'Connect Us Too' launch event - Mental Health Awareness for deaf people

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On Friday 12 April, deafscotland, Deaf Links and ITV SignPost launched a series of three related accessible video clips in British Sign Language (BSL) with subtitles and voiceover, introducing some key information from the See Me Campaign about mental health and wellbeing from the Scottish Deaf Community.

The four videos are:

The videos are designed to breakdown the stigma of mental health issues and encourage Deaf people to talk to others, whether Deaf or hearing, about how they are feeling and to build resilience. For many Deaf people their first or only language is BSL. This will be the first time such information has been fully accessible to them and very importantly presented to them by their peers.

People with lived experience of mental health issues are at the heart of everything within the See Me Campaign and this is evidenced in the series of videos where grassroots members of the Scottish Deaf Community share their experiences of the struggles they have had and encourage others to talk about it and even ask for support.

Prevalence of mental health issues is four times higher for deaf people than the hearing community, often due to isolation, social exclusion, discrimination and stigma caused by deafness and the ensuing severe communication barriers they face on a daily basis.  It is therefore vital that this accessible information which has been available to the hearing world for many years is brought to the Scottish Deaf Community.

The work has been developed by and with Deaf people in Tayside, alongside a number of health professionals, to build knowledge and understanding.

Particular contributions are from SAMH and its programme of work delivered as See Me, Scotland’s national programme to end mental health stigma and discrimination, enabling people who experience mental health issues to live fulfilled lives. The work has also been supported by The ALLIANCE self-management programme and peer supporters are being trained to help build resilience across the Deaf Community in Scotland.

There’s more here.