MSP considered taking own life over chronic pain

An MSP has said she considered taking her own life after being prescribed medication to treat chronic pain.

Cara McKee, the Green MSP for the West of Scotland, is preparing to return to Holyrood next week after undergoing brain surgery for trigeminal neuralgia - a debilitating condition which affects nerves in the face and can cause shooting pain.

Talking to the BBC's Scotcast podcast, the mother-of-three said it had taken almost 30 years for her to receive a diagnosis.

At first doctors thought it was dental pain and she was sent to a dentist to get a tooth out. She was also prescribed different types of medication.

''I got put on one medication which I thought maybe helped a little bit, but it didn't help all the way," she said.

"It also made me feel very negative. To be honest I had suicidal ideation. It just seemed like it would be more sensible if I wasn't there and the kids could be looked after better.

''I can remember how logical it was to me. I didn't feel really upset about it, which is what I imagined. It just seemed like a sensible path."

McKee spoke to her husband about how she was feeling and she went back to the doctor who took her off the medication.

According to the NHS around 38 per cent of people in Scotland live with chronic pain and a higher proportion of women (43%) than men (33%) are affected.

McKee said she thinks many people are suffering in silence.

''I remember when I was on an away day in my previous job as a librarian and we did this thing where somebody came to talk to us about pain.

"We all had to record out of 10 the level of pain we were in. I think I put down 7 out of 10 at the time… there wasn't anyone below four.

"It made me aware that so many people are going through stuff you don't know about."

McKee was finally diagnosed six years ago after she was prescribed medication for trigeminal neuralgia.

After suffering further painful attacks into her 50s she decided to undergo major surgery but, by that point, she was already fighting the Holyrood election campaign.

"I initially had it planned for May. And I was really surprised that I got elected, so we moved it to during recess."

She's now living almost pain-free and hopes to use her own personal experience to shape her work as an MSP.

She's currently the Scottish Greens spokesperson on community care.

"People told me that I shouldn't stand has an MSP because of the pain and especially because it got triggered when speaking. That's just like a red rag to a bull for me," She said.

"It might be difficult, but there's loads of people who have pain, who need to be represented."

Scotcast's interview with Cara McKee will be available from 17:00 on Monday 21 September.