AT a meeting of Hampshire County Council's Health and Wellbeing Board in Winchester on June 15, the authority's proposed Mental Wellbeing Strategy and Suicide Prevention Action Plan was introduced in a report from Simon Bryant, Director of Public Health for the county.
The strategy has been developed collectively with partners of the multiagency Hampshire Improving Mental Wellbeing Board. It'emphasises a preventative approach to address the wide range of factors that influence mental health and wellbeing. The plan is to make 'suicide prevention... everybody's business!
Winchester housewife Teresa Skelton challenged the contents of the report, and the prospective strategy outlined in it, with a deputation during the meeting's public participation slot. She stated of the Action Plan that "it reads like a massive piece of administrative over-reach in the making". She continued: "The true scale of the mental health problems it claims to be addressing does not begin to justify the level of mass surveillance the report seems to be recommending.
"Page 41 of the document claims bizarrely that 'everyone is at risk of suicide. This does not sit very well with the statement further down the same page that suicide rates in England are declining, except among one group, under 25s - especially girls and women."
"If suicides are getting less", she asked, "why should official surveillance even vaguely need to be more, and what on earth is there to say we are all'at risk'?" Of the report's text, Mrs Skelton pointed out that it is "riddled with disturbing language, vague definitions, and unsubstantiated claims."
This story is from the Issue 36: August 2023 edition of The Light.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the Issue 36: August 2023 edition of The Light.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
The invention of intersex
Controversial sexologist a pioneer in transhumanism
Ethiopia paves way for digital currency
ETHIOPIA recently moved closer to launching a central bank digital currency (CBDC) after the Council of Ministers voted to approve a revised draft proclamation.
The bright side of sunshine
Don't hide from nature's gift for good health
Illiteracy in the age of covid
Without critical analysis we are as vulnerable as sheep
History crying lone wolf
Joining the dots leads to uncomfortable questions
To vote or not to vote...
Subverting the narrative: the Independents' Day general election of July 2024
Are LED lights safe?
Study claims that the lights are toxic to the eyes and body, causing cancer, and may not even save energy
Payout for scientist fired for refusing jab
Jury awards $687,000 to researcher who rejected demand to be injected
A direct approach to democracy
It doesn't have to be just one vote every five years
Digital takeover of our bodies
Hacking humans to harness our energy