Veterans’ mental health – workshop opportunity
Posted by See Me, 15 June 2022
At See Me, we work with a range of different communities and groups across Scotland to tackle the mental health stigma that still exists.
One group that we’re going to be working with this year is Armed Forces veterans.
Too many veterans are struggling alone with their mental health, unable to ask for help. Unfortunately, this can lead to a point of crisis for too many. We want to change this.
Mental health is still heavily stigmatised amongst Forces veterans, with veterans taking an average of 13 years to get support if they’re struggling with their mental health, according to Combat Stress.
We want to find out more about what that stigma looks like to inform a project we’re delivering later in the year.
We’re currently looking to speak with veterans with experience of mental health problems to find out more about the stigma they’ve experienced as part of a workshop next week.
Participation in the workshop is confidential, but we do also have some opportunities for you to share your experiences publicly – although this isn’t compulsory.
What we want to speak to you about
- Where veterans experience mental health stigma and discrimination.
- What types of mental health stigma and discrimination different veterans experience.
- The impact of mental health stigma and discrimination on veterans in Scotland.
- Who veterans experience mental health stigma and discrimination from.
- What would help to tackle the stigma and discrimination veterans experience?
- What would encourage help seeking?
- Where we need to target to ensure we will be successful?
- What will create long term success?
Ways you can be involved
- Sharing your story and experiences anonymously to help inform stories performed by actors for a creative project
- Sharing your story, experiences and expertise to help guide the campaign
- Helping to promote the campaign and stories publicly, by sharing your story
All of the feedback you give us will help to shape a campaign for veterans later in the year, making sure it reflects the real experiences of veterans in Scotland today.
The workshop will take place on Wednesday 22 June from 6pm to 8pm via Zoom. If you’d like to take part, please email Nick.Jedrzejewski@seemescotland.org.
If you can't attend the workshop but would still like to share your experiences, we have a short survey you can complete too.
This is a great opportunity to use your experiences to make real change for veterans Scotland-wide – we’d really appreciate any and all input you can offer.