Mental health questionnaire in village after suicide worries

The community in Balfron are being asked to have their say on a project aimed at discovering the mental health issues faced by those in the village.

Stirling-based charity Action in Mind are behind the plans, which will see questionnaires distributed at key spots in the town in an effort to get to grips with the characteristics behind the underreporting of mental health problems by locals.

The campaign touches on the growing problem of the accessibility of mental health services for those living in rural communities and has been prompted by recent issues with youth suicide in Balfron.

Trainee health psychologist Katie Heslop is organising the fact-finding mission.

She told the Observer:“We’ve received funding to do this research in Balfron to explore the state of mental health services.

“The area has gone through a period of youth suicides and we do a lot of work in Balfron, so we would like to understand a little more about the issues being faced.

“It’s a rural community and so that brings challenges and we’ve found that it tends to be much more secretive than other similar communities in terms of reporting and accessing services.

“People look to do things on their own, so we want to see if something can be done.

“The questionnaires will be open to anyone to respond to, you don’t need to have had experience with mental health issues to take part - it’s just about increasing our understanding.

“They are available to fill out now and we’re hoping to have the responses in by the end of April.”

The questionnaires will be available to pick up at Balfron High and at the health centre, or it can be downloaded online at https://stirlingpsych.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/ form/SV_7NvPj0OOr8zRJZj.