Do you think they will give my son benefit

[duckweed]

My son has suffered from Depression and Insomnia for several years since he was 14. he managed despite missing lessons due to his erractic sleep problem to scrape some qualifications and his first year at 6th form. Come February he quit because his depression and sleep patterns were even worse. He has been getting test for the last 18 months brain scans you name it.

 

However GP was less than sympathetic and son withdrew even further. We changed GP and finally got one who is now referring him to psycholgist.

 

Trouble is son is 19 now and I can do nothing without his consent and it takes weeks to pin him down to talk to him.

 

We now have a certificate from GP saying he has depression and insomnia. But Authorities are insisting he talk to them on the phone and he won't talk to strangers. I finally got them to send me the relevant form reluctantly, and after 6 weeks have managed to get my son to fill it in. Not sure who I send it to or whether they will accept it. Don't know how we can get him to be interviewed as there is never a guarantee that he will be awake.

 

My son is for the most part in a fantasy world and give him anything difficult to deal with and he retreats to his den and his virtual world of computer games. He spent 4 months when I didn't see him and never set foot outside the door. He is putting on weight pale and anaemic but no one sees it as a problem so chances are DSS will reject him. Then what.

[Rich]

You need to talk to his Doctor I think.

[Saffy]

I'm sorry .. but he sounds a lot like many of my daughter's friends of 19.

 

As for lack of sleep and depression .. I think that nowadays many many teenagers suffer this. Having to hit deadlines with essays and module work .. sleep patterns go awray and it makes them difficult to regulate a proper sleep pattern which, in turn, can lead to depression and anxiety.

 

Your Doctor is probably right in referring him to a physcologist .. but I bet your son doesn't talk to them ..

[duckweed]

I think he will talk to psychologist as he has talked to counsellor when he was at college. He missed some appointments because he was asleep of course. However there is a years waiting time for one, and the DSS will only accept sick notes for 1 year even if they do accept he has an illness.