'It's so hard to watch my mum suffer': The growing anguish of families Trapped by Raac in Aberdeen
As months turn into years for families Trapped by Raac in Balngask, fears for the future only intensify.
In this special report we lift the lid on the mental health toll this crisis is taking on everyday people, caught in a cycle of 'uncertainty, worry and hopelessness.'
We hear of:
This time last year Pam Milne was a picture of health. I know, because I met her.
Twelve months on she's withdrawn, has lost interest in life, and sometimes can't bear to leave the house.
'Nothing's the same,' the 67-year-old tells me from her living room.
'I just sit here, and some days I don't even get dressed. I used to love being in my garden. Now I just worry about the house, and about money.
'I sometimes have to be talked into spending even a pound because I become so anxious that if I spend it, I could end up on the streets.'
She lives in one of more than 500 homes found to contain a potentially dangerous and unstable material called Raac.
Earmarked for demolition, she's so far refused to engage in Aberdeen City Council's buy-back scheme for her home, knowing friends and neighbours have been offered 'a pittance' for their properties.
Part of Pam's anxiety is because when she bought her three-bed house on Balnagask Road, she shared the cost with her daughter Pauline.
'Are you worried in case Polly loses out?' I ask.
Teary, she only manages to nod.
I know from previous interviews they could lose tens of thousands off the value of Pam's house, if they have to sell for post-Raac prices.
'It's not fair,' Polly says. 'Trapped is a good way to describe what this is doing to my mum.'
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't stunned at the difference in Pam since I last popped in.
'It's heartbreaking,' said Polly, who lives in a flat across the road from her mum. 'I don't know if she'll ever be the same after this.
'I find it so hard to watch her suffering, and worrying all the time.'
We keep talking some more while photos are taken.
Pam and Polly hug their little dog, and we even get a laugh when she misbehaves on camera.
When I tell Pam that she's not the only one suffering in this way, she seems to perk up.
'Really? I thought it was just me.'
No, sadly, she's far from the only one contending with mental health issues as a result of this crisis.
Torry GP Adrian Crofton recently spoke out on the alarming rise in people needing sedatives and anti-depressants due to Raac, describing his patients as experiencing 'uncertainty, worry and hopelessness.'
And in this week's council meeting where Raac was discussed, displaced council tenant Paula Fraser read out harrowing anonymous testimonies of how this protracted crisis is taking its toll on people in her former community.
'I've sat in my car by the harbour, if I just put my foot down at least the wife and kids will get insurance,' was one account she read out.
Before a second poignant account from another person Trapped by Raac was read to a silent room: 'I am now on anti- antidepressants with feelings of dread, despair and self-harm and worse. I feel like a failure.'
Ian Lippe, Torry Community Raac Campaign chair, confirmed the dire situation. 'Folk are broken' by the 'never-ending' situation, he says.
Another of the homeowners facing financial hardship, his home has been valued at £37,000 less than it was before the Raac bombshell dropped.
'My health is fine – physically – but like everybody else my mental health is shot.
'Every council meeting… deferred. Every decision takes an age. We're just festering away here.
'We get that it isn't the fault of this current council but come on, a wee bit of understanding and compassion would go a long way.
'Their inclusion and empathy lanyards are just words on a bit of string to them.'
For Saltoun Arms manager Ian, and others around him, his home – once a safe haven – is both the place he wants to be most and the place he wants to get away from.
'I take on extra shifts at work because I don't want to be in the house. But at the same time, I'm fighting this because I shouldn't be losing my home.
'You basically have to keep busy all the time.'
And where he'd normally find comfort in friends and family, he now avoids those 'sad' conversations.
'Everybody you see just wants updates on the house.
'It's out of concern but the more folk are asking the worse it is. Especially if I've kept myself to myself for months.'
It's a particularly pressing time for those on the frontline of the campaign for homeowner justice.
'Don't get me wrong, we want to do it, but we've all got jobs, and families and you just get pulled in every direction.
'It's not something you can train for or plan for. We were thrown into this, and it's relentless.'
Ian also believes the community becoming run down isn't helping the mood of those left behind.
'It was a great place to live. Now it's a ghost town, and a run-down ghost town at that.
'It makes me wonder if the strategy is to see how long we'll last living in an abandoned estate.
'There are people — men — crumbling round about me. The last people I would have thought would go to pieces… but that's the reality of putting people in a lose-lose situation with little to no support and communication.
'I worry that Aberdeen City Council will have blood on its hands if nothing is done soon.
'Well, I guess that would be one less house to buy back, though, wouldn't it?'
The prospective impact on mental health as a result of forced displacement, financial hardship and loss of community was flagged at the outset of this crisis by Balnagask residents and GPs alike.
And while Raac-affected homeowners, tenants and their families were signposted to mental health services from the outset, and mental wellbeing sessions and community drop-ins were added in Summer 2024, only now has a dedicated service to help victims of the Raac crisis been established.
Thanks to funding from Aberdeen City Council, Scottish Action for Mental Health (SAMH) has practitioners, solely allotted to those needing support as a result of Raac.
Lisa Feldano, SAMH Senior Service Manager, said: 'We have two dedicated wellbeing practitioners who can meet people affected for one-to one sessions. They can offer up to eight sessions of structured psychological support to help navigate the challenges of this situation impacting their mental health and wellbeing.
'We also have a link worker who can help people to prioritise the challenges impacting them the most, during this stressful time.'
The Hear for You service offers in-person, video call or phone sessions to meet everyone's needs.
There will also be drop-in sessions planned in community centres throughout the area, to give further opportunities for people to be supported.
'I'd encourage anyone affected by RAAC directly or indirectly in Torry to get in touch and access this support,' Lisa added.
Get in touch with the Hear for You service by emailing Hearforyou@samh.org.uk or by calling 0344 800 0550.
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