B.C. teen shares struggles with mental health, calls for better services
CTV
Emmy Casper-Joe hadn’t even reached her teens when she started to struggle with her mental health.
Content warning: Some readers may find the details of this story disturbing. f you or anyone you know is struggling, there are a number of ways to get help, including by calling or texting Suicide Crisis Helpline at 988. A list of crisis centres in Canada is also available here.
Emmy Casper-Joe hadn’t even reached her teens when she started to struggle with her mental health.
“(She was) 12, that’s when I found her in the bathroom self-harming,” said her mom, Lizzy Casper-Joe.
“My initial reaction was just gut-wrenching guilt and a lot of mom shame surrounding having a kid who's self-harming
Emmy, now 15, clearly remembers that moment her mother found her.
“My mom walked in on me and she started crying. And she was asking me, ‘Do you want do die? Why are you doing this to yourself?’” she recalled.
At the time, her mom didn’t know her daughter had suffered trauma that was compounded when she started getting bullied at her new school.
