SAHM - For Scotland’s Mental Health

SAMH (Scottish Association for Mental Health) is Scotland’s national mental health charity. Around since 1923, SAMH works in over 60 communities with adults and young people providing mental health social care support, services in primary care, schools and further education, among others.

SAMH is there for Scotland’s mental health and to ensure support is available for anyone who needs it. Our services, together with our national programme work in See Me, respectme, suicide prevention and active living; inform our policy and campaign work to influence positive social change.

SAMH and COVID-19

The past few months have been challenging for everyone in Scotland, especially those who already experienced mental health problems.

SAMH launched the coronavirus mental health information hub earlier this year on our website to support people across Scotland during these difficult times. This has been well-used throughout this period, with tens of thousands of unique visits since launch. Our telephone and email-based Information Service has seen an increase in people with suicidal thoughts accessing the service, and in people presenting with depression, anxiety and stress. Our average call time has increased in the last few months, as people have needed a greater emphasis on emotional support.

SAMH is also a major social care provider, with many frontline staff who are defined as keyworkers in the current situation and are continuing to work in the community. SAMH provides services including housing support, care at home, supported accommodation, employability services, care homes and many other community services. The nature of SAMH’s service delivery has changed, in order to protect our staff, service users and volunteers. Almost all of our services remain operational in some form.

We have also been working with our partners to facilitate research, revealing the impact of the pandemic on mental health, the effect on people who were already experiencing mental health problems, and their access to support, to ensure we continue to best support people across Scotland.

Got a question about mental health? SAMH can help. Whether you’re seeking support, are looking for more information for you or someone you love, or just want to have chat about mental health, visit samh.org.uk/info.

Your generous donations allow us to be there for Scotland’s mental health. You can support SAMH at samh.org.uk/donate.

Passionate about mental health? You can join the thousands of others supporting SAMH in creating positive change for people in Scotland: https://www.samh.org.uk/get-involved/fundraising/60-seconds-to-stay-connected.

Find out more

Website: www.samh.org.uk

Facebook: facebook.com/SAMHmentalhealth/

Twitter: @samhtweets

Instagram: @samhscotland

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/samh