It took decades after leaving care to get the mental health help I needed

an article by Jolene Campbell published in the Guardian

It took a crisis for me to get the specialist support that children in care should receive from the start


‘Adverse childhood experiences can have long-term effects on psychological health and wellbeing.’ Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo

Almost 30 years later, my heart still pounds when I think about the night before I was taken into care at the age of 10. Left alone in the house and sleeping with a knife under my pillow. To this day I have nightmares about it.

Trauma in childhood creates physical changes in the body; it makes us more likely to develop serious illnesses and increases the odds of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder later in life.

Looked-after children and young people have much poorer mental health than others; at least half have a mental health condition. About a quarter have had a mental health crisis since leaving care. According to charities such as Barnardo’s, most do not get specialist support.

Such systemic failure is brought into sharp focus when we consider that, in Scotland, the vast majority are referred to the children’s reporter for care and protection reasons. Neglect and lack of parental care is the most common reason for a child in Scotland to be on the child protection register.

Adverse childhood experiences like neglect can have complex, long-term effects on psychological health and wellbeing. My own experience bears out the growing evidence.

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