Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Dundee teenager campaigning for better mental health support

Arianne King.
Arianne King.

A Dundee teenager is leading the battle to improve mental health services as part of  a Scottish Government initiative.

Arianne King, 14, has been selected to be part of the Youth Commission on Mental Health Services and will draw on her own experiences to lead a pioneering government  study.

Arianne, along with the other 21 members of the Youth Commission, will gather evidence on existing services, encourage debate among young people and develop recommendations for ministers and service providers on how child and adolescent mental health services can be improved.

The teenager  said: “People I’m close to and family have suffered with mental health issues and I have seen them struggle to get the support they need, so I am happy I could help.

“It means a lot to me to be able to help people.”

The initiative is a partnership between the Scottish Government, Young Scot and the Scottish Association for Mental Health.

Mental health is a key theme of the Year of Young People 2018.

Mental Health Minister Maureen Watt said:“It is vital that we recognise that good mental wellbeing is as important as physical health and periods of ill mental health can be recovered from with treatment and support.

“The work of the young commissioners will guide how we improve the mental health services available to young people, and just as importantly, I want the discussion around their work to break down the unjustified stigma that persists around seeking treatment or experiencing poor mental health.

“This is the Year of Young People 2018 and this commission gives us an opportunity to deliver real change, based on evidence and experience, and create a society and health service that better meets the mental and physical health needs of our children and young people.”

Billy Watson, SAMH chief executive  added: “This is a really exciting opportunity for young people to make their voices heard and to be at the heart of improving mental health services for now and for generations to come.”