Samaritans Scotland encourages Scots to be kind to themselves with launch of new app
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Samaritans Scotland is encouraging people to show kindness to themselves and look after their emotional wellbeing with the launch of a new, free self-help app.
Kindness is the theme for Mental Health Awareness Week, which starts today, and comes in response to the coronavirus outbreak.
Samaritans Self-Help offers people practical ways to cope and stay safe if they are going through a difficult time.
Rachel Cackett, Samaritans Scotland executive director, said: “Finding ways to show kindness to ourselves and look after our wellbeing is so important during this challenging and uncertain time. With access to face-to-face support services and networks limited, digital resources like this have a vital role to play in supporting mental wellbeing.
"Our new self-help tool provides another channel of support for anyone who may be struggling, featuring practical, evidence-based techniques and exercises. We hope this will prove a valuable resource, helping people to look after their emotional wellbeing, now and in the future.”
The app aims to provide a means of accessing support for people who may struggle to use Samaritans’ listening service, or who may find it difficult to express how they are feeling when talking to someone.
Samaritans Self-Help features a mood tracker that allows people to record how they feel. It recommends coping techniques based on how you’re feeling, as well as activities that others have found useful when experiencing similar feelings.
Samaritans product manager Felix Macpherson said: “Over the past two years we have worked alongside people who have experienced emotional distress and suicidal thoughts who have found it difficult to talk to a Samaritans volunteer, in order to understand what they find most useful for coping with distress.
“We brought the launch of Samaritans Self-Help forward in the hope that it will prove a valuable place for support for those observing social distancing, facing prolonged isolation or lacking the privacy to make a call to the helpline.”
