Hello

[Drist]

Hello

I'm new to the forum so thought I should introduce myself.

I'm a happily married, middle aged mum of two adults who will always be my babies and I love them to distraction. We're a very close family and whilst I'm sure my kids do have secrets I'm not aware of, for the most part we talk things through when one of us has a problem.

My son, the youngest, has OCD which started to manifest itself when he was about 12. I felt like the bottom had fallen out of my world when I first realised what was going on; he was washing his hands so often the skin on his hands became badly inflamed, which is why we went to the GP in the first place. Our GP at that time was a great guy and his advice (maybe right, maybe wrong) was not to label my son with OCD and to let him go through puberty to see if things got worse or improved. I knew no better and accepted this as good advice. My son navigated his teenage years, with our help and that of a very good and supportive school; sometimes he did this with no trace of the anxiety that comes with his condition, sometimes he needed more help.

Whilst at university, he decided his anxiety level was too much and spoke to a counsellor there, who encouraged him to see his GP for help. That GP decided he needed medication (Fluoxetine) and wanted to sign him up for CBT. The meds helped a lot but despite encouragement from us, he chose not to accept the CBT - sadly, he decided he felt so much better it wasn't needed. After university, he moved away from home to his first job, found a new GP, who also encouraged him to attend CBT which he promised to do, but he was always "too busy at work", a.k.a. avoiding the issue again. Six months ago, he moved to a new job, nearer to home but still living on his own and another new GP. Each GP increased the dosage of his meds, so he is now on a fairly hefty level, although not quite maximum.

Over the last 3 months, his anxiety levels have gone through the roof. He loves his job, feels he's good at it and find's it easy, but wakes every morning with a sense of dread at going in to work to the point that he thinks he will vomit. He can't identify the trigger points, but as soon as he calls in sick the feeling all but disappears. His employer has been fantastic, allowing him to work from home, arranging Occ. Health assessment etc, but they have extended his probationary period for a further 3 months as they have no previous experience of this issue. This has added to his anxiety level.

His new GP has referred him to the Primary Mental Health team, who did some sort of bizarre telephone consultation, announced they thought he might be on the autistic spectrum (?) and that he would get an appointment by post when they had decided what team would treat him. It's now 6 weeks since he saw his GP and still has no appointment date for a proper assessment. We've arranged for him to see a counsellor privately, whilst waiting for the appointment as he's very unhappy and desperately worried he might lose his job. He needs to talk to somebody now.

We talk on the phone several times a week, he knows we are always here for him and would walk over hot coals to help him, but to say I'm worried sick is an understatement. Is this a normal approach from the Mental Health team? Is there anything he /we could be doing to speed this up? I just don't know what to do to help

[legalseagull]

A phone assessment is pretty normal these days. Also normal is waiting six weeks for an appointment. I think it's wrong of them to say your son's on the autistic spectrum based on a phone call though. 

Not sure what you can do while waiting except read up on OCD and carry on supporting him. Don't be afraid to badger the doctor again if you don't hear something soon.