Mental Health Awareness Week

Throughout Mental Health Awareness Week we've looked at a number of issues. We've covered dementia, depression in sport, Mental Health issues in young people, and dealing with the stigma of Mental illness.

For our final report we've look at the devastating affect it can have on friends and family.

Andrew Robinson's brother drowned in Whitehaven harbour after suffering from depression.

Andrew's now raising money for the charity that he says helped him begin to recover from the trauma.

Matthew Taylor reports:

A man from West Cumbria is running more than 100 miles in memory of his brother who took his own life after struggling with depression.

Andrew Robinson wants to raise money for Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide (SOBS), the charity that helped him recover from the trauma of his brother's death.

Mr Robinson is running coast to coast from Seaton Carew in the North East to Whitehaven Harbour.

He will complete the 115 miles challenge in just three days and hopes to raise money as well as awareness of the help that's available.

Read: More on Andrew's story and SOBS

All this week we've been reporting on Mental Health issues, the stigma behind them, and the affect it can have on friends and family of victims. Our latest report focussed on mental illness in the young.

Read: Mental Health and young people

Paul Brown, Communications Director from the Prince's Trust, a charity that helps improve the lives of young people, explained more about the extent of the problem:

In our fourth special report for Mental Health Awareness week, we've looked at how unemployment can affect young people's mental health.

Part of the campaign is to encourage young people to become more open to talking about mental health issues, and move away from the stigma attached to those issues.

Kim Inglis reports:

For our fourth day of Mental Health Awareness week, we're looking at how young people are affected by mental health issues.

A report by the Princes Trust showed that 17 per cent of young people in the North West experienced symptoms of mental illness as a direct result of unemployment.

• In the UK, there are 1 million young people struggling to find a job
• Of those 40% have had symptoms of mental illness, that's 400,000 young people
• 1-in-3 of long term young unemployed people have contemplated suicide

Steve was unemployed for eight years and developed mental health issues during this time.

He found help from the Prince's Trust and now works to help other young people who face unemployment.

For more information:

• The Prince's Trust - Macquarie Youth Index
• The Prince's Trust - Impact of youth unemployment

We are halfway through Mental Health Awareness Week and today's topic has been dementia.

Around 800,000 people are diagnosed with dementia in the UK. It's a condition which affects the brain, making it harder to remember things or think as clearly as before.

It was thought that dementia was just part of the ageing process, but attitudes are now changing.

In the latest of our special reports this week, Lori Carnochan looks at how families deal with the diagnosis, and why seeking legal advice is just as important as medical advice.

Along with the emotional and physical stress of dementia, family members also have to deal with financial and legal matters.

Robin Braidwood own a solicitors firm in Dumfries and highlights the importance of assigning a power of attorney: