"It has taken us 5 years to start getting help"

My daughter has just turned 18 and is now no longer under the CAMHS service. She had been under them from the age of 13 to just before her 17th birthday. She told them she was hearing voices, she self harmed and also took an overdose. They told her that the voices were all in her head.

Now at 18 she has been with the adult service for the last 4 months, and after two appointments has been diagnosed with a personality disorder.

I think CAMHS should have picked up on this. Instead she kept being discharged and referred back by her GP. She did see someone just before she was 17 who said they could help a little but that because she was coming up to 17 she would have to wait until she was 18. They suggested she might have autism or aspergers.

Between being discharged by CAMHS at 17 and being able to access the adult service at 18 she did not see anyone. Peterborough Wellbeing told her she was too complex for them to deal with. She overdosed several times and self harmed.

When we went to the personality clinic for the first time recently we were told that she could have been referred at 17 but we were told previously she had to wait. During that period I had to call 111 option 2 many times, used ambulances and go to A&E several times.  This may not have happened if we had got the help sooner. As a family we have suffered so much and it has taken us 5 years to start getting help.

The help she is getting now is brilliant but we have had to fight to get to this point. I wanted to share this feedback in case it can help other families in a similar situation to ours get the help they need sooner.