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Understanding Children and Young People’s Mental Health

Case Study: Jesmin

Between the ages of four and ten, Jesmin was repeatedly raped
by her alcoholic father and her father’s friends. On numerous
occasions, she witnessed her mother, who had mental health
problems, being severely beaten by her father. Before her
transition to secondary school, the full horrors of Jesmin’s
experiences began to reveal themselves during periods in and
out of foster care and residential placements. She started to
self-harm, using knives to cut her legs, arms and stomach. She
started to place herself in risky situations, associating with drug
dealers and others who preyed on her vulnerability.

By the time Jesmin came to Caldecott at the age of fifteen, she
had been gang raped and attacked on multiple occasions; she
had spent a period on a psychiatric ward and in a secure unit.
A number of professionals had assessed Jesmin and attempted
to offer support, but this was either short-lived or terminated
because Jesmin was reluctant to engage.

With individual care and support [at Caldecott], she began to
open up, reduce her self-harming and re-engage with education.

Jesmin left Caldecott after three years and is living
semi-independently, though she still keeps in touch with
Carol especially. She is making good progress and hopes to
attend college next year.

Source: www.thecaldecottfoundation.co.uk

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is a type of anxiety disorder where the person
experiences compulsions to repeat behaviours such as washing their hands,
switching lights off and on, and repeatedly checking or counting something.

The word obsessive means different things to different people, but in this context,
it means an obsession with thoughts or actions that interfere with everyday life and
cause distress to the person experiencing it. The obsessive thoughts keep coming into
the person’s mind whether they want them to or not, and they have a compulsion to
carry out rituals or habits to make themselves feel better.

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