Call for wider approach to mental health

MENTAL health experts in Edinburgh have called for a new strategy on psychological wellbeing to be launched by the Scottish Government.

They said a fresh approach which prioritises patient choice and a broader range of treatments was needed if progress was to be made on the issue.

The Edinburgh-based British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy in Scotland added that current plans threatened jobs and could lead to a decrease in the quality of care for people suffering depression.

Shane Buckeridge, the organisation's lead adviser, said: "Scotland has some excellent counselling services in the NHS and voluntary sector, so a strategy is needed that protects existing provision and builds on it.

"More cognitive behavioural therapy is needed for people who are depressed but only as part of a whole population approach that delivers choice.

"We strongly encourage the Scottish Government to develop a new mental health strategy which incorporates a wider view of the mental health needs of the population and the therapies that meet these."