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Understanding Children and Young People’s Mental Health

Case Study: Megan

‘I grew up throughout my whole adolescence a lost little soul,
hiding away my internal sufferings from those around me in my life,
and desperately seeking the answers as to why I was so unhappy
compared to all my other peers. Little did I know, that 10 and a half
years later it would all make sense. The day I sat in my doctor’s
office whilst she threw the term ‘bipolar disorder’ at me.’
‘‘Bipolar disorder?’ I questioned her. But I am not either sad or
happy all the time? Little did I know that such a mental health
condition was so much more than just switching back and forth
from becoming super happy one minute then having a low mood
the next. It was much more multi-faceted and complex than that.’
‘According to research published in the Journal of Clinical
Psychiatry, the average time from onset of symptoms to official
diagnosis for bipolar disorder is in the region of 10 years. In
my case, my experiences fit in to these statistics pretty neatly;
although there are other people out there who suffer for many
more years before they seek the right help and treatment that
they need in order to survive.’

‘One day, when I was curiously seeking answers on Google for
‘Why do I feel so sad all the time?’ and ‘Is having urges to hurt
myself normal?’, I came across a website that specialised in
mental health issues, and had a growing community of forums
and live group chats. I sat up all night, reading all the posts of
those who were suffering and desperately seeking replies to
which I could offer words of advice or comfort them in some way.
Thus, I signed up to the community, wrote up my first post – and
that was the last time I can remember when I really truly felt I was
on my own in my suffering. Over the months, I made connections
with others who also felt like me, and eventually talking it out
gave me the confidence to realise that maybe I needed to go and
see a specialist after all – these hidden feelings I had carried over
the years deep inside me had been validated.’

‘The battle for a steady diagnosis was still far beyond reach; it
took countless therapists, psychiatrists, a few misdiagnoses of
PTSD and Borderline Personality Disorder, before the nail was
fully hit on the head.’

Extract from Megan’s story – Time to Change.

Source: https://www.time-to-change.org.uk/blog/learn-how-save-
lives-mental-health-community

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