‘I had my guard up for a long time and that probably didn’t help’: Exploring care leavers’ experiences of the barriers to accessing mental health support during adolescence using photo-elicitation and Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

Children in care are more likely to experience significant mental health difficulties and consequently poorer long-term outcomes. However, they are less likely to receive professional mental health support than children living with their birth parents. Exploration of the barriers to accessing support from the perspective of care-experienced young people is limited within the literature; the present study aimed to bridge this gap. Six care leavers aged 18–25 years old engaged in a photo-elicitation-based interview that explored their experiences of the barriers to accessing professional mental health support during adolescence. Data were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), and five group experiential themes and 10 subthemes were identified. The group themes were ‘A lost cause’, ‘Alone no matter what’, ‘Don’t talk about mental health problems’, ‘Misunderstood’ and ‘Nobody helped us’. The clinical implications are discussed, as well as recommendations for future research.