mental health

Mental Health (Scotland) Bill

An Act of the Scottish Parliament to amend the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 in various respects; to make provision about mental health disposals in criminal cases; to make provision as to the rights of victims of crime committed by mentally-disordered persons; and for connected purposes.

Write to Recovery

Website designed to help people affected by mental health problems on their journey of recovery. It invites people to write their stories and experiences - and offers tools and prompts to encourage, inspire and support people to write.

Mental health in Scotland

Briefing that gives an overview of mental health in Scotland. It first discusses mental health within a global and European context, before focussing in more detail on the picture in Scotland.

It reviews what is currently known regarding the prevalence of mental health conditions, the organisation of mental health services, the current legislative and policy framework that underpins mental health service provision, how these services are regulated and monitored, and finally, the costs and funding of mental health services.

Mental health of women detained by the criminal courts

One of the ways in which the Commission monitors individuals' care and treatment is through the visits programme. It visits individuals in a range of settings throughout Scotland: at home, in hospital or in any other setting such as prisons where care and treatment is being delivered.

This report details findings from visits between May and September 2013 to 51 women who met the above criteria and makes a number of recommendations in response to these findings.

Worried sick: experiences of poverty and mental health across Scotland

Throughout November and December 2013, SAMH invited service users and external organisations to participate in a series of discussion groups looking at the interaction of poverty and deprivation and mental health.

This paper forms part of SAMH's Know Where to Go campaign - a Scotland-wide campaign to tackle the barriers to accessing information, help and support for mental health.

User involvement in mental health services: a case of power over discourse

Public participation in planning and implementing health care has become a government mandate in many states. In UK mental health services, this 'user involvement' policy dates back nearly three decades and has now become enshrined in policy. However, an implementation gap in terms of achieving meaningful involvement and influence for service users persists.

The future of mental health: discussion paper

Population demographics are changing. Technology continues to develop at a rapid pace. The recovery movement in mental health continues to grow, as does a focus on integration. At the same time, demand continues to increase and significant questions are being asked about where future investment in the NHS might come from. Currently,there is a lack of a sustainable and coherent national plan to tackle these issues.
This paper discusses what these challenges might mean for the future of our nation's mental health.