Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Mental Health, Wellbeing and Welsh Language – in the Senedd at 2:37 pm on 24 March 2021.
Diolch yn fawr, Jack. Thanks very much for all you've done to champion the issue of mental health. Since you've been in the Senedd, you really have been one of the foremost champions of this issue. I'd like to just underline my thanks to you for also being so honest about some of the issues that you've struggled with. Thank you very much, because it does help people to talk about it. I must say that there are very few positive things that have come out of the pandemic, but I do think the fact that people seem to be talking about mental health—that the stigma, I hope, will be reduced as a result of this. Because, frankly, there can't be many people who haven't been touched in some way in terms of anxiety during the pandemic. They haven't known about whether they're going to keep their jobs, they haven't known whether their parents are going to contract the virus, they haven't known whether their children are going to suffer from going backwards in terms of academia—all of these things lead to anxiety. I think everybody now can relate to anxiety in a way that perhaps not everybody did before. So, that is clear.
What we've tried to do, Jack, is to make sure that people are aware of what help is available if they suffer these panic attacks. Obviously, we have the CALL a mental health helpline, which is available 24 hours a day. We've put increased capacity into that. As I say, we've got this online cognitive behavioural therapy. But one of the key things that was really important for me when I was first appointed was how easy is it to get access, to know where you can go for this stuff. And what you see now—I hope that all Senedd Members received a copy of the e-mail that I sent to make sure that everybody knew that, now, every single health board has to make it absolutely clear what support is available in their region. It has to be accessible in a really easy way. So, there's plenty of support out there, but we just have to make sure that people know where to go and signpost that support. Diolch yn fawr, Jack, for everything you've done on the subject.