Mental Health Awareness Week

This week (11-17 May) is Mental Health Awareness Week, and we are encouraging people across the Scottish Borders to take simple, positive steps to support mental wellbeing.

This year’s theme focuses on taking action. While mental health can feel complex, your actions don’t have to be - small, everyday steps can make a meaningful difference to you and those around you.

This week we are asking you to think about how you can take action in three ways:

• Taking action for yourself - choose one positive action that supports your own mental wellbeing. We encourage people to use our Ways to Be Well guide for inspiration, as it highlights practical actions that you can build into your everyday life to support your mental health, such as eating well, being active, connecting with nature and sleeping well.

• Taking action for someone else - you do not need to be a mental health professional to support someone who may be struggling – sometimes a supportive conversation with someone who cares can help. Many people who experience poor mental wellbeing or distress do not meet the criteria for clinical support, but we can all offer someone a response rooted in human connection and compassion. Time, Space and Compassion are the three key ingredients in a supportive conversation - taking time to listen, offering a safe space to talk and responding with compassion can make a real difference. It’s also important to know where you can access further support if it is needed.

• Taking action for all of us - Communities, workplaces and organisations all have a role to play in creating supportive environments where people feel able to talk about mental health and access help when they need it. Launched in 2024, our Creating Hope Awards scheme supports this work across the Scottish Borders, and so far, we have given awards to 30 organisations and groups. Delivered by the Mental Health Improvement and Suicide Prevention Group in association with NHS 24’s Breathing Space, the scheme is open to any group, organisation or place that wants to demonstrate a commitment to being a Mentally Healthy and Suicide Safer Community. The awards recognise positive action to create supportive environments, improve understanding of suicide and its prevention, connect people to the right support, and promote caring, compassionate and inclusive communities. Organisations can work towards either the Creating Hope Award or the enhanced Creating Hope Champions Award. More information about the Creating Hope Awards, including a short video, is available at www.nhsborders.scot.nhs.uk/creating-hope/creating-hope-awards.

 Dr Sohail Bhatti, Director of Public Health at NHS Borders, said: “Mental Health Awareness Week is a valuable opportunity to remind ourselves that supporting mental wellbeing is something we can all be part of. That might be taking small steps to look after your own mental health, making time to support someone else, or working together to create environments where people feel able to talk and seek help. Through initiatives such as our Creating Hope Awards, we want to recognise and encourage the everyday actions that help build mentally healthy and suicide‑safer communities across the Scottish Borders.”