Welcome to well?
By popular demand the theme for this issue of Well? is children and young people's mental well-being. It's a bumper issue and, by working with a range of young people and agencies, we've aimed to highlight a whole host of work already going on in Scotland, and to inspire future work to help make a positive difference to the lives of young people.
Major themes emerge, especially the importance young people give to how they think, feel and relate to the world. Emotional well-being, confidence, optimism and hope for the future are all important, together with being resilient and having the skills to cope with what life (and adults!) throws at them.
As a parent, I'm always struck by the fundamental importance of the early stages in a child's life. Alan Sinclair's article (page 22) really captures this and underlines that if we invest our time and resources in good parenting during early childhood we will all reap positive benefits.
We also debate whether the popular trend in online social networking has a positive or negative influence on young people and explore work in Scotland to create positive online social networks for and by young people.
We simply don't have the space to include everything you have suggested, but please don't stop sending us your ideas and examples of work. It's you that make the difference - your energy, passion, ideas and commitment are what help make all our lives better.
Gregor Henderson
Director
National Programme for Improving Mental Health and Well-being
well@scotland.gsi.gov.uk
www.wellscotland.info
Well? invited Martin Aitken, who was involved in the In Ma Heid conference and developing Positive Twist, the online mental well-being forum, to introduce the magazine from a young person's perspective.
Martin Aitken
It is my privilege to welcome you to the children and young people's edition of Well? magazine. Naturally, many young people are at a delicate stage of life where they may be more prone to mental health problems. In this issue we hope to offer advice to young people across the country about what to do to "keep their head happy", as well as letting adults know our views on mental well-being.
Earlier in my life, I never gave mental health a second thought. I didn't have a mental health problem, and I never thought it was an issue I should be concerned about. It became a much more important issue in my life after sitting on the steering-group for a conference called 'In Ma Heid', which was organised and aimed at young people, focusing on everyday issues which affect them. Being involved in this conference has opened up many doors for me, and has allowed me to get involved in many other projects, both local and national. I've helped make films to promote positive mental health and created a Bebo mental well-being account, 'Positive Twist' to try and target young people in new ways. It has also allowed me an insight into how far we have come in tackling the stigma of mental ill health, but also how far we still have to go. This issue of Well? is certainly a step in the right direction.
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The Scottish Executive's National Programme for Improving Mental Health and Well-being has the following vision: to help improve the mental health of everyone in Scotland and to improve the quality of life, well-being and social inclusion of people who experience mental illness or mental health problems. Both parts of this vision are fundamentally linked and achieving them requires understanding, commitment and action from everyone in Scotland.