Access to medication when doctors will not prescribe without seeing our son who has extreme social phobia

Our son refuses to see anyone, including doctors. Does anyone have any experience in getting meds prescribed without the doctor actually seeing the patient? All  our son can tolerate is communication by email.  Face to face or online is impossible for him.

Parents
  • I would ask your doctors surgery what they suggest. Maybe they can get the doctor to call you and you can put the phone on speaker so the doctor can speak to your son, and then If he gets upset or becomes mute you can explain to the doctor what is going on. 

  • The social phobia means he will note even speak to people on the phone....

  • Ask the surgery what they suggest, if they can't help then contact your local health authority.

  • Thanks Iain. Getting it started is the hardest part of the challenge. If he knows its going to lead to some f2f then he will dig his heels in big time. 

    He was doing great with an online school called Nisai a few years ago. When he was told that an invigilator would have to be in the room  with him to do exams he dropped schooling all together. 

  • If he knows it is going to lead to an online f2f discussion he will not engage in the first place.

    The therapist should be able to advise on a strategy for this - most likely something like starting the call when you are in the room with your son and he has a reason to way to stay there, then you introduce the special interest as a hook to get the therapist a chance to say something about that special interest that will catch his attention.

    Repeat this a few times to break the lack of familiarity and then you can maybe start with some shorter sessions initially, growing to longer ones as time goes on.

    That is just my guess on one of the techniques - the trick seems to be to use "headology" to make him want to overcome the resistance of speaking to someone on the video call.

Reply
  • If he knows it is going to lead to an online f2f discussion he will not engage in the first place.

    The therapist should be able to advise on a strategy for this - most likely something like starting the call when you are in the room with your son and he has a reason to way to stay there, then you introduce the special interest as a hook to get the therapist a chance to say something about that special interest that will catch his attention.

    Repeat this a few times to break the lack of familiarity and then you can maybe start with some shorter sessions initially, growing to longer ones as time goes on.

    That is just my guess on one of the techniques - the trick seems to be to use "headology" to make him want to overcome the resistance of speaking to someone on the video call.

Children
  • Thanks Iain. Getting it started is the hardest part of the challenge. If he knows its going to lead to some f2f then he will dig his heels in big time. 

    He was doing great with an online school called Nisai a few years ago. When he was told that an invigilator would have to be in the room  with him to do exams he dropped schooling all together.