A YOUNG woman has penned a poem to mark an event raising awareness of children's mental health.

Nikita Adams, now 21, sought the help of Dorset HealthCare's Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) in 2012 - the year she was due to take her GCSEs.

She said she needed support from CAHMS after noticing something wasn't "quite right" with her wellbeing due to "a lot going on" in her home life and at school.

However, by the time she accessed help, her mental health was already spiralling out of control.

Nikita, who lives in North Dorset, has now written a poem about her experiences for Children's Mental Health Week.

In it, she speaks of being unhappy, feeling different from her friends, and hiding her thoughts, before finally accepting herself as she is.

She said: “I was scared to say anything to people because of how they would react and what that meant for me.

"I fell into CAMHS rather quickly, from the moment I decided to tell someone and get help, to my first emergency appointment.”

This year's Children's Mental Health Week runs between February 5 and 11. It aims to encourage children, young people and adults to celebrate being unique.

A spokesperson from the campaign said: "When we have a positive view of ourselves it can help us to cope with life’s challenges, and recognising the different qualities of others can allow us to connect with those around us – which is vital for our own and others’ wellbeing."

Place2Be launched the first-ever mental health week specifically for children and young people in 2015.

Children from Dorset will detail their experiences with mental health in their own words in a special Daily Echo series this week.

For more information, visit childrensmentalhealthweek.org.uk

Being myself is difficult.

Being myself is tough,

Because the more I try to be myself,

The more I don't feel good enough.

I don't dress like my friends do,

And I don't quite fit in,

But when I don't try and be myself,

I'm not happy... I can't win.

I've got a darkness that follows me,

It turns me up inside.

The more I try and hide it,

The more it makes me cry.

I want to tell my friends about it,

But I don't think they'll understand.

Maybe I should just hide away,

Come up with a better plan.

It's not like I fit in anyway,

I still like doing things they don't.

I've tried to force myself to be happy with their games,

But I don't think I can cope.

I've hidden away from my friends now...

I don't do the things I use to love.

I just sit with the darkness,

Wondering if I'm good enough.

I started doing what makes me happy,

When I sat inside my room,

People started to accept me,

Because I'd accepted myself too.

Realising that showed me something,

When I love myself others will love me too,

For all the unique things I am,

And all unique things I do.

When I myself can be happy,

When I myself can be alright,

When I myself can fight the darkness,

And do the things I like...

I don't need to be anyone else,

Because who I am is just fine.