​Terri Smith has spent seven years struggling with severe mental health problems, she says mental health services are failing young Scots

Aged just 13, I felt trapped in a world where I felt no one understood me, nor did I understand myself. I experienced both depression and anxiety at early adolescence, but I had never been informed about mental health problems, the symptoms or where to get help.

I’ve been a member of the Scottish Youth Parliament for 7 years, and just this month I was elected as chair of the organisation. Over the years I’ve campaigned on so many issues that I care about, the issues that are affecting the lives of young people in Scotland. Currently the Scottish Youth Parliament has made young people’s mental health our national campaign. As both chair of the organisation and a young person who has experience with mental health problems, I feel that it is important for me to speak out about my own experiences. After all, the name of our campaign is Speak Your Mind.

As a country we are failing young people, and it’s time to ensure we listen to the voices of those who are suffering

Terri Smith

After years of torturing myself and reaching a breaking point, I finally sought help when I was 19 years-old. I realised my mental state, as well as my behaviour, weren’t healthy when Coronation Street actress Anne Kirkbride died. I began uncontrollably crying for a woman I had never met, let alone known. I realised that I was in fact crying about something else entirely, something that I would need help to understand and talk about.

After a trip to my GP, I was diagnosed with depression, given anti-depressants, and a referral to a psychiatrist. I felt a weight had been lifted off my shoulders, but I also felt let down and confused because I had been palmed-off with medication I had no knowledge about. After being on the antidepressants for while, I experienced a mental health crisis. The antidepressants triggered a manic episode, followed by a bout of depression so severe I tried to take my own life. After all of this I was finally diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and received the correct medication for me, along with fantastic counselling from a third-sector youth organisation.

Only in the last twelve weeks have I seen a dramatic improvement in my own mental health. My recovery has been slow and steady, but the treatment I am receiving is enabling me to become mentally healthy for the first time since I was 13 years-old. My experience and journey doesn’t end there. The constant battle for professionally adequate help remains, as does the need to tackle the negative stigma that I often feel around me.

My story is important, because young people all over Scotland are experiencing the same problems. As a country we are failing young people, and it’s time to ensure we listen to the voices of those who are suffering, help them access the support they need, and finally stop making mental health a taboo topic. We need to speak openly and honestly. We need to speak our minds.

Terri Smith is the chair of the Scottish Youth Parliament