3 May 2017

This Mental Health Awareness Week (8th – 14th May) we want people in the Scottish Borders to take part in a conversation about how it’s possible to thrive with good mental health.

Good mental health is more than just the absence of a mental health problem – we all have mental health and to be well we need to look after our minds as well as our bodies.

Over the last few months over a hundred people in the Borders have contributed to putting together a new guide to wellbeing called ‘Six ways to be well in the Scottish Borders’. The new guide promotes the steps we can take to look after our mental health and wellbeing and signposts people to the many groups, opportunities and services in the Borders that can help.

The guide is being launched alongside a series of events during Mental Health Awareness Week, highlights include:

  • ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover’ – conversations with mental health Champions from the See Me Campaign at Whitties Book Shop in Peebles at 6.30pm on Monday 8th May.
  •  ‘Skills for Surviving and Thriving Through Stress’ – two drop-ins and presentations from the NHS Borders StressBusters team at Kelso Library (drop-in from 4.00pm on Tuesday 9th May with presentation at 5.30pm) and Gala Library (drop-in from 3.00pm on Thursday 11th May with presentation at 5.30pm).
  • There will also be information stands at the Borders General Hospital and the Gala Interchange, a coffee morning, ‘Walk It’ walks and a women-only Samba drumming workshop.

Allyson McCollam, Associate Director of Public Health for the Scottish Borders said “This Mental Health Awareness Week we’ll be launching our new wellbeing guide and we want to promote all the positive things we can do to look after our mental health and wellbeing. Each of us has different backgrounds and experiences which affect both our risk of mental health problems and our ability to thrive. However, research has shown that we can all take action to protect ourselves and thrive with good mental health. The new guide is our first attempt locally at developing a tool that helps us to navigate how to do this.”

More information about the new wellbeing guide, along with a full diary of events taking place in the Borders for Mental Health Awareness Week, is available at www.nhsborders.scot.nhs.uk/six-ways-to-be-well.