Suicide Attempts Antidepressants 14/11/2009 England Young Woman Attempts Suicide 8 Times While on Antidepressants for Depression Summary:

Paragraphs 18 through 26 read:  "At 12 she was on antidepressants, seeing a child psychologist and was educated at home.

"At the age of 16 she was prescribed  another type form of antidepressants and was scared of leaving the safety of her home to go to college."

"Combined with her BDD symptoms, the anxiety was too much to bear and the teenager tried to kill herself with an overdose of painkillers in September 1999. "

"She was found by her mother Heather Samuels, who rushed her to hospital and saved her life."

"It was then Ms Camille was referred to another child psychologist, but the symptoms proved too much again."

"At the age of 17 , she tried to end her life again in June 2000, but was saved and finally diagnosed with BDD."

"But treatment did not help and at 18, she tried to take an overdose in the summer of 2001 and October 2001, each time being rescued by her now ex-partner."

"For three years Ms Camille has kept her illness at bay but in summer 2004 tried twice to commit suicide."

"It was finally at the age of 23, in 2006, that she hit rock bottom and made what would be the final attempt to take her own life."


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1227516/Attractive-student-suffering-body-dysmorphia-attempts-suicide-times-seeing-disgusting-figure-mirror.html


Blind to her own beauty: The woman with body dysmorphia who can't bear to look at her own reflection

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 2:11 PM on 13th November 2009

A young woman spoke today of her secret battle against a rare body dysmorphia condition that has caused her to attempt suicide eight times.

Hannah Camille, 26, regularly gets admiring glances from men, but takes them as looks of repulsion, not attraction.

Her body dysmorphic disorder blinds her to her own beauty and makes her feel worthless - despite obvious good looks.

Recovering: Hannah Camille's body dysmorphic disorder made her hate her body so much she tried to commit suicide eight times

Depression: Hannah, pictured at 21, before she hit rock bottom two years later and made what would be the final attempt to take her own life

The illness is so severe it has made Hannah try to take her own life eight times.

Ms Camille, from Walsall, West Midlands, claims when she looks in a mirror, she cannot see the person everyone else does, but a grotesque, fat figure.

But now, Hannah thinks she has found the key to battling the illness - thanks to her passion for photography.

By making herself a work of art, she says she has managed to look at herself objectively.

Ms Camille's nightmare began when she was just nine and started puberty early, sparking feelings of self-loathing and paranoia.

Hannah said: 'When I look in the mirror all I see is where it's fat. I can see parts of me that look thin but I push that aside.

'I see my stomach sticking out, my hips are wide and my legs are huge.

'When it first started I can remember thinking that I wasn't good enough and believing people thought I was disgusting to be around.

'I remember feeling everybody hated me and I used to focus on everyone's put downs, and dismiss any compliments.

'The worst point was just before I started college, I tried to commit suicide for the first time.

'That was when I felt I didn't care if I'm not alive, that I was not afraid to die. It was one my lowest points.'

Despite a happy childhood, Ms Camille was convinced she was fat, ugly and stupid - quickly developing anorexia.

At 12 she was on antidepressants, seeing a child psychologist and was educated at home.

At the age of 16 she was prescribed  another type form of antidepressants and was scared of leaving the safety of her home to go to college.

Combined with her BDD symptoms, the anxiety was too much to bear and the teenager tried to kill herself with an overdose of painkillers in September 1999.

She was found by her mother Heather Samuels, who rushed her to hospital and saved her life.

It was then Ms Camille was referred to another child psychologist, but the symptoms proved too much again.

At the age of 17 , she tried to end her life again in June 2000, but was saved and finally diagnosed with BDD.

But treatment did not help and at 18, she tried to take an overdose in the summer of 2001 and October 2001, each time being rescued by her now ex-partner.

For three years Ms Camille has kept her illness at bay but in summer 2004 tried twice to commit suicide.

It was finally at the age of 23, in 2006, that she hit rock bottom and made what would be the final attempt to take her own life.

Following a massive nervous breakdown, doctors tried to commit her, but mother Heather, 69, intervened and she was allowed to stay at home under 24-hour suicide watch.

Heather's pain, new medication and a therapist - who suggested using her photography skills to help boost Hannah's confidence - proved the turning point.

It was looking back at pictures she had taken of herself that brought on the start of recovery.

Moving on: Hannah's passion for photography triggered her to look at her body objectively and helped others with a similar condition

Now Ms Camille has just completed her first exhibition of her photographs at the Chameleon Art Gallery in Walsall to critical acclaim.

Hannah said: 'I looked at them and I just saw myself as an art piece rather than me.

'It really helped to accept myself and not think about body and image but a person as a whole.

'It was then I contacted other sufferers and offered to take pictures of them.

'I believe that it helped them in a way as much as it did me - it was a kind of group therapy.
 
'You are never over BDD but on a good day I can say I look okay.

'If I can look in the mirror and say I look okay, that I can go out and do normal things like window-shop and have a picnic, to me that is wonderful.

'To others it can sound mundane, but compared to what I been though mundane is positive for me. It's better than how I felt in the past.

'I looked at a picture of myself last night and I thought I looked beautiful.

"It wasn't because I thought I was attractive - it was because I looked happy.'