What is CAMHS? Child and adolescent mental health services explained

You might also hear CAMHS called Children and Young People’s Mental Health Services, or CYPMHS.

Most local areas have their own CAMHS services. All CAMHS services have things in common, because they follow evidence-based guidelines about helping young people. Your exact experience might be different depending on where you live because each CAMHS service is unique – they might do some things a bit differently.

CAMHS can help with mental health conditions, unhealthy ways of coping, and neurodevelopmental conditions including:

• Depression
• Anxiety
• Autism
• ADHD
• Psychosis
• Coping with trauma (including if you have PTSD or C-PTSD)
• Self-harm
• Suicidal thoughts and feelings
• Eating problems

CAMHS usually helps young people who are aged under 18.

If you’re almost 18, CAMHS will usually still see you, but they might refer you to Adult Mental Health Servies for support (especially if it’s likely you’d turn 18 while on a waiting list for support within CAMHS).

To get help from most CAMHS services, you need to be referred by a professional. This means that someone like a GP, a person at school, or a social worker contacts CAMHS and tells them that you’re struggling with your mental health and might need some more help.

In some parts of England, you might be able to refer yourself to CAMHS by getting in touch through an online form, for example.

Once they have your referral, CAMHS will get in touch with you. They might need some more information from you, or they might give you an appointment for an assessment. You might have to wait on a waiting list for your assessment.

After your assessment, CAMHS will be able to tell you if they’re the right service to offer you help.

If they are the right service for you, you’ll usually have to wait on a waiting list for treatment like talking therapy.

Sometimes, another service might be better able to help you, if they also offer the sort of help you need and have a shorter waiting list than CAMHS. If CAMHS tell you they are not the right service for you, they should let you know where else you can go for support.

A CAMHS assessment is usually the first appointment you have at CAMHS. It’s a chance to tell them more about how you’re struggling and what’s going on in your life.

You’ll usually see one or two people at a CAMHS assessment. They might do different jobs within CAMHS. They’ll usually talk to you, as well as your parents and carers.

It can feel difficult, or strange, to talk to someone new about your thoughts and feelings. The people who work at CAMHS are used to talking to young people about their mental health. They won’t be shocked by what you tell them, and they won’t be angry. They want to listen, to make sure you get the help you need and deserve.

People do different jobs within CAMHS. Who you’ll see will depend on a few things, like what exactly you’re struggling with and how your service works.

You might hear the people at CAMHS called a ‘multi-disciplinary’ team. This means that people with different job roles all work together to make sure young people get the support they need.

You may also be given a Care Coordinator – this is someone who organises your overall care. They’ll usually be the person you (or your parents and carers) talk to first if you have any questions or worries.

The people who work at CAMHS include: 

The length of time people are supported by CAMHS depends on a lot of different things, including what they’re struggling with and what their goals are.

If you have an appointment with CAMHS, you can ask them how long they think you will see them for. They might not be able to give you an exact answer, but can often give you an idea.

Sometimes you might be given a set number of appointments. After this, you’ll be able to check in and talk about how things are going, so you can decide together whether more support from CAMHS would be helpful.

It can be really frustrating to have to wait to see CAMHS, especially when it takes a lot of courage to ask for help and support.

Waiting lists exist because CAMHS is busy. Often, more young people need help than CAMHS have space for at any one time, which means everyone has to wait. The people who work at CAMHS often wish they could help everyone faster too.

It’s OK if you feel angry, upset, or disappointed, even when you understand why waiting lists exist.