By Wemdy Halliday
IT’S in headlines almost daily, the topic of documentaries, a staple of our social media feeds and a regular talking point for sports personalities and celebrities – mental health has never been more prominent in public life. As the director of See Me, Scotland’s programme to end mental health stigma and discrimination, this is good news – but there is still much more for us to do. And by that, I mean all of us.
Today is Time to Talk Day, the day that friends, families, communities and workplaces come together to talk, listen and change lives.
New research has found that one in four Scots who experienced a worsening of their mental health for the first time during the pandemic have yet to speak about it.
Two of the main reasons given for this were that everyone is struggling just now, so why should they be any different, and that they didn’t feel comfortable talking about their mental health.
Despite everything we’ve been through as a nation, and all the prominent conversations that have taken place, mental health stigma – and self-stigma – still exist.
Public stigma comes from the negative attitudes and prejudice that members of the public display towards people who experience mental health problems and illness, while self-stigma comes from people internalising these public attitudes and beliefs, which can lead to feelings of worthlessness, shame or fear of speaking out.
In the last year, I’ve spoken to people who have called for help in the midst of a mental health crisis to be told to go for a walk; whose families have either been unable or unwilling talk to them about the issues they’re facing; who don’t feel safe to tell their employer about their mental health; who are dismissed, labelled as "attention seekers" and scared to speak out, or treated differently when they do. In 2022, this shouldn’t be happening.
Last year at See Me, we launched the See Us movement to end mental health stigma and discrimination in Scotland.
For too long, tackling mental health stigma and discrimination has been viewed as the responsibility of the people who experience it – but it’s on all of us to do what we can to tackle prejudice, change behaviours and work to ensure no one is treated unfairly as a result of their mental health.
Stigma and fear of discrimination stop people from reaching out and getting help when they need it. For some, it can be the difference between life and death.
Time to Talk Day can act as a starting point for all of the important, supportive conversations that need to happen.
Whether you have direct experience of a mental health problem or not, we’re calling on you to take action. Whether you’re texting someone you haven’t spoken to in a while today, grabbing a coffee with a friend, or having a frank discussion with your manager, it’s time to talk – and I hope that all the conversations today are just the start of something even bigger for Scotland.
Wendy Halliday is the director of See Me, Scotland’s programme to end mental health stigma and discrimination. Get tools and resources to tackle mental health stigma and discrimination where you are at seemescotland.org/SeeUs.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel