This year's Mental Health Awareness Week is encouraging people to take action for good mental health. Here, two members of the Diverse Experiences Advisory Panel (DEAP) talk about the transformative power of collection action for positive change.
Location: United Kingdom
Zahada's story
I’m a single parent and community activist battling life with a physical disability and several decades of mental health issues. An opportunity came along just over 18 months ago to join the DEAP panel. Being part of DEAP has given me a meaningful way to turn my lived experience into action. As someone who lives with a disability and has experienced poverty and the challenges of navigating support systems, I know how important it is for people like me to have a voice in the decisions that affect our lives. Too often policies and services are designed without hearing from the people who rely on them. Being part of DEAP allows me to change that in a small but important way.
For me, the action I take is speaking openly about my experiences and using them to highlight where systems work well and where they fall short. Grabbing every opportunity to share my lived experience – speaking at events, including in Parliament, attending meetings and feeding back on proposals – can sometimes feel personal and challenging. But it can also be very powerful, in that it helps decision-makers see beyond statistics and understand the real impact policies have on people’s lives.
I also see people around me on the panel taking action. Each member brings their own experiences and perspectives, and together we create a collective voice that is stronger than any individual one. By listening to each other and supporting one another to speak up, we encourage confidence and empowerment. That collective action helps ensure that lived experience is not just heard but valued.
Panels like DEAP show that when people come together and share their experiences, they can help shape better conversations and better decisions. Knowing that our voices may contribute to improving services or influencing decisions makes the work feel worthwhile. It shows that action does not always have to be large or dramatic—sometimes it starts with people simply being given the space to speak and be heard.
Carola's story
Being housebound, I see being a member of DEAP as an opportunity to connect with other people of different backgrounds, but with similar experiences in terms of dealing with disability, discrimination and stigma on a near-daily basis.
We all have mental health and our own personal strengths and weaknesses. Using our strengths is imperative in helping to implement change and making our communities and the world around us a better place. This can mean striving for a more streamlined approach to keeping medical records and providing easier access to critical mental health services.
As a writer and advocate for equal rights, I play my part best by expressing my ideas in words via blog posts, articles and essays. Motivating the Scottish Government and other relevant authorities to take the action necessary to affect positive change is hard on one's own, but by DEAP members working together there is greater chance of our call for the elimination of all forms of discrimination and stigma being heard. The most vulnerable members in society deserve to be treated as fairly as everyone else.
I feel privileged to be a member of DEAP which has become a 'family' of like-minded individuals with a common aim. Our meetings are safe spaces in which we respectfully listen when members share their experiences and express opinions they believe will be noted by parties that matter. Now in its fourth year, I look forward to the years ahead and watching the panel continue to evolve and play an important role in taking action by speaking up for those unable to do so for themselves.
Change is always more effective when people come together to collectively call for action. The strength in numbers gives DEAP members a unique voice with which to advise the Scottish Government on how it might enhance and streamline the access and availability of mental health services for those who need them. Our long-term ambition is for our actions and the knowledge we have gained from our individual lived experience to help prevent people reaching crisis point in the first place, therefore making their lives better. Supporting the government, DEAP actively works towards improving mental health for all in Scotland.
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