Below follows the Gibraltar Mental Welfare Society's Mental Health Awareness Week statement:

The theme for Mental Health Awareness Week this year is Anxiety. The choice of theme is not surprising given the rise of this disorder in many countries. Although local data on this, or any other mental health issue, is still not available, there is no evidence to suggest that this trend is not replicated in Gibraltar. The 2019 Audit refers to Gibraltar as having “ A highly medicalised population” and this is what happens when talking therapies are not easily accessible and the only alternative is medication.

In the light of this, the employment of a new clinical psychologist is welcome news, particularly since we are told that he will be taking on board the structural organisation of this aspect of the service. The priority will be the reduction of the very long waiting list of those seeking access to talking therapies. Inaccessibility to therapy has always been one of the weakest aspects in our mental health provision. If anything is going to increase anxiety, a very long waiting time is certainly one of them.

The GMWS has been informed of other positive moves within mental health provision-

One of the major improvements, we understand, is the coordinated work between agencies which we are assured is having a very positive effect on service users. An example of this is in the field of sheltered employment, which has always lacked the necessary structure in Gibraltar. We hope that in future service users will have the required support to be meaningfully and successfully employed. The cafeteria in OV is one of the places which will offer sheltered employment so it is crucial that it is up and running very soon, because it has been closed down for far too long.

The GMWS has long campaigned for effective crisis intervention, including home assessments. We understand that the plan now is to increase the numbers of those in the existing liaison team in order to maximise its efficacy. Clearly, good crisis intervention will reduce any unnecessary stress in an already very difficult situation.

Side by side with sheltered employment is the need for long term sheltered accommodation. At the moment, there are only two long term beds available in Kent House, and five temporary beds in Sandpits. Although the Society recognises the significant improvement in support for those service users living in the community, it still maintains that there are those who will always need full time support in order to have a reasonable quality of life. This also requires financial investment.