping-pills-and-minor-tranquillisers-a-z/promethazine/

I hate to tell you this but CAHMS are pretty shite when you do get them. I’d try your best to get some other help if you possibly can. Obviously stay on the waiting list too but don’t expect too much. It is really hard and my heart goes out to you.

We haven't tried it but an app/service called Kooth is recommended where I work when children are waiting to be seen.

Agree with the promethazine to get some sleep in the short term as this will be making everything feel so much worse.

If there is a strong anxiety component you can ask the GP for some propranolol (beta blocker) they will probably prescribe this as it's not habit forming or an antidepressant.

PS I also find nytol herbal one a night helpful and you can take them in the day if needed (it's valerian root)

In a similar situation with DS17. He has AuADHD and anxiety. The anxiety is crippling and can also make him spiral with intrusive thoughts. Private psychologist said couldn't help and insisted we go to CAMHS rather than private initially. CAMHS saw us in about 8 weeks but said can't help as he has neurodiversity so that's why he's anxious! GP won't/can't prescribe until he has been seen by a psychiatrist and even privately, we're having a nightmare just getting seen. So I'm not much help but sending you hugs and solidarity - it's shit. If there's any way you can try and beg/borrow to see someone privately, I think you'll find more success than CAMHS.

We have found that kids magnesium gummies (eg: a vitamin supplement rather than a medication) helped cut down pre-sleep anxiety attacks that prevented sleep in a similar situation.

One of the first things we were told by CAMHS with ds1 and ds2 was that environment was key. They were right. Anxiety reduced and medication no longer needed when they weren't as stressed by the school environment. For ds1 this meant a special school placement. For ds2 this meant home tutors. With the benefit of hindsight rather than hoping CAMHS have a magic wand, they don't, put your energy into getting good support at school.

Thanks I’ve ordered some to try as evenings are particularly awful. Shaky crying panic attacks then insomnia

Yes this is what the GP tell us that they can’t do the initial prescription it’s just so awful and exhausting and I feel so lost as I try to say and do the right things but then it doesn’t help

I'm sorry op it's tough. All you can do is be there. Reduce demands as much as possible but try gentle encouragement to get them engaged in anything you can. A walk, a hot choc and tv together, a game, crafts, books, run them a bath, small trips out if they can manage. You could look at cbt and self help books. Try and distract them if you know a tough time is coming up.

Been where u are -
it’s awful
I went into overdraft accessing a child psychiatrist from Psychiatry UK -
was brilliant
kept that going until Cahms finally came through
GP’s can prescribe Propanolol for anxiety but nothing else - has to be psychiatrist for under 18’s