7. Member Debate under Standing Order 11.21(iv): Mental health and community resilience

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:18 pm on 23 November 2022.

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Photo of Jane Dodds Jane Dodds Liberal Democrat 4:18, 23 November 2022

A heartfelt thanks to you, Gareth, for talking about your situation. It really is important, because talking about mental health is what we should all be doing, so thank you so much for that contribution. And I do thank Jenny as well for bringing this debate here today. It's a really important issue, particularly at this time. You talked about foodbanks and the access people need to have to food, but I want to touch on loneliness, because I feel that there is such an issue here in Wales and in our society around loneliness, which leads to people feeling so isolated in terms of both their mental health difficulties, but it can actually exacerbate it as well.

We know that the statistics in Wales are that 15 per cent of people in Wales say that they are lonely. And that is for different age groups, but actually what surprised me particularly was that the age group that was the highest was young people—16 to 24-year-olds were the group that was more likely to report that they felt lonely. There is also an issue in older age groups as well, particularly when people lose their lifelong partners. And I speak here personally, for when my father died, my mum suffered severely from loneliness, and additionally, the trauma that she had, I'm sure exacerbated her dementia, and we must really think about how, as a society, our communities can help those people who are lonely. We've all talked a little bit about the resources and places that we know in our own areas, and I know that, in my own home town of Hay-on-Wye, we have set up a weekly meal for people to come to, and actually, the biggest issue for them, it's not so much the food, it's about talking, and it's about having that social interaction. People who are particularly on their own are the older age group, who don't feel confident enough to go out, but are finding some solace in being able to talk to people.

So, I do thank you, Jenny, for the debate this afternoon. I think it is so important that we build up community resilience. I like to call it 'community mental health first aid', and I would like to see more accessible training, education, awareness raising for people who want to become mental health first aiders in our communities. Thank you. Diolch yn fawr iawn.