Two-thirds of Scots hide mental health behind a ‘brave face’, says charity
See Me Scotland released new statistics on national Time to Talk Day
The cost of living, the pandemic, and the negative news cycle are all reasons why two-thirds of Scots do not speak out about their mental health, according to a major charity.
See Me Scotland released new statistics showing we often put on a 'brave face' to friends and family to conceal struggles.
Their findings have been released today on the annual Time to Talk Day - an annual campaign hoping to start UK's biggest mental health conversation with families, friends, communities and workplaces.
'I believed I was fine'
Tommy Kelly, 44, from Irvine, said his life was transformed after finally accepting he needed help for an eating disorder.
The former footballer has volunteered with See Me since 2014.
He said: "“At the early stages, specialists had flagged up that they thought I probably had an eating disorder – but I believed I was just fine.
“Since I was a semi-professional footballer at the time, I thought I was just getting fitter. For me, fitness was always a part of my life. But at that point I was exercising out of control.
“I believed I was fine and I didn’t want any help and thought there’s no way I could have an eating disorder because I’d never even heard about that kind of thing back then. And that probably made it even more difficult to accept help as well.”
'I became sick and tired of being sick and tired'
Tommy said it wasn’t until his last relapse in 2014 when he decided he needed to speak up and admit there was a problem. It was only after opening up that he was able to begin moving forward.
He added: “Accepting that I had an eating disorder was important because I became sick and tired of being sick and tired. I had lost so much of my life already and I understood that I could end up losing my life if I didn’t get the help I needed, and accepted that help.
“I had all the help in the world, but I think you have got to want to accept that help. And for me, that was opening up, asking for help and accepting that I had a problem.”
When it comes to listening and supporting someone through a tough time, Tommy said the important part is validating the feelings of the person opening up and not being judgemental.
He said: “A lot of people worry they’re going to say the wrong thing, but in my experience, people I’ve spoken to just want you to be there for them when they open up.”
Event in Glasgow
Volunteers from See Me charity will be in St Enoch shopping centre in Glasgow city centre today.
The charity says it will be making some noise about mental health stigma, as well as some performances of music and poetry.
There will also be a wall where the public can share their opinions on mental health around this year’s theme of ‘what I really mean’.
See Me director Wendy Halliday said: “Since the pandemic, and through the cost of living crisis, we have consistently seen that people struggling with their mental health don’t want to burden others by speaking about how they feel. We need to challenge this stigma, so people struggling with their mental health know they are not a burden.
“That is why Time to Talk Day continues to be such an important day, because while conversations around mental health in general might be easier, telling someone how you are feeling can still be daunting.”