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Newly diagnosed and burnt out teen

Imogen
7 months ago

Hello my 15 year old son became hugely anxious and stopped attending school about 5 months ago. He’s since had an autism diagnosis and we’ve come to realise that he has been masking and struggling for years and that the pressure of GCSEs finally pushed him to a point where he couldn’t continue. I feel horribly guilty that we didn’t spot it before now and he has been struggling for so long - we had a big bereavement in our family when he was 4 and I think everyone assumed his behaviour was trauma related.

Other than the autism assessment he’s been unable to attend any medical/therapy appts in recent months - he gets to the door and then has a melt down. So we’ve decided to take all pressure off and just give him time to recover and only do things he feels able to do. So no school (and accepting GCSES prob wont happen this year) and focussing on his love of music and films.

However, I am worried about his mental health - anxiety is still high (although not as intense as it was)  and he has body image issues. He is not self harming and doesn’t seem to have suicidal ideation. We had our first meeting with CAMHS last week and I really don’t feel like they are taking his mental health issues seriously and are only focusing on signposting autism support. He’s found art therapy helpful in the past (for trauma) but that therapist feels he needs more help than she can offer eg cbt.  

I’d love to hear from anyone who’s been in this situation, am I doing the right thing by allowing time for him to recover with the hope that he’ll manage more therapy in the future?

thank you! 

Parents
  • 7 months ago

    Hi Imogen

    I've only signed up to NAS today & just seen your post. It was almost like someone had written the last 18 months of my life!

    I'm in exactly the same situation with my child.  Same age, same burnout , same diagnosis time-line, also out of school, also only engaging with music & films -and exactly the same feelings of guilt.  

    Looking back, I feel so stupid that it never occurred to me that it was Autism, until his burn-out ( at the time I'd never heard of burnout and I had no idea what was happening to him). 

    Every agency & charity I've contacted have listened very sympathetically, then said there's nothing they can offer.

    I'm just grateful that his school has been understanding.

    I am so sorry for your loss and I'm sorry your son is having such a difficult time now.

    I do think that I underestimated the affects of burnout and how long it can take to recover. I wish I could give you more help, but I just wanted to let you know that you're not alone.

Reply
  • 7 months ago

    Hi Imogen

    I've only signed up to NAS today & just seen your post. It was almost like someone had written the last 18 months of my life!

    I'm in exactly the same situation with my child.  Same age, same burnout , same diagnosis time-line, also out of school, also only engaging with music & films -and exactly the same feelings of guilt.  

    Looking back, I feel so stupid that it never occurred to me that it was Autism, until his burn-out ( at the time I'd never heard of burnout and I had no idea what was happening to him). 

    Every agency & charity I've contacted have listened very sympathetically, then said there's nothing they can offer.

    I'm just grateful that his school has been understanding.

    I am so sorry for your loss and I'm sorry your son is having such a difficult time now.

    I do think that I underestimated the affects of burnout and how long it can take to recover. I wish I could give you more help, but I just wanted to let you know that you're not alone.

Children
  • 7 months ago in reply to Rosie

    Hi Rosie, thanks so much for reaching out. It def helps to know there are others in a similar situation but so sad that you are!    I hope your son is doing better now.
    Yesterday I had a chat with the psychologist who did my son’s autism assessment and she confirmed that he had severe burnout Frowning2. ️ She thinks he might really benefit from a full psychiatric assessment but getting that is going to be a challenge! 

    I have found the info and webinars from Naomi Fisher in the last few week we and found those really helpful. 

    Thanks again