"Dismissed and ignored"

My daughter has been struggling immensely with anxiety and depression over the past 2 years. It has become so bad, we actually ended up in A&E due to the physical symptoms she has been experiencing. Even her consultant who sees her for coeliac disease got involved and referred her to CAHMS with a view to being prescribed medication to help her to cope. CAHMS themselves say they strongly suspect she suffers from Autism. Yet she has a 2 year wait to be assessed for this. Despite all this, and the fact that her nervousness and anxiety is now affecting her college application, we have had a letter this week telling us CAHMS is not accepting the referral! They say she’s on a waiting list for Base51 counselling and that should be enough. The truth is we’ve had our initial assessment this month, and they’ve said it will be several months before we hear from them again! This is not helping at all!

This is getting to the point now where I’m considering getting a solicitor involved and taking legal action, as this is seriously affecting her career prospects, not to mention the fact she is suffering so much. She can’t even bring herself to apply for a Saturday job due to her struggles, and we have found CAHMS absolutely awful in their support towards her. At the one meeting she had, she came away very upset as she felt ‘blamed’ for not doing the CBT she was given months before. But in actual fact, when her motivation is zero due to depression, this stops this from happening. Feeling blamed has completely turned her against the CBT.

To now be refused any further help or medication is insulting. It’s as though no one believes her when she says she feels the way she does. CAHMS seem to be neglecting her needs and dismissing my concerns about her mental health. It should not be this hard to get support! You’re told to not be scared to ask for it, but when you do, you get dismissed!