Amid Scotland's mental health crisis, here's how sport is changing – and saving – lives

It’s how many of our fathers and grandfathers, the generational influences in our lives, dealt with their problems: distractions, avoidance, stigma, self-medicating with alcohol and poor lifestyle.

With that heritage, it’s no coincidence as a nation we’ve a probable suicide rate among the highest in Western Europe. But for the people we work with at Scottish Action for Mental Health (SAMH) who do open up and take the brave step to talk about their mental health, the experience can be life-changing.

And I know physical activity and sport has the power to change lives. I see it every day.

Talking and moving

We all know that, as a nation, we aren’t as physically active as we should be, but most of the time it’s our waistline we worry about when we’re reminded of this.

Being active isn’t just good for our physical health; it’s also proven to have a positive effect on our mental and social health, alongside our wellbeing. Research suggests the less active a person is, the more likely they are to experience low mood, depression, tension and worry.

This is serious. A Public Health Scotland study found that, in 2022, more than 3,000 deaths in Scotland could be attributed to physical inactivity. The truth is that if we became a more physically active nation, it would transform our country and the way we support our wellbeing as a whole.

Body and mind

Often the people we help are inactive, isolated and having a pretty bad time of things. Sometimes the support we offer is about building structure in their lives and creating better routines, while for others it’s about creating the opportunity and space to talk about their feelings and difficulties.

One of our projects, Achieving Active Lives, is about behavioural change. Through funding by men’s health charity Movember, the 16-week programme offers free tailored one-to-one support to men experiencing low mood, anxiety and depression, helping them build better routines, improve their fitness, and providing tools they can use to intentionally support their mental health through being active. And it works.

Changing lives

Getting people to talk about their mental health can be tough. Many of us aren’t used to doing it, we fear how other people will react, and sometimes we feel like we don’t know the right words.

The Changing Room is a programme that has created a perfect space for men to discuss their mental health. Held in football grounds across Scotland, football fans who join the programme can sit on the benches of their sporting idols and talk football.

Delivered by SAMH and various football community trusts around Scotland – supported by the SPFL Trust, and funded by Movember and local community funds – the programme has changed, and likely saved, lives.

Participants walk around the pitch, close to the hallowed turf, and look up to where their grandfather used to take them to their first game. Or where their son sat with them for the first time.

Eventually that football chat moves on to them talking about themselves and their lives. It’s no accident that this happens – it’s through the careful designing of the programme and skilled delivery by trained staff. Once men start talking about their lives and their mental health, that’s where things start to really change.

The truth is that men do talk – but the right spaces need to be created.

Father and son

I think about James. Quiet, unassuming, rarely leaving his flat in Fife for years. He participated in The Changing Room. Slowly, gradually, week by week, he began to connect with others. He felt supported and he started to open up about his own experience of mental health.

What’s more, he grew in confidence and self-esteem, and returned to the programme as a volunteer to support new participants – one of whom was his dad, inspired by James to take action for his own mental health.

Seeing the impact The Changing Room has made is inspiring, especially when participants disclose how it saved their lives.

Helping clubs to help their members

Understanding the relationship between physical activity and mental health thanks to extensive research, we’ve been developing our programmes and supporting people in this space for 15 years. We’ve been on a journey, teaming up with SportScotland, and watching our impact increase as we’ve helped many thousands of people.

We have more than 70 programmes across Scotland, 20 of which are focusing on physical activity and sport, amplified by our many collaborations and partnerships. But our reach can only go so far. We’re only one charity.

Because of this, we’re building capacity throughout the country, giving sports clubs and community groups the skills and expertise to help their own members. That’s why we’ve established Scotland’s Mental Health Charter for Physical Activity and Sport.

Launched in 2018, we’ve been joined by over 800 clubs, bodies and organisations. Everyone from grassroots clubs to elite sporting bodies have signed up, using their collective power to ensure there is no barrier to engaging, participating and achieving in physical activity and sport.

A movement of movers

We’re creating a movement of movers: a network of clubs, associations, organisations, and people who support their members and each other through the good times and bad.

We want people to be intentional about what they are doing – not just taking part and staying active, but intentionally thinking about how they use physical activity for their mental health. Because the potential of sport and physical activity to transform our society and our lives is just incredible.

Robert Nesbitt is head of physical activity and sport at Scottish Action for Mental Health