"I have been waiting 3 years now to see a..."

I have been suffering from mental health challenges from the age of 12... I am now 23 and yet to be seen by a psychiatrist on the NHS. During my teen years I was raced to the hospital back and forth by my parents who ended up resulting to paying privately for me to see a psychiatrist as the NHS kept me on a merry-go-round. I was experiencing suicidal episodes, extreme eating challenges, depression to the point I would lock my self in my room for weeks on end and not attend school, mood swings that would cause serious outbursts that mostly ended up in physical violence, memory loss and more. After being assessed and diagnosed I was on a good path to recovery. The NHS ran with the fact they did not have to pay for a psychiatrist to diagnose me and treated me based off the diagnosis of the private psychiatrist my PARENTS had to pay for. After a few years I got frustrated and gave up trying to treat my mental health with the NHS and ended up in a (manic) depressive and anxious state where I would refuse to leave the house or speak to anyone.... somehow my health improved gradually after locking my self away for a while. Nevertheless 3 years ago I was re-traumatised. Since then I have experienced additional challenges with my mental health ONTOP of those left unexplored because the NHS can’t be asked/afford to actually assess people that’s unless they try to commit suicide or get sectioned. I have been referred over 3 times now, been through 3 assessments by early intervention and also told “the psychiatrist choose who they wish to see based of the early interventions teams assessment” and in my case it’s not urgent enough for them to see me and that I must result to talking therapy or medication proscribed by my GP. Now for a single parent to a 3 year old who works full time and is doing everything in her power not to revert to that same dark place, given my history and the fact I am already on anti depressants and still experiencing challenges... you would think they would want to get me back to normal life as soon as possible?! But instead I am treated as though I’m cry wolf and not important enough. The way you are spoken to and handled by the staff would drive any person who’s suffering as severely as myself to rage or suicide. This is unacceptable and at this point I give up. Why is it someone has to be on the verge of suicide or unresponsive to see a psychiatrist?! MORE NEEDS TO BE DONE TO PREVENT PATIENTS FROM REACHING THAT STAGE! We want to be taken seriously.