MENTAL health needs to be a key focus for workplaces, education and health care in West Dunbartonshire to stop people facing unfair discrimination.

That’s the view of mental health organisation See Me, which is encouraging people struggling with their mental health to speak up about how they are feeling.

It says mental health needs to be a key focus in 2019 to stop people being treated unfairly.

See Me wants this to start with this year’s Time to Talk day on February 7, a day for everyone to talk about mental health.

It wants people and organisations in West Dunbartonshire to hold Time to Talk events, which could be in gyms, cafes, at coffee mornings, in dedicated areas in workplaces and schools or anywhere else where people can chat about how they’re feeling, whether good or bad.

The most recent research into mental health shows that people aren’t willing to speak about how they are feeling, for fear of the reaction they will receive.

Last year’s Our Voice survey found that only four out of 10 people are willing to speak to their manager at work about their own mental health.

A survey of 1,455 young people, carried out by See Me, also found that only 26 per cent would tell someone if they were finding it difficult to cope, and only 31 per cent would tell someone if they had a diagnosed mental health condition.

Calum Irving, See Me director, said: “We all have mental health and any of us could go through a period where we struggle.

“In these times we need the help and support of those around us to give us the best chance of recovery.

“So we want to see workplaces, communities, schools, and health providers in West Dunbartonshire come together to talk about mental health this year, starting with Time to Talk day.”