Survey to mark Time To Talk Day reveals stigma still widespread.

A third of Scots would avoid speaking to a friend about mental health problems over fears of an “awkward conversation”, a survey has revealed.

The survey, released for Time To Talk Day, also found that 39% would prefer not to have such a conversation for fear of saying the wrong thing.

More than half (51%), meanwhile, said they would prefer not to tell anyone if they had a mental health problem, even if they thought it would be helpful to speak to someone about it.

See Me, the national programme to end mental health discrimination, said the poll reveals that stigma is preventing people from getting help from their loved ones.

Wendy Halliday, See Me interim director, said: “If people avoid conversations on mental health because they might be awkward, and people who are struggling don’t want to tell anyone, that leaves a huge gap where support and care could be.

“There are a lot more conversations happening on mental health, and this Time to Talk day is set to be the biggest yet in Scotland.

“However stigma is still stopping a huge amount of conversations from happening. 75% of people we surveyed would tell someone they were fine, even if they were struggling with their mental health. We all have a role in changing this, if you’re worried about someone, ask them if they’re okay today.”

Jenn Barnes, 32, from Glasgow, found it difficult to talk to anyone when she was struggling with depression.

She said: “I didn’t think by sharing my problem it would have made it better, so I kept it to myself. I’ve always been quite an independent person and thought that I could fix problems on my own and when I realised I couldn’t, I was embarrassed more than anything.

“When I eventually did speak to a friend after it getting to a point where I really thought I was going to do myself some damage, I realised that if I had done that weeks before I could have saved myself a lot of grief and emotional problems that lasted a whole lot longer than if I’d tackled it earlier.”

In the last two years Jenn has spoken a lot about mental health, and encouraged others to speak out and ask for help, after her brother, Calum, took his own life. However, she found that people would avoid talking to her when she needed to talk most.

She said: “My friends, my close group are very good at talking to me about it, but other people would just completely avoid me. I remember walking through the city centre and seeing someone I knew, and they saw me and literally walked the other way so they didn’t have to speak to me.

“It is a very difficult conversation to have with anyone, but all I wanted was to talk about it, because for me it helped and it still helps now.”

An event at the National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh on Thursday aims to help tackle the stigma around mental health. Starting at 11am, the event includes live music, art, spoken word performances and a virtual reality experience of mental health.