People in Aberdeenshire encouraged to join Scotland’s biggest mental health conversation

People across Aberdeenshire are being encouraged to get on board with positive progress around mental health and get talking about how they’re feeling as part of a nationwide campaign.

Richard Wood, See Me volunteer.

According to new research, eight in 10 (81 per cent) Scots say their understanding of how mental health stigma and discrimination affects people has improved over the last 20 years.

The findings, of a poll of 1000 Scots, was released earlier this month as part of a drive to encourage people to think differently about new year’s resolutions for 2023 and pledge to make time to talk about mental health.

See Me, Scotland’s programme to end mental health stigma and discrimination, is urging people to start this with Time to Talk Day, on February 2. The campaign sees people across Scotland making space in their day for a conversation about mental health.

See Me is asking people across Aberdeenshire to get thinking about how they can open up mental health conversations in the places stigma most commonly exist, in workplaces, schools, colleges, communities and with friends and family, ahead of the big day next month.

Time to Talk Day is the UK’s biggest mental health conversation, helping to break down barriers and reduce the stigma which prevents so many from asking for help when they need it.

After two years of online activity, Time to Talk Day will this year run as a mix of online and in-person events and activities, to get as many people as possible talking about mental health.

See Me volunteer Richard Wood knows the importance of talking about mental health. The 46-year-old has struggled with his mental health since he started having panic attacks at the age of 15.

He said: “I spent the best part of 30 years pretending that my mental health wasn’t as bad as it actually was. Mental health just wasn’t spoken about, so I convinced myself that all my problems were either of my own making, or it was down to some sort of a failing on my part.”

It wasn’t until he had a breakdown in 2017 that Richard started to speak more openly about his mental health.

He said: “I've had so many conversations about my mental health over the last few years. And that's been with a whole range of people – in medical settings and healthcare, but also with friends, family, colleagues, lots of different people.

"I think every conversation is important, because it all helps break down those barriers and normalise things.

“You really don't know what anybody else is going through. For me, the idea of anybody actually knowing how I was feeling and what I was going through was petrifying, but I know how much it helped when I finally spoke about it. Taking the time to talk and listen is so important.”

See Me director Wendy Halliday said: “By talking about mental health we can bust myths and break down barriers – and ease some of the pressures that many of us are feeling just now.”

Resources and activity packs are available now from the See Me website to help you start planning how you’ll mark Time to Talk Day 2023. Find out more at seemescotland.org.