A Tayside musician is helping beat the stigma of mental illness by rapping about his time in a Dundee psychiatric hospital.
Kieran Smart, who studied music production in Perth before being admitted to Carseview, posted a video to social media which detailed his battle against self-harm and hallucinations.
The 23-year-old mentions his feelings of isolation while struggling with his mental health, which led him to spend a total of four months in the unit over the past two years.
He said he hoped the video would encourage more people to seek help sooner, after revealing it took him five years to get treatment.
He said: “It’s an overview of what I was feeling at the time. Now I feel not much different but better – music definitely helps with that. It gives me an outlet – a way to put things down as I’m not really big on speaking to people and this is easier.
“I’ve been writing for ten years and when I came out of Carseview the second time that’s when I recorded my first song.
“I put this video online to help break down the stigma of mental illness. I want to bring awareness to that – I want people to know it’s all right to not be all right.
“It’s a constant reminder for me but I’d rather it helped someone – I hope it would. I’ve been dealing with this since 2012 and I didn’t seek any help until 2017 because I had the idea that being male I had to mask it.”
Mr Smart has also praised staff at the facility at a time when mental health services in Tayside have come under fire, with unit closures in Perthshire and Angus.
He said: “When I first went into Carseview I wanted out as soon as possible because I was in a locked ward but the treatment was really good and the staff were great – they were always willing to talk.”
