Mental Health and Lockdown Restrictions

Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Mental Health, Wellbeing and Welsh Language – in the Senedd at 3:01 pm on 4 November 2020.

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Photo of Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan Labour 3:01, 4 November 2020

Thanks, Hefin. I think we've got to recognise that some people still feel a bit embarrassed about the fact that they may need mental health support, and so we have to make sure that there are mechanisms for them to get some help. Sometimes they may not want to go via their GP, and that's why we've already expanded the CALL helpline, so thank you for inquiring about that. That facility has already been expanded. We've seen an increase in calls to that helpline. I was fortunate enough to speak to the head, based in Wrexham, about the services that they can provide, and they can also be a signpost where people can go for additional support.

The other thing that I'm very proud that we've introduced is a new online cognitive behavioural therapy support scheme. This is called SilverCloud. It's only been launched since September, and already about 2,000 people have used it. It's supported by experts and I'm hoping that this will be a mechanism that people, perhaps, who haven't needed to deal with this issue before may be willing to use to see if they can deal with some of their problems through this online support facility. So, I'd be very grateful if Senedd Members would help to advertise that to their constituents.