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Reporting a concern
It can be difficult to know what to do if you think a child is at risk. It’s important to remember that if you’ve spotted things that don’t seem right, others will have too. Speaking up can make sure that child gets help as soon as possible.
The sooner you contact your local children’s social care duty team, the quicker they can act. They’re available 24 hours a day, and can make an anonymous report if that feels safer. If a child is in immediate danger, please call the police straight away by dialling 999.
Report child abuse or neglect to your local council
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Hi, I've just joined the site as I have a few concerns I thought you guys may be able to give advice to.
I met a woman about a year ago and everything has been so rushed, she fell pregnant within a month of us meeting and 7 months later we got married, we both knew that we wanted to settle down and have kids and get married, though she wanted this all too soon for my liking, I wanted to really get to know her first, though when I found out she was pregnant we got married as I knew I wanted to be there for that kid.
Fast forward a year and now I want out. She has mental issues I'm unable to cope with, she wont leave my side, the only time I get to myself is when I go to work or when I'm in the toilet. She suffers with anxiety and depression, she used to self harm and never leaves the house which isn't good for my son who is now 16 weeks old.
I moved away from my family town and my family to be with her, she has her mum here but she is in ill health so is unable to offer any help and her dad is also very ill. I'm relatively new in this town and don't know anyone apart from my wife. I feel caged, I can't just pop to see my family as I live so far away from them now, though they have made it clear they will give us all the help and support we need if we were to move there close to them, or if I were to move back there with my son. I know if I were to move back there with my son we would both have a better quality of life which is what I want to give him.
To be honest I'm only in this relationship for the sake of my son, I know it's a harsh thing to say but it's true, if my son wasn't here I wouldn't be either, I know that for a fact. Thing is she feels such an attachment to me that I fear what it would do to her mental state if I were to leave. I would want to take my son with me too because I do not believe she is capable of looking after him.
She has pets she is neglecting, she has a rabbit pen in the kitchen full of rabbit feces which has created a huge amount of fly's around the house. She has two cats that are riddled with fleas and I've been bitten countless times by them (the fleas) which has cause scabs on my legs. And recently I've found a few fleas crawling over my sons head who is only 16 weeks old, this angers me so much as she doesn't do anything about it, I try to clean up the rabbit though she insist that the rabbit likes it that way and that he doesn't like to lose that'scent' he has created... ;;)
Long story short, I want to move back to my family town so I can recover from this mess, I feel like if I stay I will fall into a pit of depression along with my wife. Problem is I do not know how I would go about just taking my son, I'm not entirely sure what my wife is capable of, I don't know if she would hurt herself or make it difficult for me to take my son, which scares me, though I believe that if this were to go to court at any point they would give me rights to my son anyway due to my wife's mental history and self harming.
I have been thinking about contacting social services and asking for advice on this matter too, though I'm not sure if they would be of any help and I'm not too sure how to go about contacting them, do they have a website, an email address or is is just a phone number?
Any advice you guys could give me on this matter would be greatly appreciated, and I do apologies for the lengthy post, I re-wrote it about 6 times and this was the shortest I could get it.
Thanks
Does your Wife see any health professional other than her gp for mental health issues? Rather than social services, you may be better suited speaking to the health visitor, and asking if she can arrange an appointment for you both to see a CPN or community psychiatric nurse, who will be far better placed to assess the situation you are both in at the moment, as well as to offer help and treatment your Wife may need.
The sooner you make these concerns known to the relative parties, the better.
Hello Den-J,
I can see where GuyVexille is coming from but I don't believe any health professional would discuss your wife's problems as it would be a serious breach of confidentiality. If you suggest this option to your wife and she agrees to see the community psychiatric nurse there could be some benefit from all three of you meeting together but I think your wife would have to initiate this.
They are married, and he is the father of the child, speaking to a health visitor is perfectly fine. I didn't suggest that he try to discuss her issues, only that he made them known to the relevant people. He is her husband, he is well within his rights to seek help. She doesn't have to agree, but lots of people with mental health issues, either don't see it, or refuse to accept it.
Thanks for the advice. She realises that she has mental health issues and has been in contact with her doctor about getting some professional help, though this was back in February and still we are waiting, though I feel she doesn't really want to get help as she's been to see professionals about her mental health problems in the past and she said its never worked for her, I believe the reason for that is because she doesn't really want the help, you've got to want it to make it better.
She's also very opinionated, she believes she's right about everything and anything I suggest or say to her just gets brushed off. I used to be very good at managing money before I met her, yet I'm now in a lot of debt due to her using my credit card. She went bankrupt before I met her but she claimed this was due to her ex partner... I'm starting to think it was more her. She tells me that we will never be debt free and that's just part of having a family.
She will not move from the four bedroom house we are in because it's her 'dream house' yet we cannot afford the rent, we struggle to feed ourselves let alone our son which is why we're getting into so much debt, and now she's desperate to have another child. On top of this she has just found out she is being made redundant from work, and that's where most of the income is currently coming from!
I'd like to be able to enjoy life and give my son a good life, mix with other people and show him that there's a lot more to life, not being shut away everyday whilst I get stressed because we are getting into more and more debt.
I guess I just needed to rant, I've had enough and I could easily walk away, I know for a fact that if I did, I could easily pay up my debts along with raising my son. I have so much help and support available to me back where I came from. Here I feel lonely, caged and stressed everyday, I feel like I don't have a life any more.
Again I appreciate the advice, I have argued so much with my wife about these issues yet my thoughts and feelings count for nothing when expressing these worries, it's her way or no way, and if that's the case then I feel she should just go it alone.
Hi there
I think speaking to the Health Visitor is a good idea and not just about your wifes mental health, the health of your child is at risk because of the conditions she insists onkeeping the animals in. Take some photos and go along to see the health visitor. If your wife is refusing to do anything about it then I see that as a clear risk to your son and at that point you would be within your rights to remove him for his own safety.
It's not safe to assume that because of your wife's mental health issues that the court would award you custody I'm afraid, the more proof you have that she is unable to cope the better and involving the various agencies will leave a record of your concerns.
Have you told her that you want to return back to the area where your family live? Rather than lose you might she agree to the move if you give her an ultimatum?
I can understand that you are worried what she will do if you leave, but your priority is your son and also your own well being and sometimes there's only so much you can do before it gets too much. At the moment you feel as if you are helpless and have lost control of your life. It's difficult to take that first step to take back control, but that first step is the hardest and once it's taken it becomes much easier.
All the best
Thank you for the advice, I think it would be a good idea to speak to the health visitor, though I don't know how my wife would feel if I brought up these issues?
The depression is the worst part of it all really. I used to suffer badly with anxiety, though over the past couple of years I've been getting a lot better, to the point that it isn't an issue. However, since moving in with my wife my mood has dropped and I feel like I'm falling into depression along with her, my work is suffering, I used to love my job and now that I've been living with my wife and transferring to a new place of work, I struggle so much in my job, even the people there talk about how down I am, it's horrible.
My wife just acts like everything is fine, she said she couldn't live without me and she's glad I'm in her life, though she just doesn't see the issues, I have lived in hope that things would get better but they only seem to be getting worse.
I'll contact the health visitor and explain to them about the situation, though I feel even this would cause arguments with my wife unless I do it without her knowing, though I'm guessing the health visitor will raise these issues with my wife anyway once I speak to her.
Again, I thank you for the advice, I appreciate it.
Hi there
You could ask the Health Visitor to keep your discussion in confidence, explain to her the awful rows it would cause if she knew you had been discussing things and that you have tried to get your wife to understand the health implications for your baby but she is not cooperating. I'm sure the Health Visitor would be discreet and could calL round to see how mum and baby are getting on.
If you took some photos at least the health visitor will understand the situation better and perhaps you can discuss with her how best to tackle it.
Best of luck