MENTAL health support for young people should be brought up to date to cope with the digital age, according to a mother whose daughter took her own life as a result of an abusive relationship.

Relentless text messaging was a feature of the bullying campaign by her boyfriend which preceded the death of Emily Drouet, at Aberdeen University.

Former public schoolboy Angus Milligan admitted to assaulting the 18 year-old, threatening her and abusing her, including sending offensive, indecent, obscene and menacing text messages.

Her family were dismayed when he was spared jail last July, and given a 240 hour community payback order, reduced to 180 hours in recognition of his guilty plea, as well as 12 months’ supervision.

Fiona Drouet says the legal treatment of her daughter’s tormentor is a reflection of the fact that the impact of abuse on someone’s mental health is not taken seriously enough – although she welcomes changes to laws on domestic violence which have criminalised controlling and coercive behaviour.

But she is now calling for better support from schools and universities for young people at risk. Emily had no history of mental health problems, but Mrs Drouet believes chances were missed by university staff to intervene.

“We have had meetings with Universities Scotland to discuss the fact that front-facing staff have no training,” she said. “Universities are dragging their heels in accepting students can be vulnerable and they are responsible. Mental health is always bottom of the agenda, especially in universities.”

Today, Mrs Drouet will join a group of people supported by Samaritans Scotland who are presenting a report to the Scottish Government, as it prepares an update of its suicide prevention strategy.

She welcomes the calls for change in the report and says there should be more recognition of the fact that students are often living away from home for the first time, and can be vulnerable to sexual violence, drink and drugs, as well as the pressures of study.

“We need to take action to minimise that vulnerability. Young people are facing bullying and abuse online, and text mesasges bombarding them. This is intense, you can’t escape from it. For Emily, it was relentless, he wouldn’t give her a break. It escalated so quickly and she was in denial about it, trying to pacify him.”

But, along with the charity, she is calling for support to be more widely available for all those facing challenging periods in their life.

“Suicide affects a large number of middle aged men. We need to recognise the effect of life-changing events like domestic abuse, family breakdown, losing your job. It is compulsory to have first aid in the workplace, but what about mental health first aid? Just because there is no blood, doesn’t mean there isn’t a problem that needs to be fixed,” she says. “We need to make sure places like schools and workplaces are adequately equipped to deal with that.”

The report which will be presented to mental health minister Maureen Watts today includes calls for more support for families affected by suicide.

Mrs Drouet says she could only find the help she needed from online groups of parents who had been through similar experiences. “A death from suicide leaves the people behind with such complex grief. You wonder could you have have done more, could it have been prevented? I questioned every decision I ever made in my daughter’s life, like should I have let her go to university at all?”

Her main concern is over the lack of accessible support for those who need it. One problem highlighted in the report is the time-limited nature of many interventions. “A friend of Emily’s who had suffered three recent bereavements at another university was given counselling and told she would get four sessions,” Mrs Drouet adds.

“What they should be saying is ‘I’m in this with you, I’m going to help you through this process, you are not going to be alone. Not starting by telling people the limitations of the care, so they are pressurised to get better within a specified time scale.”

Families who have contributed to the Samaritans report are all looking for change, she says. “As long as there is one suicide, there’s a need for this report. We need to give people like Emily a second chance at life. We need to tell people ‘you may go through times like that in your life where it feels unbearable, but there are ways to escape that torment in your mind.

“I know Emily didn’t want this to happen, and wouldn’t want what’s been left behind for us. The only answer is talking about it.”