'What Comes With Goodbye?' Discharge Planning in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services-A Lived Experience...

Discharge planning should be considered for all individuals attending mental health services from the first visit and should involve the individual, whenever possible. However, despite this ideal and evidence for planned discharge, many services still carry out this process in silos, away from the individual it impacts most.

This paper aims to reflect on Will's experience of discharge during his time with Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) in order to demonstrate the importance of discharge planning in such services.

This is a first person narrative weaved with input from the academic literature in order to examine discharge planning within CAMHS.

As demonstrated through this lived experience piece, when discharge is planned efficiently and with the person involved throughout, then the overall experience of the service and of the discharge process, particularly in CAMHS, is a positive one. However, as noted in this narrative, unfortunately, this ideal is often not met, and despite the good that is achieved from accessing services, discharge when unplanned and not considered in the unique context of the person can lead to a return to unwellness. In essence, this narrative advocates for a recovery-oriented, person-centred approach to discharge planning and execution in CAMHS so that a person, like Will, can live a life of their choosing, free from unwellness.