Published on 12, July, 2020
i am new to posting on the forum but I wondered if anyone has advice for coping with the sheer terror I feel when I think about my teenage daughter’s future? She doesn’t go to school because of such overwhelming anxiety and we have no social network around us. So life is extremely lonely for us both and the social isolation which I can see her facing is heartbreaking. I’m so scared for what her future may bring, particularly when I’m no longer around to be her advocate, her support, her company. Friends are non-existent for us both which is sadly a whole other story! When I suggest doing things, my daughter’s anxiety just overwhelms her to the point where we sit day after day doing very little. What can I do to help her? I don’t want this to be her life forevermore.
Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. It makes me feel as though at least two people care.
To Tinyexplorer, my daughter is 13 but a very young 13. She is so kind, sensitive and can have a wicked sense of humour. She also has to some with a lifelong medical condition which means that she can feel physically unwell at times in addition to the ways her autism affect her in daily life. I agree that empowering her is so important but is such a delicate, gradual process which she often resists every step of the way. I was told once by her CAMHS counsellor (who had never even met her at that point) that I should simply accept that I would probably die one day soon and should just accept that she would be left alone to fend for herself. This so called “professional” had no justification for saying such a truly wicked thing but his words haunt me every day.
To Zomted, thank you for your kind advice and suggestions. For my daughter, everything is frightening and stress-inducing. I can only hope that, in time, I may be able to encourage and support her to widen her world through new activities.