THE stigma around mental health problems has been slowly reducing for years. People are more aware of the importance of their own mental well-being; they are also more likely to know someone who has a mental health problem thanks to the shift away from treatment in big institutions. And it helps that prominent people such as Prince Harry are willing to talk about what they have been through. We are in a better place than we were.
But the first day of Mental Health Awareness Week today is also a reminder that the situation is not as good as it could be. Calum Irving, the director of the awareness programme See Me, believes that the stigma that surrounds mental health continues to stop people asking for help.
Tommy Kelly from Ayrshire knows the truth of that from personal experience. The 37-year-old suffered from an eating disorder and it became so serious that he had a heart attack and he could no longer continue with his football career. To make matters worse, Mr Kelly was reluctant to talk about what he was going through. “I was really scared about speaking about my mental health because of what others might think,” he says.
Making it easier for Mr Kelly and others to speak openly involves changing some deep-seated cultural attitudes and, reassuringly, surveys by the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland show that attitudes are changing for the better. Campaigns like Mental Health Awareness Week will also do a lot to help.
But helping people to talk frankly about their mental health problems is only the start. It is also vital that, when they do come forward, the right services are in place to help them - and there are worrying indications that is not the case. Nearly 20 children and teenagers are turned away from mental health services in Scotland every day, and, according to the Scottish Government, only one in three people who need help for their mental health actually receive it.
Getting people to talk is a positive first step towards better mental health. But we also need properly funded services that can step in and help when they are needed.
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