My daughter's has taken off at night a few times and I always drive around looking for her and always pick her up when she calls me. Luckily the longest time was 2 hours and I was just about to call the police for help. She takes off when her emotions are too high and she cannot cope. This particular professional in my opinion has given you very bad advice. ... View more

hello Sunflowermum and Eriamb My daughter currently has Green and Purple hair with shaved sides. I can live with this as it is temporary.  Her makeup at times makes me cringe.  She is 14 and has a goth style. And the 5 tattoos that she had marked her own body with.    Luckily my daughter is very good at communicating with me since her first suicide attempt.   We use the traffic light system at home and it works.    She seems to be fed up with talking to psychologists, and even refuses to go to some of the appointments.  Talking about her issues now feel like an attack and the methods suggested to deal with these issues are not working for her.   I drove her to school today and she has refused to get out of the car and now we are at home and I am not at work (getting in some much trouble at work).  I am going to make her do some Maths and English exercises so she does not feel she has a free ride at home.   I am at the point of wondering if we are buying too much into the whole Psychology with our kids and need to go back to good old fashioned discipline.       ... View more

Hello @taokat I was reading thru various posts and came across your post in October in regards to me having to resort to home schooling for term 3.  My daughter loved it.. No stress, no pressure.... She says she learn more at home in far less hours than at school. Term 4 I enrolled her in a very small girls school for teens that are not suited to mainstream schooling.  The school and staff are excellent. But my daughter is not adjusting well... more school refusal, anxiety and anger issues whilst trying to get her to school.  She just lacks so much confidence and is so afraid that she cannot speak to anyone even when they approach her in a friendly manner. However, she seems to be changing - showing interest in dog walks, gardening and art..... (less internet) The school is having a positive effect on her... when she attends. Two weeks ago she attempted suicide for the second time... Another couple of nights in hospital... though this time was impulsive and not premeditated. Been on the roller coaster of emotions for over a year now... Here is to a hopefully better and brighter 2019...   ... View more

Hello Eriamb It still upsets me to this day that my daughter tattooed herself not once, but multiple times.  Self taught on the internet U tube.  But they don't learn, a few months ago she saw on U tube how to remove the tattoos by rubbing salt onto the area until the skin is removed (must have been painful),,,, Still has the tattoos and now some nasty scar tissue.  She wants me to arrange laser treatment... But it is costly and from what I understand not completely successful. I cannot afford this at present and some nasty part of me wants her to live with her mistake.  (at least for a while longer) The internet is the curse of the century.  Before all of this I thought it was only Porn that I had to worry about, but that is only the beginning   ... View more

Hi Trickee1 gosh, how badly?  I hope she didn't watch You Tube like my daughter did... Indian Ink - will be there forever I think.  You Tube teaches them so many bad things.  One day the tattoos will make my daughter depressed and then heaven help us. My daughter was self-harming (she now has scars) but she has stop that in the last two weeks.  I think the combination of people asking her about the scars and the fact that she has made a new friend at school has help.  all the best to you and your daughter. ... View more

I hear you, it's a very lonely place to be dealing with a daughter that has anxiety issues (a others), I find at times my daughter's anxiety causes me to have my own anxiety because it can affect everyday plans and you never know what mood type the anxiety will cause.  I am sure my blood pressure goes thru the roof at these times.  And I find it ever so difficult to find the right words, when I want to say"get over it and just do it"  Some times there are tears, anger, violence towards me and objects. I found "Helping Minds" which is for the carers of people with mental or physical problems. It really is just a place for you to laugh, complain and cry.. They provide empathy, but that might help you... ... View more

thanks TOM-RO yes, my daughter is seeing the whole cast... GP, Psychologist, Psychiatrists and has just begun taking anti - depressants. I just want to be able to assist my daughter in making friends, as I am sure this is a large part of the issue. I am going to try to get in touch with headspace, I am hoping they have clubs for kids with the same issues? ... View more

When we left the hospital after my daughters suicide attempt, we were told by the hospital staff to see our family GP.  Operating on autopilot in shock and terror we did, the GP referred us to a psychiatrist $475.00 who referred us to a couple of psychologist - after being on the waiting list for a couple of weeks we booked an appoint with the psychologist $ 260.00.  When I booked the appointment with the Psychologist I was informed about Mental Health Plans.  So. I booked another appointment with the GP who would not give me a Mental Health Plan as I had attended without my daughter. (wasted visit) and was advise that the Psychiatrist should have done the MHP as she was the one who arranged the referral to the psychologist.  So the last 7 visits with the Psychologist I have paid without a MHP $200.00. I took my daughter back to the Psychiatrist $ 400.00 last week to discuss medication as well as the weekly visits with the Psychologist.  The Psychiatrist advised me thru during this visit that because the referral was by a Psychiatrist that the MHP is automatic, but not all Psychologist or even Medicare staff would know this. BUT..... I am going to take my daughter to the family GP to arrange repeat prescription for my daughter new medication.... Hopefully she will write a MHP then, though I am sure I will have to make two appointments, one for the MHP and one for the Prescription.  I say this because,when my daughter had blood test and we went to get the results the GP would not do the MHP at the same time.  I have been informed that the GP's fee for the MHP is $200.00, I hope I can talk her into just charging me for a consultation as well.  All the running around is stressful............   hope my saga of a tale was not too long ... View more

Hello Motherbear (such a great Call Sign by the way) Its all a learning curve, which is why this forum is so great (my first forum).  Apparently when we were discharged from the hospital we should have been referred to places like "CAMHS".  Instead we were just told to go see our family GP.  I have since heard of CAMHS when discussing my difficulties with the High School Student Services Manager... I was in great distress and was talking to him on the phone as I could not get my daughter to attend school.  The Student Services Manager thankfully recognized my distress and had the School Physiologist refer me to CAMHS..  We parents need support too! ... View more

Hello Beingme2017 A Merry Christmas to you and your family as well. No I did not hear back from my email complaint, but my daughter is slowly, slowly feeling more comfortable with the psychologist so I will let sleeping dogs lay ... View more

Thanks Taokat for your kind words and sharing your daughters hardships with me. My daughter is on day 3 of her medication and there are no side effect apparent at this stage.  We went Christmas shopping today and whilst she was anxious in the car, she did very well at the shops.  I told her this was the best way to handle her anxiety, to do what we planned to do and not let it control her.  Luckily she was calm enough to comprehend this. I also agree with you that it is best I do not dwell on the past, how I could have acted sooner,  I have to remain strong for my daughter and husband.    ... View more

Thanks Taokat for your reply. Can I ask is your daughter still on medication? Or were they only necessary to help for a period of time? I have spoken to my daughter's psychiatrist about the medication, i just worry that drugs are prescribed so easily for children. True be told, I just don't know what else to do. Hopefully with the mediation and ongoing weekly psychologist visit life will improve ... View more

Thanks Nick-Ro for making the edits so I comply with the guidelines. This is my first chat forum. Yes your right in saying I am concerned about not picking up the serious of my daughter's situation, that it took a trip in an ambulance to the hospital for me to take action. Some times I think that I have not analyzed my feeling about this. That I would make myself physically sick if I did. Logically I know that there is no point in doing this. ... View more