Specialist Mental Health Support

Psychological Therapies

People experiencing a mental health problem may at times need support and treatment. We believe you should be able to ‘Ask Once, Get Help Fast’. But often that’s not the case.

Psychological therapies (also known as talking therapies) can be used to treat a number of mental health problems. However, NHS Boards in Scotland continually fail to meet the waiting time target for psychological therapies. Our research also shows that people with depression are not always accessing a psychological therapy when they should be.

We’re campaigning to make access to psychological therapies easier. Read more about our work on psychological therapies:

• SAMH’s View on Psychological Therapies
• ‘Decisions were made about me not with me’: A SAMH research report on treatment and support for depression
• SAMH Talking It Out

Social Care Charging

Social care can improve a person’s quality of life by providing support in the community. Social care services are provided by local authorities, but people have a right to control their social care to the extent that they want – this is called self-directed support. There are different types of social care, including support from someone who comes to your home for a set number of hours per week and residential care that provides 24/7 support.

Currently people in Scotland can be charged for their social care; in the long term we think social care charging should be abolished.

Read more about our views on social care charging:

• SAMH’s View on Social Care Charging
• SAMH submission to Health & Sport Committee inquiry into social care

Self-harm 

Self-harm includes a broad range of behaviour that causes injury, such as cutting, burning or scratching the skin. Self-harm is not a mental health problem; it is used as a coping mechanism for emotional distress, which may be caused by a mental health problem.

Both adults and young people experience self-harming, but young people are at a higher risk. Research from 2018 showed that 22% of young girls and 9% of young boys had self-harmed. We think more needs to be done to make sure people who self-harm receive a compassionate response from health care professionals.

Read more about what we think should happen:

• SAMH’s View on Self Harm
• Beyond Appearances  

If you’re using self-harm as a coping mechanism or know someone who is, you can read our guide ‘Understanding Self-harm’.