"Not being able to access mental health support"

We requested CAMHS help through school, my son is 9.

We never had an assessment, no one from CAMHS ever met my son. Our worker asked us to fill in a form about his worries, she looked at that and decided that he didn't need any help/that CAMHS were unable to help.

My son is autistic, his mental health isn't good. He suffers from anxiety, low mood, low self esteem, and worries a lot. His worries and anxiety are more than I can deal with and they are more than an average child has. He regularly tells me he is sad but he doesn't know why. We were told that his worries were average for a child his age.

I felt extremely let down by the CAMHS service and even though it wasn't said, it was clear to me that we weren't going to be helped by CAMHS because my son is autistic. Also I was made to feel like a lot of my sons worries were my fault and due to my own emotions. At a time when I was reaching out for help, they made me feel like it was my fault.

This happened some time ago and even though my son needs mental health help, I have never been back to CAMHS for fear of getting the same treatment. We have looked to get help and pay privately for my son.

We also reached out to CAMHS for help with my son's eating. We were really struggling with getting him to eat and he had lots of anxiety around food and CAMHS didn't help. His eating didn't fall under anorexia or bulimia so we were refused help. We did get sent some leaflets, but we needed so much more help than leaflets.