Strathaven Academy has joined up with a leading mental health programme to tackle stigma and improve mental health for young people.
The school is one of five across Lanarkshire to be trained in Scottish Mental Health First Aid and See Me’s ‘What’s On Your Mind’ pack.
A total of 40 staff and 120 pupils will take part in the project in Strathaven Academy, Holy Cross High, Lanark Grammar, Cardinal Newman High and Coltness High.
Pupils and staff at the school were rocked last year following the death of 14-year-old Abbie MacDonald.
Now it is hoped the training can help pupils – and staff – recognise tell-tale signs of mental ill health in others, encouraging them to talk, open up, seek help or just let them know that they are there for support.
The ‘What’s On Your Mind’ pack is for young people and the adults in their lives to help build confidence in discussing mental health, look at the impact of stigma and discrimination, and how we can tackle it.
Teachers and pupils began training in May, and once it is complete, the staff and pupils will be able to take the pack back to teach in their schools, potentially reaching all 6197 pupils in the schools.
Getting young people to talk about mental health is a key focus for ‘See Me’.
A survey released as part of their FeelsFM campaign in September revealed that only 26 per cent of young people would tell someone they’re finding it difficult to cope, and 62 per cent thought that people are treated unfairly if they have a mental health condition.
See Me young volunteer Sally Nimmo, 24, said: “When I was in school we didn’t get anything on mental health – we didn’t know what mental health was.
“In PSE, mental health was disregarded, so I think this is really important to give the kids space to talk about things which they have maybe never spoken about before.
“The more opportunity you give young people, the more comfortable they become in speaking about it. I think getting young people to ask questions about suicide is really useful, because they probably will have never done that before, and it is a really useful skill to have.”
Rachel Bottomley, a development officer at Stigma Free Lanarkshire, said: “What struck me the most during this pilot project was the level of commitment and enthusiasm from everybody involved.”
Laura Sharpe, See Me’s education and young people manager, said: “Too many young people feel they can’t speak about how they are feeling, often because they worry about being judged or dismissed.
“To help young people recover from mental health conditions they need to be able to speak about it, to get care and support quickly.
“So we are delighted that schools across Lanarkshire want to help equip adults and young people to have these important conversations on mental health and tackle the stigma which still exists.”
Find out more by visit seemescotland.org/young-people/.
