Suzi Vestri
I became involved in ‘see me’ in 2003, one year in to the campaign. Our aim has always been simple (if ambitious!): to change the general public’s attitude towards mental ill-health; to eliminate stigma and discrimination; to change people’s behaviour so that anyone with mental health problems is accepted, welcomed and included in a truly equal Scotland.
I believe that we’re getting there and have made great progress in a short period of time, but it’s hard work! The public tells us that its attitude to mental ill-health is changing, and this is borne out by people with lived experience of mental health problems who tell us that they feel more able to be open with others. But there are still some major issues to tackle, and we also need to make sure that any positive changes in attitude are here for the long-term.
I’m constantly inspired by the people that I meet and work with and alongside. I know it sounds trite, but ‘see me’ involves people with lived experience of stigma at the heart of our work and I keep being surprised, and humbled even, by the way in which people are willing to share what have been quite traumatic experiences of ill-health and loss of friends and family or employment – because they know that by doing so they make a real difference. The ‘see me’ staff team has changed almost completely since the start of the campaign and I’m always inspired by how many people with great skills and experience want to work for ‘see me’. Our Management Group inspires me in an especially thought-provoking way and some of our local contacts – whether in health boards or local mental health projects – have been truly inspirational in the way that they’ve kept a sense of ‘ownership’ of the whole campaign and made sure that ‘see me’ remembers that people with mental health problems are part of the solution, rather than only ‘victims’ of stigma.
I get frustrated by very little. The constant search for statistical evidence is hard when you are trying to deal with ‘sticky’ challenges such as changing attitudes and behaviours. But there’s a growing realisation of the validity of narrative research and lived experience which is helping. The only other frustration is not having enough time to do so much – and trying to be in too many places at once. I have always felt that it can be easy for people to feel excluded from big national campaigns, whether by geography or circumstance – and encouraging true involvement means having to be prepared to take the message out to where people are.
A mentally flourishing Scotland is one in which people are aware of their own mental health and know what they need to do to enhance their own mental wellbeing. It’s one in which planners, funders and decision-makers are required to examine the impact of their decisions on people’s mental wellbeing. So, for example, we would make entry to sports facilities free of charge to everyone and know that – on balance and at the tail end of the balance sheet – we would gain more benefit in wellbeing terms than any monetary cost. We would remember that many of the things which promote wellbeing are often at the margins of most departmental funding – and the first to be cut when times get hard. Yet they are things which really contribute to population wellbeing and say something about the kind of Scotland we are.
And, of course, a mentally flourishing Scotland is one in which those of us with mental health problems are encouraged to look after our own mental wellbeing, and are supported and treated with respect by health practitioners and the general public alike.
Three most important actions:
- View mental wellbeing as a national priority and ensure that it’s everyone’s business
- Tackle the root causes of the inequalities which make some of us much more likely to experience mental ill-health than others
- Generate a clear public sense of ownership over the idea that we can be a mentally healthy, tolerant and inclusive Scotland. I think that's the kind of society that most of us would like to think we live in!
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