Police and charity workers visited the Overgate in Dundee to raise awareness of mental health issues.
Police Scotland’s National Safer Communities Department, along with representatives from charities Chooselife, Victim Support Scotland, Scottish Association for Mental Health, and Samaritans held a number of events to raise awareness of mental health across Tayside last week.
Staff highlighted the work being carried out by a range of organisations to support individuals and communities. They also challenged the stigma and misunderstanding around mental health issues.
People were given the chance to find out about different training courses available, such as Scotland’s Mental Health First Aid, which offers basic general information about mental health problems.
Sergeant Pam Colvin of Safer Communities Strategic Partnerships said: “The police are often the first point of contact for people experiencing mental ill health or distress.
“We are making great inroads into improving our operational response to incidents involving these people by reviewing our policies and procedures, developing mental health and suicide prevention training, whilst continuing to strengthen our partnerships with mental health services and charitable organisations.
“Our aim is to provide a person-centred approach to ensure the person is afforded the most appropriate response without being criminalised or stigmatised, and to mitigate against escalation of distress.
“We are also raising awareness of the various avenues of support which can be accessed directly”.