Strategy to shrink mental health stigma in Scotland

THE SCOTTISH Government have released a 10-year strategy that aims to tackle stigma associated with mental health.

The Mental Health Strategy 2017 – 2027 states: “Challenges with mental health have touched every life in Scotland: from a young person struggling in school, or a colleague absent from work, to an elderly relative living with dementia.

“We have all seen, and often personally felt and experienced, the impact of mental health problems.”

A poster for the 2014 film Still Alice with Julianne Moore about a professor who is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. 

The document, published on Thursday, hopes to improve and save lives of those affected by mental health problems by preventing and treating them with the same commitment shown to physical health problems.

It goes on to say: “We want to create a Scotland where all stigma and discrimination related to mental health is challenged, and our collective understanding of how to prevent and treat mental health problems is increased.”

To deliver these ambitions they have set out 40 actions to help them to improve mental health services.

Some of which include increasing the mental health workforce by 800 additional mental health workers in hospitals, GP surgeries, prisons and police stations, as well as reviewing the role of counselling services in schools.

They would also like to establish a bi-annual forum of mental health stakeholders to help guide the implementation of the actions in the coming years.

The mental health charity, See Me - who are funded by the Scottish Government and Comic Relief - work on tackling mental health stigma and discrimination. Commenting on the strategy, they stated: “We welcome the vision for the mental health strategy, with a strong focus on enabling those of us who experience mental health problems to realise our rights, free from stigma.

“However we are interested to see more detail on how this vision will be delivered over the ten year period, with deadlines for all actions set.”

They agree that it is vital to establish parity between approaches to mental and physical health, and that those who have a mental health problem are treated equally, without discrimination.

They believe that it is important to measure the success of the strategy and to demonstrate any improvements.  

The charity added: “The newly announced bi-annual forum and measurement framework will be important in this.”

Nick Jedrzejewski, See Me communications manager, said: “Mental health is part of everyone’s day to day life, it affects all of us, but there is still a stigma around it which can stop people asking for help and getting the support they need.

“To tackle this properly people need to understand that it is okay not to be okay and you can talk about it.

“We need to change the culture around mental health so people with mental health problems to feel confident enough to talk, without the fear that they will be stigmatised and discriminated against.

A flyer from the mental health charity See Me.

“No one should ever be made to feel ashamed or embarrassed to tell anyone that they experience mental health problems.”

He offers this advice: “We can all make a difference. If you’re worried about someone, ask them if they are okay, and really listen. Show you care, you don’t need to be an expert, being there can make a huge difference to someone who feels alone. It can also be the first step in getting the help they need.”