Dismissed and Delayed: My Mental Health Struggle

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“Personally I think mental health services for teens is absolutely awful. I’ve been getting assessed for some kind of mental illness so I had been referred to cahms in January. I got told that I am fine and it was just my ‘hormones’ and ‘my social anxiety’ when it really was not. 

Everyone knew it wasn’t, I did abit of CBT which wasn’t the help I needed. My cahms worker never let me get a word in, she always just knew everything apparently, and I was apparently being over dramatic. 

I got discharged and I came out cahms so much worse when I went in. My mental health deteriorated more because I thought no one was listening, there was a problem there and no one is listening. Something happened so I went to the GP and told him what I’m struggling with and he said he knows what it is and it’s unbelievable that my cahms worker missed it.

He’s referred me back into the list but just because I had already been seen that year I got declined. It had took for my mam and my GP to call cahms manager and explain the situation. They accepted me but I have to be at the bottom of the wait list because I had already been seen. Now I don’t get seen for 27 weeks, 6months. 

It’s absolutely ridiculous and disgusting the way teenagers get treated for mental health, it’s always just “hormones” or “fear of judgement for social media” or “self esteem”. Yeah that is my mental health story.”