It's good to talk and there are many mental health resources out there to help. Here are just a few:

Listening is at the heart of every we do here at Samaritans. We’re best known for our 24-hour listening service which is available to anyone who is struggling to cope. We have 20,000 volunteers spread across 201 branches in the UK and Ireland, including 19 branches here in Scotland, offering confidential and non-judgemental emotional support all year round. It’s free to contact Samaritans from mobile or landlines and the number doesn’t show up on phone bills. In addition to the phone line our volunteers support people by face to face meetings, email, SMS, and by letter. We receive a call for help every six seconds.

You can find out more about our listening service here.

What else do Samaritans do?

In addition to our listening service, Samaritans, runs a number of initiatives including promoting positive mental health and working to prevent suicide. These include:

Community outreach
Support for schools & colleges
Support for people in prison
Support for military personnel
Workplace training on mental health
Working with partners like Network Rail to reduce suicide on the railways

S.H.U.S.H listening tips: We’ve developed straight-forward guidance to help people listen better and engage in conversations if they are concerned for someone. You can read the full guidance and download the listening tips here.

Small Talks Save Lives: One of our recent campaigns, Small Talks Saves Lives explores how people can support someone struggling to cope through everyday conversation. You can view the campaign video here and additional resources including tips for recognising if someone is in distress, suggestions of how to start a conversation and next steps here.

SANE

SANE is a UK-wide charity working to improve quality of life for people affected by mental illness. SANE has three main objectives linked to our aims and outcomes:

To raise awareness and combat stigma about mental illness, educating and campaigning to improve mental health services.
To provide care and emotional support for people with mental health problems, their families and carers as well as information for other organisations and the public.
To initiate research into the causes and treatments of serious mental illness such as schizophrenia and depression and the psychological and social impact of mental illness.

SANE offers emotional support and information to anyone affected by mental health problems through our helpline, Textcare and our online Support Forum where people share their feelings and experiences

www.sane.org.uk and helpline (SANEline - open from 4.30pm to 10.30pm for emotional support, guidance and information.

See Me Scotland

See Me is Scotland’s national programme to end mental health stigma and discrimination, enabling people who experience mental health problems to live fulfilled lives.

See Me works to change minds, change policy and change practice where stigmatising and discriminatory behaviour around mental health stops people from living fulfilled lives. People with lived experience of mental health problems are at the heart of everything they do, ensuring that the focus is on areas where change is needed most and where people’s rights need promoted.

Find out more at www.seemescotland.org

Where's Your Head At? (England)

Where’s Your Head At? is a campaign which will improve the mental health of the nation by ensuring employers look after the wellbeing of their workforce. www.wheresyourheadat.org

You can also visit https://mhfaengland.org/ on more information as to how you can become a Mental Health First Aid instructor.

SAMH

Around since 1923, SAMH currently operates over 60 services in communities across Scotland providing mental health social care support, homelessness, addictions and employment services, among others.

These services together with our national programme work in See Me, respectme, suicide prevention, sport and physical activity; inform our policy and campaign work to influence positive social change. Visit https:www.samh.org.uk for more information.

Support in Mind Scotland

Support in Mind Scotland is a national mental health charity with more than 40 years’ experience of providing services and support to people affected by mental illness, including carers, family and friends. We support more than 1,300 people each week across 20 diverse projects in Scotland, from Dumfries & Galloway to the Highlands. We are also founding partners of Mental Health UK, along with our sister charities Rethink Mental Illness (England), Hafal (Wales) and Mindwise (Northern Ireland).

1 in 4 of us will experience a mental health issue, and 1 in 100 will be affected by a serious mental illness. Please do not be afraid to ask for help if or when you need it. For more information please call 0131 662 4359 or info@supportinindcotland.org.uk.

Health In Mind

At Health in Mind, we’ve been promoting positive mental health and wellbeing in Scotland since 1982. We do this by providing a wide range of services to support people to make a positive difference to their lives.

Health in Mind’s services can help you change your life in many ways. You may want to build your confidence if you're recovering from mental ill-health, overcome the effects of your past, learn to deal with your stress and anxiety; overcome your feelings of self-harm and suicide; feel connected to your local community; be free of the addictions you turned to support your mental ill-health and find the information you need to support your wellbeing.

Our services include counselling and trauma counselling; befriending; guided self-help; support for people from minority ethnic communities; combatting isolation by connecting people within their local community; art therapy; outdoor conservation for greater wellbeing; suicide prevention; support with substance misuse; mental health and wellbeing information; training and much more.

We support people throughout Scotland with a range of mental health services, but specifically in Edinburgh we operate Edspace, which is an excellent information service listing all mental health services in Edinburgh (we also have one for east Lothian, west Lothian, or Midlothian). More information here: http://edspace.org.uk/

Further Support

Become a Mental Health First Aider