NEW SURVEY REVEALS 40% OF SCOTS STILL NOT SURE HOW TO ADDRESS MENTAL ILL-HEALTH IN SCOTLAND
To coincide with Scottish Mental Health Week, ‘see me’, Scotland’s national campaign to end the stigma of mental ill-health has reiterated its commitment to challenge the attitudes of some people towards mental ill-health in Scotland.
A YouGov survey commissioned by ‘see me’ has revealed that while 60 per cent of Scots say they would not find it hard talking to a person with a mental health problem, a sizable number of Scots are still unsure how to address mental ill-health.
‘see me’ hopes that by making it clear there is support available out there, more and more people will feel able to speak out about what they are going through and get the support they deserve.
For those living with mental ill-health, the attitudes and reactions of family, friends and workmates can have a big impact on how they feel. ‘see me’ wants to encourage people to think about their own attitudes towards mental health and how they can better support those around them.
To help address stigmatising behaviour, ‘see me’ is launching a new smartphone app. Entitled "Defeat Stigman", it raises awareness of the stigma often associated with mental ill-health and challenges users to think about their own attitudes. Users will be able to defeat the app’s protagonist Stigman by answering questions about stigma and support correctly.
Suzie Vestri, Campaign Director of ‘see me’ said: “Our survey suggests that 60% of Scots would not find it hard to talk to someone with a mental health problem. This is encouraging and suggests many people are open to supporting those with a mental health problem. However, there is still work to be done and we will continue to challenge the stigma and discrimination which still exists in Scotland.
“We want a situation where people feel able to talk openly to their peers about their mental ill-health. Our survey results show that people are becoming much more open to hearing about mental ill-health but there is still work to be done on making people feel comfortable talking about it. We hope the app will help people understand how they can better support those around them so we can stamp out stigmatising behaviour in Scotland once and for all.”
Follow the link to find out more about the 'see me' app.