Vital support role on mental health

IF LOIS Lane struggles with her mental health, there’s no shame in it for anyone.

That was the important message Margot Kidder’s brave honesty about her battle with bipolar disorder sent to a generation of young girls and boys.

The actress played Superman’s love interest in the 70s and 80s but it was her campaigning on mental health that helped change the world.

After a nervous breakdown in 1996, Margot openly discussed her experiences with mental illness at a time when that was unheard of.

As Paul English’s personal piece in today’s paper makes clear, the impact on others dealing with similar issues was real and long-lasting.

Margot, who died this week aged 69, played an important role in reducing the stigma around the issue.

In Scotland, there has been real progress in changing attitudes and making people realise it is fine to discuss these problems. But there is still a lot of work to do.

A recent study by Glasgow University showed 11.3 per cent of young people have attempted suicide and 16.2 per cent self-harmed at some stage in their lives.

Meanwhile, 74 per cent of adults have felt so stressed at some point in the last year they felt overwhelmed or unable to cope – and more than a third say they experienced suicidal feelings because of stress.

Given that context, it is staggering that the Scottish Government have not had a suicide prevention strategy in place since the previous one lapsed 500 days ago.

We must ensure that support services are doing enough to help people who have the courage to ask for it.

And those of us who know people suffering with mental health issues must also think about what we can do to help.

That could be as simple as keeping an eye on a friend or colleague and lending a shoulder when needed. Mental health awareness is everyone’s battle.