BENDERLOCH

Sophie Isaacson from Benderloch qualified as Scotland’s first ‘i-act instructor’, helping managers reduce stress in the workplace, on World Mental Health Day last Wednesday.

Meanwhile, community wind farm charity Point and Sandwick Trust gave £5,000 to the Western Isles Association for Mental Health to cover the costs of delivering suicide prevention training.

This year’s World Mental Health Day, created by the World Federation of Mental Health, is themed on ‘young people and mental health in a changing world’, as Prime Minister Theresa May appointed a suicide prevention minister, Jackie Doyle-Price, at the first global mental health summit.

That changing world refers to growing up on the internet, experiencing online bullying, watching violent or upsetting content and being bombarded with an endless stream of bad news and unachievable lifestyles to compare their own to.

The World Federation for Mental Health notes suicide and substance abuse numbers have been steadily rising, LGBTQ+ youth are battling loneliness and isolation and young people still aren’t getting the support and education they need to deal with mental illness. We want to bring attention to the issues our youth and young adults are facing in our world today and begin the conversation around what they need to grow up healthy, happy and resilient,’ writes the World Federation for Mental Health. Let’s all use this year to emphasise the needs of our young people. It’s time to demand more for this vulnerable population – our future depends on it.’