Son hearing voices!!! any advice please

[suze79]

Hi, my ds (almost 11) started saying two nights ago that he hears a voice in his head and that it is telling him to do stuff. It tells him he must sell his soul to the devil and most worrying to harm himself and other people. I have tried my best to reassure him that it means nothing and ignore it, try and think of something good, tell him that everyone has bad thoughts sometimes but he is in utter torment. He says that he hears the voice when his head is flooded with thoughts and then his head becomes to hurt and then he hears the voice like a whisper. He attends CHAMS but the seem to be doing nothing for him. The only improves that he has made is down to the adjustments we have made as a family such as home schooling him, changing his room so its calmer, making him a weighted blanket which was the only thing that calmed him the other night.

 

I visited my doctor without ds to see if he could refer us to someone else because it just feels that all the services out there is catostrphoically letting him down and i am losing my strength fighting tooth and nail for the help he so desprately needs. It is heart breaking to see him in such distress and i am really worried he may act upon these thoughts. Last night i heard him switching his light on and off and 10 times becaus he said he was checking that everything was still there! He is constantly seeking assurance that the world is not going to end or that aliens dont exist. He has always had these fears and anxities but they seem to have sky rocketed in the last week and i have now idea why.

 

I was just wondering if anyone had experience of this themselves or have children who have experienced this. I just dont know what to do anymore but reassure him. I just wish so much he felt safe and secure in his own head.

 

Thanks for reading,

 

Susan

[baddad]

Hi susan -

 

I think this is something you really need to discuss very quickly with CAMHS if you have not done so previously. Whatever your misgivings about the service it is the 'front line' support regarding mental health issues, and - without wishing to be alarmist - auditory hallucinations can be an indicator of significant mental health issues. Not to say, of course, that you can't/ shouldn't consult your GP about alternative resources, but i don't think you should spend any time waiting for them to become available if you've already got a contact you can phone at CAMHS to get some sort of input.

 

I can tell you that visual hallucinations can be autism related (my own son suffered these for around two/three years), so the same can probably apply to auditory ones. My main concern is that auditory hallucinations are directly linked to to other MH issues, and that's something to check out (and hopefully eliminate) sooner rather than later.

 

Hope that's helpful

 

L&P

 

BD

[LS2242]

Have to agree with Baddad. Have you made contact with CAHMs over the differences with your son in the past few days? Have they given you an emergency appointment? If your appointment is delayed for any reason then you could ask your GP to contact CAHMs also. It is imperative that your sons needs are identified as quickly as possible.

 

I saw another post on here that sounded slightly similar. Maybe you could go through that and see if there is any advice that may help in your situation. I would post the topic link but I dont know how to do it.

 

Sorry I cant be of more help.

[suze79]

Hi, thanks for the replies. I should of said he told me about these voices on Sunday night and I telephoned CAHMS on Monday morning but his Doctor at CAHMS is on annual leave until 9th August. I made an emergency appointment with his GP who told me he would write a letter outlining my concerns but did not see or speak to ds. He told me that should he further deteriorate that a locum could come out and make an emergency assessment. He appears to be a bit better now and has told me he hasnt heard the voice since Sunday but then again he has a fear of hospitals and may just be saying that because he cant stand visiting CAHMS.

 

I am at a total loss of what to do next. I do not want to make the situation any worse for him by calling in stangers to assess him on an emergency as he expressed to me on Sunday that he is scared that there is something really wrong with him and will he have to go into hospital which i of course told him he wouldnt. But, he is still very nervous and anxious.

 

We are due at CAHMS on 11th August so I dont whether to sit tight till then or pursue something else. I am just so frightened for him and dont want to do the wrong thing in case i make it worse.

 

I did read the very similar post on here and cried but i found it hard to relate it to what is happening to my ds as he is only 10 and nothing much has altered with regard to his routine or circumstance.

 

 

[suze79]

Sorry, i meant to say that my GP said he would write a letter to DS Doctor at CAHMS about what had happened and is not referring me anywhere else.

[baddad]

Hi again suze 79 -

 

I think if this was just a 'one off' and he's saying it hasn't happened since then it's probably as well to just wait until the 11th unless there are more developments. It could well be stress or mood related, or even the 'tail end' of dreams that have carried over into waking iyswim... I appreciate what you are saying that he may be downplaying it now to avoid CAMHS, but the appointment on 11th is/was going to happen anyway, and what he's telling you now may be for him, on reflection nearer to what he actually experienced than what he told you on Sunday night.

 

Hope that helps/reassures

 

L&P

 

BD

[JsMum]

 

 

Has your son been dx with OCD?

 

Obessive Compulsive Disorder.

 

I advise you ring Youngminds for further informationa and guidance, as there is a possibility your son has stopped saying he hears vioces now he realises it means Hospital, and assessments, so I would get further advise because if he is still hearing vioces but he is too scared to tell you it could mean he may miss vital assessment and treatement.

 

If there is evidence that his mental health is continue to deteriate you need to ring the Emergency Gp.

 

What ever the final outcome it must be absaloutly terrifiying what he is going throw, he is 11yrs old, a adult would find this scarey, so he must be very scared, which in turn will be scarey for you too, and young minds can support you both throw this very difficult time.

 

young minds are a fabulous organisation and will help you and make it clear what is likely to happen, it maybe that he does need to go to hospital, but it might well be the place that can help him the most.

 

What he must not do is keep it to himself in fear of what Might happen.

 

www.youngminds. org.uk

 

JsMumx

 

[Enid]

Hi, gave a long reply to this but hasnt appeared! quick recap, was in similar poistion 3 yrs ago, had to fight like hell for any help, medication was the ONLY thing that saved us in the end, but really wanted and still do, answers!!!!! but keep notes, as what seems "wierd" at first quickly becomes normal! and in meetings you forget. pm if you want anymore details.

[SuzyQ]

Hi,

 

Not been around much, the rollercoaster has been going too fast!!

 

I have a DD who is now 16, she has had a lot of problems with behaviour etc... eventually we got the dx of aspergers approx 2 years ago, well about two months after we found out she was having visual and auditory hullicinations, the auditory were telling her to harm herself and her family, and the visual was a teenage girl telling her to do bad things, CAMHS were brilliant I have to say, we didn't realise at the time but after it came out at camhs it made sense. My DD had to have a bit of an emergency admission to a hospital as she tried to hang herself in her bedroom and I was also under threat from her. Just before CAMHS had contacted the Early intervention for psychosis team they are great and well worth trying.

My DD unfortunately spent 10 months in hospital and then went to a 52 week school, but she is doing great now, well kiind of.

she has also recieved dx of adhd, and possible bpd. the hospital medicated to the eye balls, but now she is on a more sensible amount.

 

She has recently undergone alot of anxiety thanks to good old social services and the voices came back, the important thing is now she knows no one else can here them, as she thought before everyone could hear them and see the hallucination. she now speaks about it a little better.

It is important your child knows its ok and that alot of young people especially with ASD's at some point can hear voices. and I agree write everything down, I remember my DD shouting 'SHUT UP' and we didnt know who she was talking to as she was upstairs on her own, it all makes sense now though. so keep a log!!

 

good luck and find some help in the knowledge no one is on the rollercoaster on their own, we are all with you.

Suzy

[suze79]

Thank you so much for your reply Suzy. I hadnt been on for a while so i have only just noticed it. I'm still getting to grips with the format of this forum. Ds has now been prescribed sertraline which i am yet to convince him to take. He is reluctant to talk about the voices and says he has not heard them for a while. He says if he talks about them he hears them more so he refuses to talk about them. He still suffering from high level anxiety do thats why we find ourselves down the medication route. I just hope it helps because it really is torturous seeing him so distressed.

 

It really is comforting to know that there are people out there that can sympathise.

 

Thanks again.

 

Susan