It’s time to talk about our mental health.

What: SAMH Stress Balls
Where: Grand Central Hotel, Glasgow
When: circa May 2012
With: iPhone 

 
It was revealed this week that the usage of anti-depressants amongst young people in Britain has risen by 54% since 2005. This is despite a warning in 2004 that some drugs could lead to suicidal behaviour. 

At the same time there has been rises in Denmark (60%), Germany (49%), the USA (26%) and the Netherlands (17%).

There has long been a negative stigma surrounding mental ill health in this country, often and wrongly perceived as a weakness rather than an illness. With a condition that can’t be seen as clearly as a broken leg (although look hard enough and you can see mental ill health) it is sometimes hard for others to appreciate the suffering, the pain, and the crippling and debilitating nature of the condition. Over the last decade attitudes have improved but there is undoubtedly still a long way to go.

It is also a condition that is often ignored by those who have it until a point of crisis. This may be because of the stigma still attached, it could also be because of a failure or perhaps a reluctance to accept and diagnose the condition.

The figures above may in part indicate that this is changing. Younger generations, more aware of the symptoms and more likely to be accepting of the condition may, as a result, be more inclined to seek help, hopefully before crisis point. If so that is to be welcomed.

But the rise may be part of a wider problem. According to SAMH “one in four people in Scotland will have a mental health problem at some point in their life.” But are there more young people suffering from mental ill health or is their ill health more acute due to the changes we are experiencing in society and technology? Is any potential rise in part because of the stresses and the peer pressures being placed on younger generations combined with the implications of social media, bullying and always being switched ‘on’.

Anti-depressants are a sticking plaster. They are not a cure. The World Health Organisation is right to raise concerns over these statistics. Young people cannot be ‘parked’ on a drug, deemed to have been treated and left to fight the condition on their own. We need to ensure greater support is available within our health service. We need to significantly lower the waiting times for therapy.

Last year there was a General Election in the UK, in two months there will be elections to the Scottish Parliament. Mental Health has had and is likely to have little coverage in comparison to other areas. This must change; in politics, in schools, in the workplace, in our homes. It’s time to talk about our mental health. 

SAMH is the Scottish Association of Mental Health and Scotland’s leading mental health charity. You can find out more on their website https://www.samh.org.uk/