12 year old son getting help

For the past 6 months my son has becoming increasingly stressed with getting dressed. It takes him 3 times as long and struggles more so with socks and night wear. He will take them on and off feeling itchy and has now started scratching his face. He gets so stressed and angry then upset. I just don’t know what to do for best currently trying to get help via CAHMS but in the mean time trying to find some information on how to help him. It’s getting worse and I just don’t know what to do

  • There are all sorts of problems that could cause feet to itch, and some of these would be medical - so I'd advise you speak to your GP to rule some of these out if they persist.

    That said, I was always rubbing my face at that age - for so long it became a habit.  I can't recall what started it, but in my case it would have been likely to be stress/anxiety linked. 

    I remember issues with socks, particularly the eternal problem of stitching across the toes, and found it ultimately easier to give a clean pair of socks a good stretch the evening before and leave them half-rolled down to make them easier to put on.   It may sound like a little thing, but they do escalate.  You can do the same with other tricky items - get them part-prepared. 

    I'd also be asking him if anything else triggers him during the day & seeing if I could make small modifications to make his stresses reduce. 

    Good luck.