Former social worker walks the British isles to raise awareness of mental health stigma
A former social worker has walked round the edge of Scotland with no money, taking only a backpack and a tent, to change the way people think about mental health.
Chris McCullough Young, 50, set off from his home in Edinburgh with a just few packs of Supernoodles, a first aid kit and a pair of boots, with the sole aim of tackling mental health stigma.
Relying entirely on the hospitality of the people he met along the way, Chris made it all the way around Scotland and has now got as far as Wales.
While on the walk he spoke to hundreds of people about mental health, and succeeded in changing people’s attitudes and perceptions “one conversation at a time.”
Now he’s joined with See Me, Scotland’s programme to end mental health discrimination, to bring together hundreds of people to walk with him down Edinburgh’s Royal Mile on 3 September creating Scotland’s biggest ever conversation to tackle the problem.
I can turn this illness around Chris McCullough Young
Chris first experienced mental health problems when he was 12, following the death of his mother. At the time he found a lack of support, inspiring him to become a social worker, so he could be there for others.
In 2008, when he was a social work manager in Falkirk, Chris found himself becoming distant from people and no longer knew who he was. He was taken out of work and diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD).
After receiving the diagnosis Chris noticed people’s behaviour towards him changing.
He said: “My manager told me I was too nice to have BPD, it’s like saying ‘you’re too nice to have a broken leg.’
“I had a psychiatrist. I told her, ’I’ve found a group of people with BPD who meet up socially. She said 'no you must stay away from them they are very sick people’. I thought, hey, I resemble that. ”
After hearing on the radio that 90% of people wouldn’t knowingly invite someone with a mental health problem into their home, Chris thought, “I can turn this around.”
He said: “In 2011 I decided to walk around the edge of the UK, as that is where people with mental health problems often feel like they are, in the margins. It’s the world’s biggest metaphor.”
Chris and See Me want to bring together hundreds of professionals, carers and people with lived experience, who may unknowingly stigmatise each other, to walk together down the Royal Mile, breaking down barriers as they walk a mile in each other’s shoes.
Judith Robertson, See Me programme director, said: “Tackling the stigma towards mental health is vitally important and Chris’ incredible action has done so much to change the attitudes of those he has met.”
“This was an amazing feat and one that has inspired us, and has inspired hundreds of others to join us on 3 September.”
