Sophie – Interview 07
Sophie is 17 and says she’s been depressed and feeling up and down all her life. Sophie is currently unemployed but is hoping to retake her GCSE’s and to go to college to do hairdressing. She’s going through a mental health assessment to see what’s going on. She says counselling and writing have helped her the most. (White British).
Sophie is 17. She says she’s had depression all her life. She describes herself as up and dow; going from very low moods to high moods and down again. Recently she’s been having more and more lows and says she doesn’t have the highs anymore. When she’s feeling low she also self-harms.
When Sophie was younger, she used to skip school because she felt too depressed to get out of bed. She says school was horrible and she wasn’t comfortable being in large groups. Her teachers accused her of messing about and didn’t realise that she just couldn’t concentrate and understand the wor. Over time, she changed from a very bubbly girly girl to feeling more insecure and wearing tracksuits and not bothering to do her hair and make-up. Because she missed out on so much school Sophie never got her GCSE’s which is making it very difficult for her to get to college.
Sophie fell out with her mum and brother and they are not in touch at the moment. Sophie lives on her own in a supported housing flat. Sophie says she really wants to get back to the Sophie that gets on and leads a normal lif but because a lot of things have been building up for a long time it’s sometimes hard to believe it could change.
Sophie is going through an assessment at the local CAMHS services (Child and Adolescent Mental Health) to get a diagnosis and says it might be bi-polar. She’s been on antidepressants for four weeks and says they;ve helped a bit.
Sophie says she’s got a lot of support; from counselling, from her support worker, youth offending officer and some of her friends but she says it’s hard to make use of that support. Sometimes she;d just like a cuddle from her mum to make her feel better. She;d like to retake her GCSEs and go onto college to do hairdressing. Sophie says writing helps her to let everything ou. She says that if you find it difficult to trust people or lack confidence to speak out about your feelings, writing those feelings down can help because a book won’t talk bac and no-one has to see it.