Plea for better mental health services amid suicide fears
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A Wick man has galvanised the Caithness community into entering into an online debate on mental health provision in the far north.
Steven Szyfelbain (31) posted an impassioned plea in a Facebook post on Saturday in which he claimed that "suicide has killed more Caithness people during Covid lockdown than Covid".
The sobering statement was part of a "prototype letter" that Steven posted on the Facebook page for Caithness Health Action Team (Chat) and was intended to open up discussion on a subject that is often deemed taboo.
"How many more young people have to take their lives in this small county of Caithness alone, before it becomes obvious to the entire country that there is now a crisis regarding their mental health, and the fact support and treatment for it has been woefully inadequate for over two decades?" he wrote. "Suicide has killed more people in Caithness in lockdown than the coronavirus.
"No-one of sound mind denies the severity of Covid-19 and the responses needed to combat it. And yet, for almost 25 long years in this county, individuals, including myself, continue to attempt and often do end their lives via suicide and it is met with naught but silence."
Suicide should never be an answer in a supposedly enlightened and civilised society.
Steven questions a society where "killing yourself seems to be the only option available" and how many people "cringe at the topic".
He goes on to talk about ending the taboo on discussing suicide and how "mental health is every bit as important as physical health".
He warns: "Suicide should never be an answer in a supposedly enlightened and civilised society, but the undeniable fact remains that it is."
Steven ends by saying "no more: enough is enough" and imploring people to take action before "more souls are lost".
After receiving many messages of support for his post, Steven set up a new Facebook page called No More Lost Souls as "a campaign to fight the mental health crisis in Caithness".
As a way of explaining the motivation behind No More Lost Souls, Jade Sinclair (21) from Wick did an introductory video.
In it she said: "We're not here to instruct you but here to direct you to help. We want to put Caithness on the map for mental health... and educate people as well."
Local MSP Gail Ross is supportive of the initiative to open up discussion on mental health.
She said: “My heart goes out to all the people who have lost someone and those that are suffering with their own mental health issues. I have been dealing with people trying to access mental health services in the county since I was elected and on numerous occasions have asked NHS Highland for improvements to services."
Mrs Ross talked about the difficulty in obtaining information on what help is available and said she has now set up an inquiry to cover this and press for desperately needed improvements.
"We also have to remember that preventing people from getting to the point of crisis is vital – from dealing with families that find themselves falling into crisis through poverty and addiction to simple things like being kinder to people online," she said.
"I have seen a lot of nasty online comments over the years and this doesn’t seem to have abated, even when people now seem to be more aware that words matter.
"The lockdown has undoubtedly affected people’s mental wellbeing and we are simply not ready for what is unfolding. NHS Highland need to step up their commitment to mental health services in the county and stop pretending that what we have is adequate.”
Thurso man Peter Todd, an activist pushing for better mental health provision, is a member of HUG Action for Mental Health and pointed out that a new support initiative is now operating online.
He said: "The Caithness conversation café is for those who are affected by mental health issues to allow them to have a voice in shaping services both in Caithness and at New Craigs [Psychiatric Hospital]."
