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Good mental wellbeing – some people call it happiness – is about more than avoiding mental health problems. It means feeling good and functioning well.

Those who know me will probably laugh at the thought of me having struggles with mental health. I’ve always been brash, cocky (borderline arrogant), and outgoing. In fact, I would have probably laughed myself, as I never thought I would either.

But struggle I have. It’s difficult to explain why, and there is still a large part of me that doesn’t really understand it. Lack of confidence, self-loathing, guilt/embarrassment over past actions, displacement, resentment, jealously, anger, you name it. When I stopped drinking last year (except for very special occasions), it only highlighted these issues, and demonstrated how much I masked my feelings with alcohol or other means. As a result, I shut myself away for a little while there, which as you can imagine was a pretty poor solution.

So I got healthier. Started to watch what I ate. Dove head first into exercise, something I’ve always enjoyed but never understood how much of my mental stability was linked into how active I was.

I’m also extremely lucky to have a wife who, whilst battling her own struggles with mental health, was understanding, patient, and encouraging, and helped me navigate these uncharted waters, and helped me land (somewhat) gracefully on the other side.

It’s not over, I don’t think it ever will be, but I’m on top of it for the time being.

But what I have been through is literally nothing though, compared to what some people go through everyday. People who aren’t lucky enough to have the support and love that I had. People who feel like they can’t talk about their feelings. People who feel truly alone. 

We all know these people. We might not think so, but we do. They are our friends, our families, our loved ones. It’s only by removing the stigma surrounding mental health that we can truly start to help each other.

Some facts:

16 million people in the UK experience a mental illness
One in four adults will experience a mental illness at some point each year in the UK. This ranges from anxiety and depression to alcohol dependence, substance misuse and psychosis.

75% of young people with a mental health problem are not receiving treatment
There’s been a rise in the time children are having to wait to receive treatment for complex mental health conditions, and children with depression and anxiety are often not being identified or given help.
The average wait for effective treatment is 10 years
It can take a decade for many young people to receive help after showing first symptoms. Opportunities to help are often missed until they reach “crisis”, causing children to self-harm, become suicidal, be violent and aggressive or drop out of school.

Suicide is the biggest killer of young people in the UK
Suicide is a leading cause of death in young men and women aged 20-34 in the UK. The latest figures from the Office of National Statistics reveal that the number of young suicides each year is greater than it has been for the past 10 years. In 2015 1,660 young people under 35 years took their own lives; 103 more than in 2014 and 58 more than the previous highest recorded figure (1,631 in 2011).

More than half of young people feel embarrassed about mental illness
51% of young people believe that anyone their age diagnosed with a mental illness would be embarrassed. The findings from a YouGov/MQ survey also show a high level of mental health problems in students, as more than a quarter (27%) report having a mental health problem of one type or another. Female students are more likely to say they have mental health problems than males (34% v 19%).

That’s why I believe the work done by organisations like SAMH is vitally important.

SAMH run thriving horticultural projects that operate amongst their 60 services in communities across Scotland. SAMH services are person centred and based on an ethos of recovery. They provide mental health social care support, homelessness, addictions and employment services, among many others.

These services, together with their national programme work in See Me, respectme, suicide prevention, sport and physical activity; inform policy and campaign work to influence positive and social change in Scotland.
Their work continues under three strategic goals:

•  Being there for people
• Promoting Good Mental Health
• Ending Stigma and Discrimination
  

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