Young mum with schizophrenia describes 'crippling symptoms'
We reveal children as young as two are on mental health waiting lists
Last updated 16th Feb 2024
By Tara Griffiths
A young woman with serious mental illness has described seeing a 'woman in black' as part of her hallucinations.
It comes as it was revealed the number of children and young people waiting for a mental health assessment in Northern Ireland has more than doubled since the pandemic.
According to figures from the Department of Health, a low of over a thousand total waits for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service assessments were recorded during September 2020, that then peaked at almost two thousand 400 at the end of March last year.
And we can exclusively reveal children as young as two were on mental health waiting lists for CAMHS services, according to the Northern Trust.
The Northern Trust had the highest numbers waiting for a CAMHS assessment at 31 December 2023, whilst the Western HSC Trust had the least numbers waiting.
Number of referrals made to Northern Trust CAMHS over the previous five years:
Year Referrals Made
2019 3,439
2020 2,944
2021 3,156
2022 3,096
2023 3,002
A Northern Health and Social Care Trust spokesperson said: "We regret that children and young people in the Northern Trust area are facing the longest waits to access our CAMH service.
"Our teams triage referrals to ensure the most urgent referrals are prioritised.
"Children requiring urgent assessment and intervention within the context of an acute episode of poor mental health will always be seen without delay by the Trust’s Crisis Service.
"Figures presented by the Northern Trust over the course of 2023 demonstrate that we have made steady progress on reducing CAMHS waiting times.
"This progress has been maintained into 2024."
At 31 December 2023, there were 2,095 total waits for a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service assessment in Northern Ireland, of which 1104 were waiting for more than nine weeks (53%).
25-year-old Erin Quinn has experience of using the CAMHS service, when she first began showing signs of mental illness, a suicide attempt aged just 12.
She was later diagnosed with schizophrenia aged 18 and tells us about her crippling hallucinations.
She describes seeing a 'woman in black:'
"She appeared around the age of 13/14.
"When things are really, really bad, then she would come and she never really spoke, I got locked in the fear.
"The woman in black, she is quite a small little woman, she wears a black dress, floor length but on top of that it's like a lace black, you can't see her face.
"She just follows me everywhere I go but the closer she gets the worse I get, the worse the voices get, the worse the hallucinations get."
Erin, who is a young mum to son River praised the CAMHS services she used when she was younger but says she is not surprised the demand is very high since the pandemic:
"I enjoyed CAMHS, they really went above and beyond for me right up until the age of 18...it was just constant support, I went every single week but then when I transferred to the adults (services) I got a shock"
The Belfast woman described what it is like to have schizophrenia:
"It's very crippling, I wouldn't wish anyone to have it.
"It's especially difficult because you can't tell.
"If you look at me, I look like just a normal person but I'm not."
The Department of Health said: "It is widely recognised that Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) have faced significant pressures in recent years as a result of increased demand for services and resource constraints.
"These issues were further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has continued to negatively impact young people’s mental health and wellbeing.
"In particular, services have faced a significant increase in young people presenting with higher levels of acuity and complexity of need, particularly in relation to eating disorders.
"As a result, young people have required higher and more intensive levels of support, including inpatient care.
It is envisaged that longer term improvement in CAMHS in Northern Ireland will be achieved through the implementation of The Mental Health Strategy 2021-31.
"The Strategy highlights priority actions which will directly benefit children and young people in need of mental health support and assist with improving overall CAMHS performance.
"From a CAMHS perspective this includes allocating additional funding to assist with increasing capacity and enhancing current provision as well as the roll out the Acute CAMHS Managed Care Network.
"Work has also begun on developing longer term investment plans in recognition of the commitment set out in the Mental Health Strategy to increase CAMHS funding to 10% of the adult mental health funding."
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