How school transition affected my son's mental health

Topics mentioned: anxiety, school anxiety

We visited all the local secondary schools and let him choose which ones he wanted. There was still a lot of anxiety around this but he felt in control, so we managed to compile a list he would be happy to attend. On decision day, he was offered a school that we hadn’t put on the list, and it felt like our lives fell apart.  

We had visited this school and it was not appropriate – it would be unable to meet his needs, and he knew no one. He had been in the same primary his whole life and had some wonderful friends. But now, from his perspective, the safety net of his friends would be gone, he would not know anyone and, during the biggest transition of his life, he would be completely alone. This was when his mental health began to seriously deteriorate. 

Upon starting secondary school, my son began experiencing auditory and visual hallucinations. The auditory hallucinations would tell him to hurt himself and others, and the visual hallucinations would be very scary, with him sometimes cowering in the corner of his room afraid to lay on his bed because there was something there. My son is a very gentle boy, and he was terrified.  

Up until now, I had felt able to support my son with his difficulties, but this was very new and frightening for the whole family. Luckily, my son was happy to see a GP, who referred him to CAMHS straight away. What I did find during this time is that this is an area of mental health that people do not want to discuss. When my son was experiencing anxiety and panic, people had related and had wanted to support us, but this was different. This was ‘weird’, and it made people feel uncomfortable. 

This was when the YoungMinds Parent Helpline stepped in to help. Their webpage specifically mentioned ‘hearing voices’ and, when I contacted them, a qualified Child Psychotherapist was able to offer practical advice and suggest supportive techniques that we are still using now. Once I knew how to help and support my son, I did not feel as powerless and was able to work towards longer term solutions. 

The sensory overwhelm, anxiety and panic are all still elements of our daily life, but he is on the waiting list for an autism assessment. We also have a variety of tools and support strategies at hand thanks to the YoungMinds Helpline and the professionals who were able to see past the stigma which is obviously still attached to hallucinations.  

The auditory hallucinations will still make an appearance during stressful situations, so we know that they will be a recurring theme throughout his life. But we have strategies to address these now. He knows that they are just a part of how his brain works and how to ignore them.