SAMH comment on the 2022 Scottish Health Survey

5th December 2023

Commenting on the publication of the 2022 Scottish Health Survey, Billy Watson, Chief Executive of SAMH, said:

“What this survey reveals about Scotland’s mental health is stark. Across all of the areas measured – mental wellbeing, mental illness, loneliness, self-harm, anxiety, depression, attempted suicide – the results are worse than 2021 and in most cases the worst ever recorded in the Scottish Health Survey.

“We know the pandemic has had a hugely damaging impact on our mental health and wellbeing, and these findings underscore that. Demand for mental health support is already high and is likely to remain that way for some time. We cannot afford to tinker around the edges of a system already under huge pressure – instead we need to reform and resource a holistic approach to mental health support which meets the growing needs of people with mental health problems across Scotland.

“The Scottish Government has committed to 10% of NHS frontline spending going on mental health, but instead we’ve seen two consecutive years of in-year cuts to the mental health budget. Today’s figures show we urgently need to take a different course, starting with the Scottish budget later this month.”