please help

i am so glad i have found this forum, my son had his 12th birthday on dec 30th , from that day he began to have panic attacks, it all seemmed to be centered around the fear he was going to be sick, hes never been sick very much in his life, at first he went to school for two weeks and then he would just flip out, he was a bright boy well above average, and wasnt bullied, hes always been sensitive but very grown up for his age, anyway now he cant go to school, he will hardly leave the house unless he has to, he is afraid to go to bed and to the bathroom all this brings on an attack, sometimes he has an attack for no reason, they can ladt up to two hours
he will scream, cry, bang his head, clutch his tummy and say it hurts , then his head and say that he has bad memories freaking him out, now his psycologist says he might have to be admitted to a hospital, when hes not panicking he is still my lovely boy , but with these attacks he cannot talk , he makes strange noises like hes choking, he wont breathe to relax, ive tried it all and so has the psycologist, i am at my wits end, they say he has severe panic and anxiety disorder , but has never had any medical checks or brain scans , he is so afraid and feels so alone as he cant see his friends
please can sonmeone help
love
Carolanne
xxx

Hi Carolanne

I'm sorry to hear about your son's problems.

I think it is worse for children because they don't fully comprehend things and they can feel further frustration if they can't communicate their feelings properly.

Are you able to talk to him openly when he isn't panicking? Does the psychologist have any ideas about what might be causing it?

Chris

Hi Carolanne - What a horrible situation for you. Is it possible that your son might fare better under a different specialist? I`m sorry I can`t be more constructive; am wishing you all good luck.

A

thanks for your replys
i dnt have the money for a private psycologist so i have to have the one i'm given , although i am trying to get some money for help at the moment , but he so much wants to get back to school in sept and i cant see this happening , its making him so sad
thankyou again for answering
love
carolanne
xxx

Hi Carolanne

Yes I'm afraid the mental health services in a lot of areas are overstretched - largely by silly parents who can't equate their children's bad behaviour to their own abdication of parental respoinsibilty and have to blame something like ADHD.

My sympathies

Chris

hello there im sam im 20 and fully understand what your son is going through. To point out the good points to you... as he is young at the moment there is a big chance that his handicap will disintagrate as when we are young we dont take things too seriously, my advice would probably be to make a plan for you and your son to make small proggressive changes in his life and yours no matter how small they are and make sure you stick to it. Things like putting ointments on his pillow to help him sleep, horlicks or hot milk before bed, try to persuade him to go to the shops with yourself reasuring that nothing harmfull will come to him. i know your thinking "this is a serious illness" but this illness your son has, is a learnt condition and step by step it can be un-learned with close supervision. Lastly the most helpful thing for me that i have found useful is relaxation. Try down your local library for relaxation tapes, dolphin songs or waterfalls you can even talk to him while he listens to them (like postive mild hynotism) to gradually store confidence in him again.
Well my thoughts are with you and your son, and be sure that nothing ever stays the same. Bye x x :)

thanks for your replys
i dnt have the money for a private psycologist so i have to have the one i'm given , although i am trying to get some money for help at the moment , but he so much wants to get back to school in sept and i cant see this happening , its making him so sad
thankyou again for answering
love
carolanne
xxx


hi,
my advice to you is to go back to the doctor and ask for your son to be seen by CAMHS.. child and adolescent mental health service.. althoug they are stretched you should be seen fairly quickly.. my son was referred to them in may ( for ADHD...) and it turned out that he doesnt have that but has autism and the anxiety that he was experiencing was all related to that.
im not suggesting any like this will happen in your case.. but CAMHS are brilliant ans will get to the bottom of your sons difficulties...they will refer him to a specialist..either a pyschologist or child psychiatrist or for cbt...there is help there for him...

also you could ask school to refer him to their behaviour suppport team - i think most lea's have one- and they can give him help within school for anxieties..my son gets 1-2-1 for anxiety and specific phobia..

hope this helps and i hope your son gets help soon..