A family have started a children's charity after their 12-year-old son struggled for years to get help with his mental health and suicidal attempts.

Kirsty Solman, 41, and husband Scott, 46, have been trying for over two years to get help for their son Kyle, 12, who struggles with depression and anxiety issues.

After Kyle’s mental health worsened during the COVID lockdowns, the family began seeking help for him – but say they weren’t taken seriously, even after multiple attempts from Kyle to end his own life.

"Kyle has always been quite an anxious child," Kirsty said."

"A lot of that was down to his autism, but then lockdown hit, and we started noticing a change in his behaviours. He started becoming very, very withdrawn."

"Before COVID, he was very active – he was part of a mountain biking club, he did swimming. He was always on the go, and he loved being out and about."

"During the first lockdown, he had talking therapy over Zoom. They said that he seemed absolutely fine – but they couldn’t see that he was constantly fidgeting and picking his fingers completely raw."

"He finished the talking therapy, and they told us they couldn’t do anything else."
"In November 2021, it all got too much for him and that was the first time he tried to end his life."

"It wasn’t until Kyle’s third attempt before his doctors spoke to their psychiatrists to see if anyone could take him on. He’d done all the therapy they’d advised, and nothing was helping."

"Since then, he’s been in psychiatry. In the meantime, they’ve started him on sertraline for his anxiety."

"We’ve fought for him constantly."

Since starting medication, Kyle’s mood has gradually begun to improve – and he has even been able to return to school for the first time in months.

Kyle and his parents have been documenting his experiences with sertraline on their social media to attempt to reduce the stigma around children who receive mental health medication.

"The medication along with the continued therapies have definitely made a massive difference," Kirsty said."

"He missed half of his final year in primary school due to how poorly his mental health got."

"Now he’s in secondary school and he’s enjoying being at school. Seeing him actually want to go to school is amazing."

"He’s still not at the point where he’s ready to go out and about and join clubs outwith school, but the fact that he’s able to go to school is a really big step."

"Since we’ve been raising awareness and Kyle’s been documenting his journey on sertraline, a lot of families have come forward and said thank you – they felt alone and judged when their child was put on medication."

"We want to try and help end that stigma, because that shouldn’t be the case – if a child needs mental health medication, that shouldn’t have to be kept a secret. It shouldn’t be something that we can’t talk about."

While the family are thankful that Kyle is getting the treatment he needs, they remain all too aware of how isolating it can be for families dealing with the realities of mental illness.

They have decided to use their experience to help others, by starting a charity named after Kyle, designed to show people experiencing mental health difficulties that they’re not alone.

Stand With Kyle Now have launched a campaign named Project Encourage, where volunteers can send letters of support to people going through inpatient mental health treatment.

"We’ve seen firsthand how little support there is out there. You’ve got other charities, but there’s not a lot of grassroots support for children who are struggling with their mental health," Kirsty said."

"When Kyle was at his worst, we never left the house unless it was to go to an appointment or to try and get him to school, because that felt like the one place where we could keep our child safe. "

"It became very, very isolating. We were very lucky that we have really good friends and family around us, but not everybody is as lucky as that."

"We thought we should stop complaining that there’s nothing out there and do something about it. That’s where the campaign initially came from."

"We put in our first petition to the Scottish Government asking for funding to be released for a specific A&E for mental health."

"It went from there – people reached out to us online and said they were going through the same thing and felt so alone. "

"We took it a step further and applied for charity status so we could officially start support groups, initially in our area and hopefully eventually across Scotland."

"Project Encourage was started because we remember how isolating it was. Kyle said to us that he felt like he was on his own and nobody else was going through the same thing. "

"That’s when we thought that there are people who are fighting with the demons in their own head while inpatients in mental health units across Scotland. That includes children as well, not just adults."

"We then set up a PO box so that members of the general public can write cards and letters of encouragement. "

"We check over them and read them all first to make sure they’re appropriate, then they’ll get bundled up and sent to inpatient units throughout Scotland."

"Patients can read the letters and hopefully know that there’s people on the outside who have never met them before who are hoping for them to get better. "

"Something as small as that can mean a whole lot to someone that’s really struggling mentally. It’s about knowing that somebody that you’ve never met is thinking about you and is willing for you to win your fight."

Kyle and his family hope that their experience will allow them to help make other families in similar situations feel less alone – and they aim to continue pushing for more funding into children’s mental health.

"I think it’s a good way to advocate and help," said Kyle."

"I think the charity is amazing and I think it’s a really good idea."

"My experience has helped me to understand what other people are going through."

"Trying to get treatment has been very hard and it still is very hard – it needs to be better and it needs to change."

To take part in Project Encourage, letters can be sent to SKWN at PO Box 16276, G15 9AJ.