THIS week, we are promoting Mental Health Awareness Week.

I wrote in my last column about the rise of youth-related gatherings and the associated risks brought about by the consumption of alcohol and other substances.

I read recently that young people’s mental health is suffering the most during the pandemic and that is certainly something that I see every day.

Mental Health Awareness Week is taking place between May 10 and 16 to raise awareness of this and offer support to those who need it.

The theme this year is ‘nature and the environment’ and certainly here in East Lothian we have that in abundance.

Mental health is part of everyone’s day-to-day life, it affects all of us, but there is still a stigma around it.

To tackle this properly, we need to help young people to understand that it is OK not to be OK and that they can talk about it.

We also need the adults in young people’s lives to understand how to talk about it and how best to support our young people.

Recent research showed that only two in every five incidents reported to police involved a crime and many of the other incidents were mental health-related.

In the last reporting year, in East Lothian alone we dealt with 1,710 ‘concern for’ incidents, which is nearly five every day.

Many of these incidents are people having a mental health crisis and needing urgent support.

We work very closely with our partners in health to ensure that the right service is provided to the person as soon as we can get it.

A life is lost through suicide every two hours in the UK, but suicidal thoughts and feelings affect thousands of us every single day.

That’s why it is so important that we talk about suicide, end the stigma that surrounds it and also why we are supporting this campaign to focus on and encourage conversations around achieving good mental health.

I was really pleased to hear that the Government is committed to improving the support for those affected by mental health; this is vital as we recover from the pandemic and assess the full impact lockdown has had on our communities.

Findings from a recent survey showed that only 26 per cent of young people said that they would tell someone if they were finding it difficult to cope with their mental health, as the fear of being judged, dismissed and not taken seriously makes it difficult for them to tell others how they feel.

We all need to support our young people and increase this percentage and give them the confidence to understand that it is OK not to be OK.

There are lots of places, groups and centres across East Lothian where support for mental health issues can be sought.

For more information on Mental Health Awareness Week, have a look at mentalhealth.org.uk