In advance of this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week (18-24 May 2020), Scotland’s Minister for Mental Health, Clare Haughey, is encouraging people to raise awareness of and seek help for mental health problems.
Ms Haughey said:
“The theme of this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week is ‘kindness’ and there couldn’t be a more important time to remind people to be kind to themselves and each other, as we all strive to get through this unprecedented situation.
“Clearly the prolonged isolation necessitated by the response to the pandemic will be impacting on the mental wellbeing of people across the country.
“We’re doing what we can to support people through it and recently announced £5.8 million of additional funding to create new online support services and increase the capacity of existing ones.
“We also launched our Clear Your Head campaign, which provides practical advice on how to stay active, keep connected with friends and family, and create healthy routines to help get through the crisis.
“The most important thing to remember this week is that it’s okay not to feel okay.
“If that applies to you then there are resources you can access including speaking with someone, and I would encourage people to do that.”