A VULNERABLE young mum with mental health problems has told how she had to wait four months to get psychiatric help.

Hollie McGrath, 21, was admitted to hospital with severe post-natal depression after giving birth to her son and was placed under the care of perinatal mental health experts.

She was discharged from this six months ago when her son marked his first birthday and has been left waiting ever since then for an appointment with a psychiatrist.

Hollie, who lives in Branchton with her son Roman McShane, said: “I have felt at times that I just don’t want to be here.

“I have had suicidal thoughts in the past.

“They know all this and it has taken all this time to send me to a psychiatrist.”

Hollie had a history of low mood and this was exacerbated when she gave birth to her baby.

She said: “I felt very alone when I had Roman.

“People say you feel unconditional love straight away for your baby but I just couldn’t feel anything. 

“It was as if he wasn’t mine. It was horrible.

“At first I thought it was the ‘baby blues’, but I went to the doctor five days after Roman was born and they diagnosed post-natal depression.”

Hollie said spending time in the hospital unit helped her to bond with Roman.

The help initially continued when she came home, with support from a community psychiatrist nurse and a psychiatrist.

But the support was withdrawn and Hollie’s case was transferred to Crown House in Greenock.

She says it has taken weeks of waiting just to get to the same point she was at four months ago.

Hollie said: “The first assessment was done by a social worker, then two weeks after that they wanted to carry out another assessment.

“The report from the second assessment was to go to a meeting the following Thursday but I hadn’t heard anything three weeks after that.

“I phoned and was told by one of the managers that the report hadn’t even been written from the second assessment.”

Hollie says that the delay is causing her distress.

She said: “I feel I get stressed really easily. I’m up and down.

“I feel as if I’ve been passed from pillar to post and no-one is listening. 

“It’s been delay after delay.

“When I originally complained I was told ‘you’re getting an appointment’.

“I thought mental health professionals were meant to help prevent suicide but they are leaving people so long without help it becomes unbearable.”

A spokeswoman for NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde said that patients are ‘triaged and prioritised by clinical need’.

They added: “This patient has been assessed appropriately and we have now offered her an appointment next week.

“We are happy to meet the patient and discuss with her any concerns she may have about her treatment.”