​Today marks 100 days of SAMH's campaign raising awareness for the lack mental health support for young people in Scotland

SAMH (the Scottish Association for Mental Health) is celebrating 100 days of its Going To Be campaign today, raising awareness for children and young people’s mental health.

The campaign is aiming to call attention to the thousands of young people who are unable to get help or support for their mental health, and is fighting for this to change in the future.

SAMH has just published a new report entitled Going To Be… All Right? that looks into the situation for young people aged 12 to 18 in Scotland surrounding mental health and emotional wellbeing, as well as exploring what happens when these people seek help for their mental health from both government-run and private services in Scotland.

The report reveals that the current situation is critical and is not getting better any time soon.

According to SAMH, over 7000 young people were turned away from CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) last year.

Cara is a SAMH service user and explains why change is needed: “At high school I was perfect, a good student with good grades.

“I went to the doctors consistently for six months to get the help I needed, but I was told I couldn’t get help.

“Because of my age I was too old to go to children’s mental health services and too young for adult services. I was lost in the system for a year. I felt confused and overlooked.

“I should have received support at a younger age, but it took five years until I was 23 for a doctor to diagnose me with Borderline Personality Disorder. Now 25, I have started to piece together my life which is now stable.”

To find out more about the Going To Be campaign and to view the report, visit their website here.