SAMH campaign to close life expectancy gap for people with mental illness

10th March 2026

People with mental illness die on average 15 years earlier than people without, too often due to discrimination in our healthcare system.  

Today SAMH (Scottish Action for Mental Health) has launched Show Up: a new campaign calling for urgent action to address the early and preventable deaths of people living with mental illnesses. 

Two-thirds of these early deaths are from preventable causes which are routinely overlooked or dismissed because of a diagnosis of mental illness.  

Passersby at Holyrood this morning were invited to take part in a giant game of Stigma Snakes and Ladders to illustrate the difference suitable support can make to life expectancy. 

In the run-up to the Scottish Parliament election, Show Up calls on the next Scottish Government to commit to closing this massive gap in life expectancy, and urges candidates and the public to take action against mental health stigma and discrimination. 

Bryan Millan, 48 from Edinburgh, had his physical pain dismissed by a GP as a result of his anxiety and depression. He lived with chronic knee pain for eight years until being diagnosed with hereditary spastic paraplegia, a rare condition that causes mobility problems and muscle stiffness and weakness. 

Bryan said: “The exact words from the locum GP who I initially went to about my knee pain were: ‘the pain is all in your head’. At that time, I was on medication for depression and anxiety, and had survived an attempt to take my life. That reaction definitely made it more difficult for me to seek medical help in the future. 

"The delay in my diagnosis and treatment meant living with severe pain for years longer, and negatively impacted my mental health and wellbeing. I'm backing the Show Up campaign so that no one else has to experience this kind of stigma." 

Specifically, the Show Up campaign calls for people with mental illness to have access to: 

• annual physical health checks designed specifically to catch those issues which are regularly missed 

• improved access to tailored healthy lifestyle programmes 

• action to reduce the disproportionate number of people with mental illness living in poverty, including dedicated employment support and a fair social security system. 

Billy Watson, Chief Executive at SAMH, said: “Our life expectancy should not come down to the roll of a dice. Mental health stigma remains a huge issue for people living with mental illness. Nowhere is this illustrated as starkly as the life expectancy gap.  

“Even as conversations about mental wellbeing have become more common, the reality for those living with mental illness has not changed nearly enough. When you live with mental illness, it can feel like the world slowly disappears around you, and this is particularly evident in the healthcare system.  

“SAMH is determined to do more to fight stigma and discrimination, and to show up for people who are living with mental illness.” 

Members of the public can visit this webpage to find out more and ask their local election candidates to support the Show Up campaign.

The call to close the life expectancy gap forms part of SAMH’s manifesto for the 2026 Scottish Parliament election, also published today. It also asks the next Scottish Government to: 

• immediately increase mental health spending, with a shift to early intervention and prevention 

• provide sustainable funding for easy, immediate access to quality mental health support in the communities, based on The Nook from SAMH 

• roll out a dedicated community link work service to all Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) team in Scotland 

• increase national suicide prevention funding to at least £6 million annually. 

Read the SAMH Manifesto for the 2026 Scottish Parliament election.