Help from other parents please

[Nifty123]

My son has recently spent time in hospital for mental health. Since leaving he is not doing very well. When do u know to leave him alone or to call 000. He told a friend he was going to hurt himself last night. We approached him but he said he doesn’t want to talk about it as it only makes him worse. What do u do as a parent?

[hanami]

Hi @Nifty123 

I'm so sorry to hear about your son and him not doing too well. From what I understand they usually have a team from community mental health who do follow ups after someone leaves the hospital. My team used to do 48 hour follow ups, so it was mandatory to go and see them within that time frame. Does he have anything like that? A case manager or mental health nurse? I think that's important for your son during this vulnerable time. 

Take care

Hanami

[Krishna]

Hi @Nifty123  There should be a follow up visit or call from community health but if not I would be contacting the hospital he was in and expressing your concerns. I’m sorry your son and family are experiencing this. A hard road I know too well. 🙏❤️

[cherryblossom8]

Hi @Nifty123 ,

I am so sorry that your son is not improving.I would call your CAT Team that should follow up after a visit to the hospital. It might be called something different in other states, check this link here for relevant numbers:

https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/crisis-management

I'm surprised your hospital has not informed you of this. If he is talking about self-harm with friends, he definitely needs support from his mental health team. I would also remove anything in the house that could potentially lead to self-harming (My friends had these problems with their son, so they used to remove sharp things, medications, etc... They would also take turns to make sure he's not unattended).

I hope this helps and remember to take care of yourself too :). Hang in there, we're here to help and let us know how your son is doing.