Scotland To Be Part of Biggest Ever Conversation on Mental Health in 2018

Posted by See Me, 5 January 2018

FOR THE first time ever this year Scotland is set to take part in a UK wide event to tackle mental health stigma and discrimination.

2018 will mark the first year that all countries in the UK are taking part in Time to Talk day (Feb 1^st), which is aiming to create the biggest conversation on mental health the country has seen.

We are bringing together schools, workplaces, musicians, actors and some of Scotland’s most iconic locations to be part of the event.

It continues the thousands of conversations which happened as part of last year’s Start Talking campaign, which was created with clothing brand Abandon Ship, and supported by rockers, Losing Ground and barbers Hard Grind.

Losing Ground singer, Jack Sutton, wants to see this carry on in the new year, after speaking out about his own mental health in the band’s song Great Escapes, which raised money for See Me.

The 26 year old from Kilmarnock said: “I’ve suffered from periods of depression my whole life but only really identified it in my mid-teens. I sought help at the time and found my GP awkward to talk to and standoffish.

“That definitely didn’t make me feel like my mental health was something I could or should speak about.

“I’ve had a brilliant life, been fantastically lucky and have amazing friends and family which is probably why I’ve always been really hard on myself around my mental health.

“It’s been a huge learn from a personal point of view which I feel fortunate has been set against a real movement around mental health in Scotland. It’s taken me a long time to appreciate that I’m not broken, that we all need help from time to time and that what I go through is just part of me.

“It took me until very recently, including panic attacks and being unable to leave the house, to properly address what I was going through and accept that I owed it to more than myself to do something about it.

“As a band we’ve been lauded as brave which is really kind but I think it’s fundamentally wrong. I think if people felt less like they had to summon courage to discuss something that was basically killing them then we’re halfway to beating it.”

Calum Irving, See Me director, said: “2018 is set to be the biggest year yet for getting people talking about mental health.

“This will start in January in the build up to Time to Talk day, which we want to see people really getting behind. It’s fantastic to have people like Jack and Losing Ground using their experiences to try and reach out to others.

“If we can all do this then we can beat mental health stigma.”

More information here.

Hear Losing Ground on our latest Start Talking video, at Hard Grind Barbers