Nutini adds some stardust as Paisley steps up bid to be named UK City of Culture
Attacking the rising use of antidepressants in the NHS is an easy target. But the reality is complex, writes David Walsh
He is already spearheading his home town’s bid to become the next UK City of Culture.
Now Paisley-born Paolo Nutini is set to bolster its efforts by becoming a university tutor – to help rear a new generation of musical talent.
Five years after receiving an honorary doctorate in Paisley at the University of the West of Scotland, the singer has agreed to host a series of workshops for students.
The 30-year-old, who will stage an intimate show for 300 fans at Paisley’s abbey on Friday night, is also bankrolling a new scholarship which will see the successful candidate win a place on the university’s music Masters course.
Nutini’s university partnership, announced days after the launch of the town’s annual Spree arts festival, is the latest boost for the town’s culture capital bid.
Paisley is competing for the honour against Coventry, Stoke-on-trent, Sunderland and Swansea, with the winner due to be announced in December.
Renfrewshire Council’s bid for the title predicts more than 800,000 visitors could be attracted to the town in 2021 in the event of a successful bid.
It also expects a £176 million boost for the local economy and the creation of 4,700 jobs to be delivered over ten years.
Around £100m worth of improvements for Paisley’s cultural infrastucture is envisaged over the next few years under the plans to host the title. Highlights include a £42m revamp of the town’s Victorian museum, a £22m overhaul of its 135-year-old town hall, £10m worth of improvements to public spaces in the town centre, a £2.5m revamp for Paisley Arts Centre and a £3.5m transformation of the former Gabraiths store in Paisley to make it suitable to host events such as the Turner Prize.
Bid director Jean Cameron said: “The benefits of winning the title will be felt nationwide, both in terms of visitors and economic impact, and will be instrumental in reinforcing the diversity and ambition of what Scotland’s cultural scene has to offer.”
Speaking about the bid, Nutini said: “Paisley offered me and my family a life, way back, and it has continued to do so. When I think of Paisley, I think of everything that has shaped my life. There’s been a lot of different Paisleys that have meant something different to a lot of different people and they’ve all had a different energy each time. People regularly tell me what Paisley meant to them.
“The High Street used to be heaving, You’d see all these people, all these colours and noises and bodies. That energy is what we’re trying to restore.”
Students from anywhere in the world will be able to apply for the new Nutini scholarship, with the first place on offer from next autumn. Course leader David Scott said: “Our Masters in Music is always full of talented young people, and this initiative will help a talented songwriter to undertake studies with us at the university, regardless of their financial background.
“Paolo is a huge inspiration to young people in Paisley and beyond and we’re expecting great excitement across the university when he comes in to teach - from students from all disciplines.
“We’re opening the doors now to applications from worthy candidates and we’re looking forward to a talent search like no other, assessing candidates on their experience or academic qualifications and their portfolio of work.”
Professor Craig Mahoney, principal of the university, added: “This collaboration with Paolo extends the breadth of work we currently offer, but significantly allows us to help create new talent in the creative industries.”
One of the clearest memories I have from my early battle with depression is the squeak of shoe leather on waiting room linoleum.
I was absent-mindedly bouncing my right leg while my head swirled with the thoughts of being prescribed antidepressants. It was my worst fear. To be medicated. For drugs to wrestle control over my anxiety-stricken brain rather than using something less invasive to mollify it.
It’s a memory I hadn’t reckoned on re-living until recently when a press release from the Scottish Conservatives crossed my desk decrying a rise in the use of antidepressants.
According to recent figures released by the NHS Information Services Division, 6.4 million items were prescribed last year (17,500 a day) at a cost of £44.6 million. This represents a modest increase from 2015-2016 when 6.1 million were dispensed at a cost of £44m.
Given that one in three GP appointments in Scotland relate to some form of mental health problem, I personally find these statistics far from troubling.
I don’t recall outraged politicians sending out press releases when NHS Scotland also spent £35.5m on inhalers in 2015-16. After all, only one in 14 Scots suffer from asthma, compared with one in three who are treated every year in Scotland for a mental health issue.
Admittedly, it’s perhaps an unfair comparison to make but it does serve to illustrate a very specific point: we are more comfortable with medication so long as it isn’t treating problems of the mind.
This distinction between mind and body continues to stymie the recognition of mental health problems as physical conditions, especially when a considerable portion of Scotland’s £12.2 billion health budget is devoted to treating them.
To give some perspective, more than £925m was spent on mental health treatment by NHS boards in Scotland last year. Furthermore, the Scottish Government has committed to boosting this to more than a £1bn with a £85.7m budget increase in 2017-18. This includes £10m specifically earmarked for early intervention and prevention.
With this in mind, spending £44m on medication doesn’t seem so grave, does it?
For politicians though, mental health has yet again become a rod to beat their opponents with. In this case, it is the SNP under fire for having pledged to stabilise the rising use of antidepressants and ultimately reduce the number of such prescriptions.
That is not to say that the present Holyrood administration is excelling in its brief. For instance, waiting times continue to be a cause of concern, with only eight out of ten children being seen by Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services within 18 weeks of referral, falling well behind the government’s own target of 90 per cent.
However, it should be noted that any increase in prescriptions could in part be attributed to efforts to finally normalise mental health issues, with people sharing their own experiences, helping to break down the enduring taboos. In short, people are becoming more open to recognising the symptoms of depression and thus seeking professional advice.
That said, it was the enduring stigma attached to antidepressants that steeled my resolve to avoid having to take them at all costs. In hindsight, my concerns were baseless. Had I spoken more openly at the time, I would have heard about how they
were making a real difference in the lives of friends and family.
They are not suited to everyone’s health needs and are not a silver bullet by any means. But, in the words of a close friend, “they made me feel calmer and a lot more like me. It’s like suddenly I found myself again, even though I hadn’t realised I’d gone anywhere.”
As it turned out, my GP was surprised (and somewhat relieved) at my determination not to have anything to do with taking pills, and it reaped dividends. I was instead given access to cognitive therapy – but only after a five-month waiting list dwindled.
The Healthy Active Minds exercise programme I was referred to undoubtedly helped to recalibrate my mind. Regular stints in the gym and swimming pool and having access to a personal trainer helped motivate me and restore my selfconfidence. I took a step back from the brink.
The ultimate goal of the programme was to rediscover a sense of self-worth and provide a release from the aspects of my life that were causing anxiety. It was a long slog. I had reached such a low ebb by the time I’d finally decided enough was enough that I’d forgotten what “being me” felt like. Therapy felt like running a marathon without any prior training.
And yet while I look back at this as a definitive turning point in dealing with my own depression, I feel uneasy at how quick I was to judge medication or those who choose to take it.
From my own experience at least, doctors are not choosing to prescribe pills like sweets. If anything, the oversubscription for mental health services and long waiting lists for cognitive treatment and counselling mean doctors have a duty of care to explore all avenues to help their patients.
In some cases, waiting or inaction can have fatal consequences. Despite the benefits they can bring to the lives of those living under the black cloud of mental health, in public discourse at least, it seems the antidepressant is still a very bitter pill for Scots to swallow.