Okay. We're live insurance agent training every Monday, two o'clock, central standard time. I'm extremely honored that you guys jumped in, that you're joining, that you're watching, that's I got something good today. I get this question a lot so I say, you know what, let's cover it on an episode of insurance agent training, which is, hey Cody, how do you overcome objections? Objections is a big part of sales. It doesn't have to be as complicated as agents think, though a lot of times we don't know what to do or say, which shows a lack of confidence, we don't respond quickly, the person, when we don't respond quickly, the person does what? They restate the original objection, it ends up causing us to miss out on sales. And so we had this, we had this agent training workbook, this boot camp workbook that we put together, where we trained 30 agents in Columbus. And we spent a lot of time on objections, we probably spent a good hour minimum on objections and the theory behind objections, the psychology behind objections, and so I want to jump in and help you guys today immediately with overcoming objections. I want when this thing ends, I want you to be rock solid, incredible, amazing and ready to overcome any objection that you ever get.  My three A's for overcoming any objection, as most of you have seen, but I'm going to add a little twist today. The first one is agree, you need to be in an agreeable state. You cannot overcome someone's objections if you do not do what, if you don't agree with them, because what happens is, if someone says, hey dude, I'm not interested, and you say man, how do you know you're not interested, like you know you should be interested, right? Or you know you're going to be interested, you may not be yet, you know, that doesn't move the meter, it doesn't get you anywhere, it's a waste of what, it's a waste of words. So that's why I'm a big believer in agreeing. I'm not interested, I understand, it's as simple as that, excellent, I understand. The second A is the answer or the acknowledgement phase, which is I'm not interested, I understand, I'm getting back to you about your request, now I understand you're not interested, however I'm going to be in your area on Thursday, and then the ask. So, I understand you're not interested, however I'm going to be out in your area on Thursday, so I might as well drop it off, since you requested it, should I drop that off in the morning, or in the afternoon? Anyone can repeat this, and you can rewind this video, write it down, role play it with yourself in the mirror, and then repeat this process in this cycle, because a lot of agents struggle with overcoming objections because you're not prepared. It's easy to get prepared, write them all down, write them all out, take time to script. I'm not saying to become a robot, but preparation, what do they call that? Luck is when preparation meets opportunity. Dude, you will get the opportunity to overcome an objection, but it's up to you to be prepared. So, I'm going to talk about, we do coaching sessions all the time here, and when we do, they always want to talk about objections, and so I give them specific rebuttals to objections, specific things to say, they record them, we record the call, they go back, type them out, write them out, regurgitate them, repeat them, role play them, 10,000 hours to mastery, get really good overcoming objections, and then be ready and prepared, so that when that objection comes up, oh, I can immediately go to it, because what happens, if you're not ready to overcome an objection, and someone says, hey dude, I'm not, or someone says hey, I'm really busy, I don't have time, what happens is, if you pause, then what do you show? You show a lack of, you show a lack of confidence, first off, you show a lack of confidence, if I tell someone, hey dude, I'm good, I don't want it, if they pause, or if they don't know what to say, then it shows a lack of confidence, because they don't know, and because they're pausing, showing a lack of confidence, and they don't know what happens, that person that stated that objection is going to repeat what they said, because they may say, hey dude, it's too expensive for me, I can't help qualifying, I don't want to talk to you, I'm not interested, I'm busy, I'm good, and if you pause, if someone says, hey, I'm not interested, and if I say, well, Mr. Jones, you don't know, what are they going to do, because I paused, which showed a lack of confidence, which proved that I didn't know what to do, which means I wasn't prepared, now they're going to do what, they're going to repeat it, dude, I told you I'm not interested, and they're going to hang up. I mean, because we were at this boot camp in Columbus, Ohio with 30 agents, and one of the things that came up was, hey dude, how do you, you know, how do you keep from getting hung up on, I get hung up on a lot, it's because you're showing a lack of confidence, because when you show a lack of confidence, what else happens? When you show a lack of confidence, you are not in control. When you show a lack of confidence, you are not in control, and when you're overcoming objections, when you're trying to stay at the appointment, when you're trying to make the sale, when you're trying to get in the home, whatever it is, when you do not, when you're not in control, when you're not the one asking the questions, when you're answering them instead of them answering you, you don't make sales, you just don't. Charlie, Charlie Cina, the 8% nation speaker who's going to be at Nissan Stadium is calling me, man. That dude's excited to hang out with you guys at a big old NFL stadium in Nashville, man. I'm telling you what. So you always want to be in control. That's one of the things I talk about when overcoming objections. I had a guy tell me the other day on the phone, he said, man, dude, you're really good. You ask me like all these small questions along the way. He said, dude, you're in control of the call. You got all these trial closes. You ask me like 15 questions leading up to the big question. He said, dude, you're really good, bro. You know, I'm like, dude, it's practice, man. It's because I want to be in control. I don't want to pause. I want to be confident and I want to be sold on getting whatever it is that I want to get because what I know is, what I know is that the key to all of this is what is getting people to make a decision. If I'm not in control or if I pause or if I don't know what to say or if I'm not asking questions, then guess what? I'm never going to get them to make a decision because they're in control. When you're answering their questions, who's in control? If you want to make sales, you want to be in control. But one of the biggest reasons why agents, these are the two biggest reasons why agents struggle with objections because I freaking love objections. I'm telling you what. The two biggest reasons why agents struggle with objections. You want to know what they are? What do you think they are, DJ? Two reasons why agents struggle with objections. Come on, man. Come on, man. Dude, that freaking camera dude knows, man. He's in the know, bro. He's in the know. All right, so number one reason, they don't know. There's no step by step, there's no process. There's no process so they end up not knowing what to do to respond. Two biggest reasons why agents struggle with objections. The other thing is they don't know what to do to respond. Two biggest reasons why agents struggle with objections. The other thing is they don't prepare. I almost should just call it that you're lazy. That's what I should call it. I should say that people naturally, salespeople are lazy. Because you say, well, dude, I'm not lazy. I don't know what to do. I've told you what to do 8,000 times. And this is free content. It's recorded. Go back and listen to it. Write it down. Practice it. Role play it. So when it comes up, you're prepared.  I got to watch Tim Grover speak at the 10x growth conference, number two in Vegas. I'm telling you what. He talked about people being closers, cleaners, that type of thing. Do you think the guys that he prepared were... Do you think the guys that he trained, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade, just to name a few, do you think they were prepared when their shot came? The same thing can be said for salespeople. Your shot is coming. Are you ready? Are you prepared? When your shot happens and someone says, Hey dude, I am what? Because they can say any of these things. I am not interested. I am broke. I am unhealthy. I am covered. I am busy. Right? The list goes on and on. And when they say, I am not interested, what do you say? I know what I say. Perfect. I understand. I'm getting back to you because you said you would like the information. I realize you're not interested. However, I'm going to be in your area on Friday anyway. Since you requested it, I might as well drop it off. Should I drop it off in the morning or in the afternoon? The psychology is if you're not asking a question, they're going to restate the original objection because you're not in control and they're not responding to you. You're responding to them. Okay. We got that one crossed off the list. You don't think you can record. You don't think you can rewind this and write it down and regurgitate it and repeat it until it's part of you? I think so. Hey, I am broke. I understand. That's great. It's my job to just get you the information. It's your job. You would do with it whatever you want. I've just got to drop it off because you requested it. Now, I'll be out there on Friday. Should I drop it off in the morning or in the afternoon? It's your job to deliver information. As an agent, it's my job to get in front of people. I want to deliver information. I want to get in front of people. Every lead has some level of interest. Some are ready and some have no clue what we're talking about. They showed some level of interest. Or you don't think you can write that one down and repeat it? Dude, I think so. I am unhealthy. We've literally got it right here in our book, too, if you think about it. So it's like, okay, I am unhealthy. I understand. I'm sorry to hear that. I just want to get you the new information. But I think it'll surprise you because it actually pertains just to this. There's some new changes that you need to know more about. Now, I understand you're unhealthy.  So should I drop it off? What do you think, in the morning or in the afternoon? Bam, you don't think you can repeat that and say that back to a client? I think you can. I think you've got to rewind it and write it down and prepare and role play. I am covered. I understand. It's not my job to change anything. It's just my job to deliver the new information that you requested. It's up to you what you do with it, but at least you've got it because you requested it, so I need to give it to you. I'll be out there Thursday in your area. Should I drop it off? What do you think, Betty, in the morning or in the afternoon? You don't think you can repeat that one? Hey, you know what? No, no, no, I'm busy. I'm busy. Call me back. I'm busy. I don't have time. These can all be layered into different specific answers. You don't have to have 13 responses. You can have like three, four, five responses, and you can have one. You can start with one response that's the same for every objection and it would probably work. That's what's nuts. You can get really good no matter what they say. They could say, hey, I'm, you know, they could say I'm not interested. I'm broke. I'm unhealthy. I understand. I'm just getting back to you because you requested the new information. It's my job to get it to you. And since you requested it, I got to drop it off. I'll be out in your area on Friday. So should I drop it off? What do you think, in the morning or in the afternoon? Which of those would that not have worked with? I know I would rather have a specific, better response for each one, but if you don't know what to do, at least have a canned one that you just, it's like you just pull it out. I'm busy. I don't have time. Call me back. Hey, I understand. I just need 60 seconds. Hey, while I got you on the phone, I'll be out in your area on Thursday because you said, hey, I want the information. I got to get it to you. And my calendar fills up so fast that I need to go ahead and put you on my calendar. On Thursdays, when is typically better? Mornings or afternoons? You don't think you can do that? You don't think you can press pause, rewind, hit play, write it down, and then say it 100 times in the mirror until you're blue in the face until no matter what happens, even if a prospect says anything at all, you're ready, you're prepared, and you know what to say. It doesn't matter if you're on the phone. It doesn't matter if you're door knocking and it doesn't matter if you're in the home. The key is you've got to be agreeable. You've got to have something brief to say back to acknowledge it so you're not totally ignoring it, kind of are, but not totally. And then you've got to finish with a question so you're in control and you're getting closer to whatever you're looking to accomplish. It ain't rocket science, but this is something that a lot of agents struggle with, which is overcoming objections. And I'm telling you what, we are showing you for free how to overcome it. That's specific objections, specific rebuttals.  And you've tried to overcome three in a row. After three objections at a minimum, I'll, at that point, I'll try to take it away. So when I try to take it away, because you can't see everyone, but my takeaway is, hey, I'm getting back to you because you put up your hand and said, hey, I'd like the new final expense information. Now, they have me dropping off this important urgent information as well. Now, you know, because a lot of people want it. Now, we've heard, we've never heard anyone not want it once they've asked for it, but I don't have to give it to you if you don't want it. So would you like me to drop it off? I'm assuming you would like me to drop it off as I'm passing by though, right? So that you at least have it. Kind of take it away from them. That's after three to five objections, I want to take it away. I want to gauge interest if they actually want it. Take it away. And they'll say, well, yeah, I wouldn't mind having it, just throw it in the mail. What's your mail response? When they say, hey, just throw it in the mail, what's your response? I know what mine is. Absolutely. Hey, unfortunately, agree, you notice that? Absolutely. Unfortunately, they won't let it sit in the mail, but what I'll do is I'll drop it off. It's kind of like melding it in person, right? So I'll be out there anyway, I'll just mail it in person. Should I drop it off, mail it in person? What do you think, like, morning or afternoon on Thursday? Because it's all about just having something to say, being agreeable, not getting defensive, not getting offended, not being prepared. So agree, answer, and ask. Finish with a question, ask, and end up doing business with them. But the biggest reasons why we don't overcome objections, we don't have a process, what's the next one? We're not prepared. If we're not prepared, I sure hope it's not but due to a lack of effort. Because that's the main reason why salespeople sometimes aren't the greatest in the world. It's because they're lazy. Anybody can be great at anything at all. These dudes in this room are proof that you can be great at anything you want to be great at. Some have chosen to be great at coding. Some have chosen to be great at video. Some have chosen to be great at learning everything. Everybody's different. It's your choice to get great and learn. But what happens, most people are lazy. Human nature is lazy. We're not ready, we're not prepared. And then we end up blaming others and we say this due to lack of training. Training anybody can get good at this. But you've got to soak it in, you've got to be ready, you've got to be prepared. We make our salespeople role play every morning here together because you don't want to practice. You still want to practice on real stuff too. But if you can role play and be prepared before you make your calls then you're not practicing on money.  And I know that's a better way to practice but I'm not lazy. This was objections. Anybody can overcome them now. If you say, where can I learn even more? Because I'm loving this. I'm soaking it up. I'm getting excited. Where can I learn even more? There's this crazy conference going on at Nissan Stadium in Nashville with Grant Cardone, Ray Lewis and a bunch of amazing speakers. You'll learn way more. You think you just learned something right then? You'll learn a hundred X at that event than you've ever learned today. You may want to grab your seat. VIP sold out. Premier is almost sold out. We added a new executive ticket just to make some room. So do me a favor.  This is interest agent training. I appreciate you watching. Do me a favor though. Share this video. Tag an agent friend that needs to know how to overcome objections. That's what I really want. I want to help people. We do this every Monday at 2 o'clock because we're all about doing what? Because we're all about helping insurance agents be better at mastering the art of their craft. That's what we do. We do. That's what we love you. Thanks for watching interest agent training every Monday at 2 o'clock if you haven't got your ticket to the ApercentNation Wealth Conference, grab it. You've got to get it, man. It's easy for deal breakers. Appreciate you guys.


The first time we ever got featured was for the Apple Watch Series 4. We'd been featured once before for the watch out. When the Series 4 was announced, if you went on the actual website, if you scroll down, it would show you like great third party apps. And so it showed like the Nike running app and like a surfing app and then swing vision. And was that huge? Like would that really materialize? That was pretty big for us. There was a big bump when the Series 4 came out for us. What was nice was it established incredibly with Apple. Now they know us. There's like multiple people there who know about us on their PR team, on their marketing team. After that point, I could just reach out to those same people and be like, Hey, we're working on this new thing. It's going to use computer vision. It's going to use your iPhone. It's going to be amazing. Now at that point, it's up to them. And then we always focus on just having like really good design. Make the app as if like Apple made it. There's like tons of tennis tracking apps out there, but I think we have the best interface by far. And so, you know, all those things like help you get noticed.


Listen, it's full time. It's time to read all the spooky books or the creepy, creepy, horary books or the mystery books or the... books. We're ready. Hello friends, how are we doing? Today I'm gonna be doing a full TBR or autumn if you're like me but I'm pandering to the 40% of you that are from the US. Yes I did that. And you would do it too for a change. Obviously I do monthly TBRs now so like I don't know if I should be doing this. We got out the hat, we got out the foot. This is always like my first video full dress, like this is the vibe, you know? This is the vibe. But I'm just so excited for the videos I've got planned, particularly on October, November. September I've still got fun videos coming but I feel like you know a lot of what I'm gonna be reading. The moment I'm reading Dragon of Public and the Burning God and then if you watched the latest TBR Cluedo you'll saw it picked what I read on holiday the next week or so. And then after that I don't know what I'm reading for the videos yet. I haven't been successful in finding out what I'm reading for those videos yet. So these are more October, November picks but I'm so excited for these videos that I just want to share with you. I just like want to one-on-one share with you what I'm gonna be reading because I'm so excited for the videos and the books that I'm gonna be reading. I feel like I'm really diving head first into like reading reading full books. You know what I mean? So I've picked like one or two books from different videos depending on how long the video is and let's just chat about what we're gonna be reading. Okay first two. These are actually tentative in what video they're gonna be in. I'm definitely gonna try and read them both but let's talk about them together because I want them to go to a video at the start of October but that would involve me reading them both in one day because of that video I have to read the book in one day and I don't know if I would be successful. So the books are The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendricks and Weight of Blood by Tiffany D Jackson. So firstly this one's actually out so can you guys tell me have any of you read this in one day? Oh let's be realistic. It's 380 pages but there's a lot of blank pages and there's also a lot of pages with like mixed media like letters on them so part of me thinks I could do it. So I would really love to know has anyone read it in about a day because it's like I feel like it's a compulsive thrill. I feel like I could do it. This will be my first Grady Hendricks that I have read. I recently unwrapped all of my wrapped up books because as you know it's going on hiatus on October and November.  I didn't forget about it but I didn't remember how much I wanted to read it until I saw it. So we're following this kind of support group of final girls who are girls who in that horror movie trope have been the sole survivors of a massacre that they were present at. I just read Final Girls by Riley Sager for my Patreon book club. The live show is actually tonight and I was a bit disappointed. It didn't give me what I wanted. It didn't give me that final girl feeling you know whereas I feel like this with them all having an established relationship with another and supposedly getting killed off one by one is more the vibe that I want. I want to read it in that video where I need to read it in one day but let me know. If you've read this how successful do you think I could be at that or do you think I need to push it back to a different video later in the month and then I really want to get around to the weight of blood. Now many of you know my relationship with Tiffany D Jackson is I've read two books from her now The Grown and White Smoke and I gave them both a three star. I was disappointed. To me Tiffany D Jackson's concepts synopses are five stars. No synopses excites me more than Tiffany D Jackson and so that's why it's so heartbreaking that I'm not ending up loving the books and I previously said Monday's Not Coming was my like decider but I've put that on hold and I'm gonna give this a go. This is like a carry in retelling essentially. Listen I want to love it. I really do but like part of me even mentally like it has the same font as White Smoke and I'm like will that affect how I feel about the book.  But yeah you know it's a horror release that's coming out so I would really love to get to this. The other books that I'm going to be mentioning are like definite what videos are in. These are two books, oh excuse me, these are two books that I would love to get to but I don't know which video they'll be in yet. But one book that I'm definitely going to read. In fact you could have mentioned three books from this video but I don't think both of those will be in this video. One book I'm definitely going to read in that video is Ring Shout by Peeja Jelly-Clock. I have heard so many good things about this so I know this is about the KKK it's a horror about the KKK but I think it also has like some fantastical elements in it. It's a very dark horror, body horror. I'm a bit a little bit scared because I am a little bit of a baby. I feel like I'm fresh out the womb sometimes. So I am a little bit nervous but I've just heard so many good things and I've had it on my tbr for a little while. I'm very excited to get to this as well right everyone. I want us all to take a moment for this next book. I want us all to hold each other's hands and take a moment because yeah. Are you crying right now? Are you? Because I am. You are the most beautiful thing that's happened in my entire life. So this literally just arrived. It literally just got here fresh off the press. Oh my, I just, are we obsessed? I actually feel like crying. Babel or Babel by IFcrang. Listen, I talk about this in my vlog that's coming out this weekend. I said Babel. I got yelled at by people on the internet who told me that it's Babel. I started saying Babel that I watched a live stream Q&A that IFcrang did and anytime someone called it Babel they were apologizing. So like what's the truth? Like do I need to get my magnifying glass out? Like what's the truth? This is set at Oxford. I'm gonna be honest I don't know the plot. I feel like whenever IFcrang talks about it I've watched a whole Q&A of it. I know it's to do with silver capitalism and translation and language and it's set at Oxford and it's by IFcrang and there's footnotes. And I love footnotes so that's really all I need to know. I am so excited to read this. Me and the rest of the world right? But yeah I'm gonna be reading this in October so I've got to wait a little while. I feel like I'm jealous of everyone. He's reading it right now but I don't have time to read it before or after I go on holiday this month. So I'm nervous and also IFcrang is about to kill me because I'm reading Dragon Republic and the Burning God now. Like they're my next two books I'm reading. So like I've got a lot of IFcrang in the next couple months like pages wise as well. Like a lot of that woman's brain is going to be like transmitted into mine and maybe it will make me like one tenth, one twentieth of the author she is because that would be nice. The next two books right have been I would say two of the books that I've wanted to read most this whole year but haven't been able to fit into vlogs and now I have and like so the first is In My Dreams I Hold a Life by Ashley Winstead. This is going to be my first Ashley Winstead and I'm very excited to get to it because I know her next book The Last Housewife is just about to come out or has just come out and it sounds so good that I need to like read this before I can justify it.  Which if you don't know was the book that got me back into reading this channel would not exist if it was The Secret History. I don't think it kind of set me on the trajectory that I went on as we're falling back in love with reading. So this is a very similar idea we have six friends one of them was killed and the friends come back together and they're trying to figure out who did it. I remember talking to Katie about this and she was just like there's one guy who's just constantly accusing each of them he's like and you did it but you did it and then you find out that person didn't do it or whatever or that theory is wrong and he's like well then you did it! He's just like constantly accusing them all. Then I'm very excited for this. This is a very interesting book because I got gifted this at Christmas by one of my patrons and I've never heard of it and it's quickly become one of the books I want to read most in the world and it is True Crime Story by Joseph Knopf. So this is a fun mixed media book. So when you first open it up this is so much fun right? There is a publisher's note talking about this second edition of the book and then it's about this girl who is a university student and she went missing. It's kind of setting up the case and then we have like it's all interviews and stuff. I mean come on I am so so excited. I'm so excited! Like I loved Daisy Jones in the six or in the format of interviews. There's other stuff in this as well like pictures and emails and stuff. I am desperate to read this. Like I am there's a few videos this could go in in the next couple months and I'm just gonna keep trying to cram it in. I just feel like this is going to be like a five star. If I had to give you like a five star prediction a lot of these books would be on the list. I just feel like mood-wise summer is my ear right? I said this the other day but reading wise this is my time to shine. Mysteries, thrillers, horror, like come on dark academia, come on! Like Catherine House, the secret history. Like these are my people. These are my people. It's a lot of fantasies and when I feel the fantasy it is my reality. Then a new release that I just purchased. I actually bought it when I went book shopping in London which is my most recent video. It is the It Girl by Ruth Ware. I love Ruth Ware but I'm nervous! Ruth Ware I have read four books from. The only books I haven't read are The Lying Game and Inner Dark Duckwood. I've read all her other books. I've given her three five stars and one four star. I loved so much when she wrote one by one and she went I'm going to give you murder mystery vibes and then everyone hated it. Everyone hated it. Everyone tore one by one apart and I'm like please have some compassion. This was great but I feel like she's been scared into writing more of like a domestic stereotypical thriller. That's my number one fear with this. Our protagonist found her best friend's body 10 years ago. A man was sent to prison. He has now died in prison and someone comes to her and says I don't actually think he committed the murder. I also believe that the murder happens at Oxford when their students there. I mean Ruth Ware and me we have a great relationship. I feel like they should not get any lesson of four but I'm still nervous because I get nervous now with with authors. I've given a lot of five stars because you just hope that that's going to be the same. Like that's always going to be the same. Like they'll never let you down and then when they do it's very very heartbreaking. Do you think this is beloved saying if you ever idly wish that Agatha Christie would... I don't idly wish. I purposely wish. Anyway if you ever idly wish that Agatha Christie would write a new book Ruth Ware has got you covered. About this I would say that about one by one. So am I going to say that this this synopsis does not scream Christie to me? So I don't know. Intrigued to say the least. And then I am going to be reading The Daughter of Dr. Moreau by Sylvia Morena-Garcia. This is for a video I'm really excited about coming out I think like mid-November and it's gonna be a good one.  God all my books these days are signed. Who is she?  I'm bling bling bling.  I remember when my first signed book was Vengeful by V.E. Schwab and I was like this is crazy. This is like I have a slime. I thought it was like the most crazy. I was like I'm so rare. This is my third Sylvia Morena-Garcia I own. This is gonna be my first I read. I have an ongoing problem of buying all the Sylvia Morena-Garcia's and not reading them. So the moment is here. This is following The Daughter of Dr. Moreau. I don't know much about it other than that. I know we're doing something with plants. There's mystery. But to be honest I just got so excited and bought this because if you know one of my favourite books of all time, my favourite series of all time, The Strange Case in I've Come His Daughter, Catherine Moreau is one of the biggest characters in that. Now she is not The Daughter of Dr. Moreau. She's a creation of Dr. Moreau in those books but I'm still very very excited and I'm like how are you gonna compare to Catherine? Because Catherine is one of my favourite characters of all time. So big boots to film. And then the final book that I'm gonna tell you about is Murder Before Even Song by the Reverend Richard Coles. I've talked about this quite a bit. Reverend Richard Coles is a very famous celebrity in the UK. He's the only he's the only vicar in Britain to have a number one hit single and appear on strip become dancing. He was in a band I think before he became a vicar and it's following a vicar or a canon. What's the different? I don't know. It's set in this small town there's you know small disputes at the church. One of the members is found dead at the back of the church stabbed in the neck with a pair of seconders. And I've heard him speak about this. I watched an interview that he did with Janice Hallett and someone else. I can't remember it was with Waterstones podcast. I remember him talking about how this character can like enter people's homes and he's a very trusted person. He's the kind of person that people tell everything you know that by being that kind of person in the community. People want to confess stuff to you. So it's a very interesting protagonist I feel like. I don't know if I'm expecting like this to be a work of art but I'm expecting it to be a fun cozy mystery. Oh my god I have just noticed right we've got ignoring metaphor even song. Look how cute these last three look like the pink excuse me the pink vibes and then the others are like all black and red.  So there we have it my love so that is my full TBR. Let me know what you're planning to read in full. I would absolutely love to know. I'm so excited to make all these videos, read all these books. It's got me so excited for the next couple months chatting about this with you so I'm very glad I made this video. If you got into the end comment a pumpkin emoji. If you got into the end thank you guys so much for watching. I'll see you very soon in another video. Bye!


Indonesian President Joko Wododo says he invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the G20 economic meeting in November. Russian President Vladimir Putin has also been invited. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida begins a Southeast Asia trip in Indonesia, where he was expected to discuss China's territorial claims, Ukraine, and investment. The United Nations says more than 3,000 migrants and asylum seekers died or disappeared last year, attempting to cross the sea to reach Europe. And the US government says the country's economy shrank at a yearly rate of 1.4 percent.


this morning I'm going to print off some more stickers and turn some more things into sticker flakes. I also have today some new designs rolling around in my head that I want to draw out. I also want to finish filming a couple of videos for the new art foamy's release. I have the journaling part of the video finished. I did some jelly printing with the stamps when they first came in but I didn't film it so yeah so I'm gonna film it and I'm trying some new filming techniques so you'll have to tell me if you like them or not. I don't know we'll see and I'm gonna print myself an I voted sticker because I didn't get one in my ballot really bugs me I wanted I voted sticker I want to stick it on my journal and yeah so anyway what's your Sunday morning looking like I think we're just staying home we're not going anywhere which is good because I got a lot of stuff to do not to mention laundry and dishes and you know chores all right that's it for the minute and by the way my tooth is feeling fine I'm on my last day of antibiotics I'm pretty sure the infection's gone and then we commence with drilling and crowning on Wednesday joy all right I'll be back we are out for a walk it's I don't know what time it is 430 445 I got what close enough I got okay so I got all of associated creative jolty kind of things for the two creative Facebook groups done for 2021 this morning before lunch after lunch if you're watching this clip you see a few clips of me updating my webster's pages planner I got all of the 2021 calendar sheets for my a5 webster's pages printed I made tabs today which is part of what you see in the clips and that's all punched and done with only a couple of mistakes which surprising because usually I make way more mistakes punching all the holes so you know I got yesterday's the sticker flakes cut out at least the ones I had enough sticker paper to print some of them have mistake prints on the back this is the front and this is the back so I'm not going to discount them at all I hope you all don't mind that it's kind of like hello bonus you can like stick that down if you feel the need and your journals or whatever with maybe some glue or gel medium I was having I don't know a brain fart yesterday and had trouble printing but anyway I've got some of those done I have a lot more to print but I need to wait for printer paper all right so here I am sort of it's not even six o'clock yet it is black outside I can't really see where I'm going three minutes to five six three minutes to six so we're gonna go for a walk before dinner but I need to not vlog while I'm doing it because I can't see where I'm going and I'm afraid I'm on a trip over something so anyway yeah we're gonna go see what we can see I don't know that it'll be much because it's black outside anyway I'll be back happy election day it's just before lunch it's 1140 I got the sticker flakes done so we have five new sets of sticker flakes coming to the Etsy shop they're printed cut packaged again some of them have misprints on the back because you know evidently I didn't know how to use my printer yesterday but I've had for like 10 years anyway I got them all done some of them are new large size sticker flakes we've got one whole set that's skyscrapes and then we've got another sort of miscellaneous everyday objects and nature set which is cool that you can use for backgrounds on tags and you can use them on of course journal pages and all kinds of stuff really big you can you know tear them and yeah do some cool stuff that this is the ones I'm gonna take downstairs and play with and or the use of my journal upstairs so anyway I'm warning everybody it is Wednesday morning November 4th a day after election day we still don't know who our president is and I have a feeling we won't know for a couple of days in the meantime I need to go finish my dental work which is where we're going today and tomorrow I have to do annual bloodwork at the doctor's office so I get to do that this time tomorrow so joy for me okay I did a couple things upstairs that I needed to do and the Etsy order is out in the mail I covered the spine of my old Webster's pages planner that I use for YouTube and Etsy store and some footbinding tape that I painted with fabric paint to have it blend in a little better because I only have black or white tape so hopefully it sticks hopefully it is a sticky we'll see what happens worst case scenario I'm going to decorate the cover and make a plastic slip cover to go over the whole thing I don't know we'll see I did order a replacement they're discontinuing it I think but I want to get the most use out of the one I can before breaking to give me one that's on the way and yeah I'm still you can tell I'm still numb anyway I am obviously out Bob is gonna probably go to the gym tonight so I'm gonna go for a walk and get some steps in got a mask with me in case it's peoply it's election day so I'm gonna take I shouldn't say I'm sorry it's the day after election day so I'm gonna be safe in a number of different ways it might be peoply so hence the mask and yeah so anyway I'm gonna get a few steps in and I will be back I have lots of projects to do I've got some more drawing book storage boxes to make I have slow stitching to do I've still got that canvas on my easel that I have to figure out what I'm gonna do with I kind of think I know where it's supposed to go but I haven't started yet I have that watercolor lips journal to do I'm working on a gene Haynes book list goes on but you know what I'm not feeling it at the moment I'm taking a break I'm gonna go for a walk I'm gonna get some fresh air see what I can see yeah you know things are crazy cuz of COVID and now the election and yeah so that's wrong with taking a break if you need it now then and when I get back I may finish that Christmas cross stitch I've been trying to finish and read a book or listen to some Star Trek something like that all right I'll be back if you didn't know I'm a Star Trek fan not a Star Wars fan I love Star Trek especially the old original series troubled with triples it's one of my favorites I'll be back to see a few people probably don't need to have this on but out of an abundance of caution we're gonna wear it anyways I'll be back I mean has completely warmed off and it doesn't hurt when you've had dental work done it kind of just feels sore and if you've had a crown put on you know it feels like there's like popcorn stuck in your teeth but there's not really yeah anyway it feels like that we're still waiting on election results I have a feeling it's not gonna happen tonight maybe not tomorrow but we'll see I didn't have much oomph to do much today up here but I did cover two more these are a k-cup coffee boxes we like emeralds big easy bold it's our favorite kind of coffee for courage and the boxes make great storage boxes file boxes for some of the smaller daily drawing books in our journals so I save one or two I don't save them all but I save one or two and every now and then I'll cover them with paper just painting papers scrapbook you papers whatever I have around and then I'll put some sort of focal point here's the one that holds my inspiration journals and I'll put some sort of focal point and then I'll put a label in this case I use my my label maker sometimes I hand write the label it depends anyway so I started the process of covering two more boxes and I took some extra pity papers that I actually made a really long time ago this is a free little newspaper from when we lived in California called the potpourri that was the name of it anyway I used to get it they were free they came in the mailbox thin little pieces of newsprint and I would paint on them so I took a couple sheets of that I still have and I cut it up and made into labels to use on some of the boxes I also have these solid colored stickers that I got on Amazon recently and these are these are tabs I'm not going to use them for that I'm going to just use them as blocks of color I think on the front of the boxes I don't know exactly what these are going to be for but it's going to be for next year you know when I'm hoping some of the craziness is over in the world right yeah so I'm gonna let that dry it's I cover them usually with yes paste you can see it it's propped up on stuff drying there and that takes a while to dry completely so I'm gonna just let it dry and let it do its thing I'm gonna go downstairs I'm gonna finish my water I might make a cup of tea and get that cross stitch out I do need to finish that cross stitch so I kind of want some chocolate but I have blood work in the morning so no chocolate for me sucks but there it is maybe chocolate tomorrow all right that's it for now I'll be back morning everybody we're in the car again my mouth is still sore from yesterday's dental work of course it is because I had a root canal but it's okay I'm headed out though to as I've been telling people go get stabbed aka see the phlebotomist and get some blood work done so anyway I have to do my annual blood work so which I'm not thrilled about I don't mind getting the blood work done it's just that it's COVID and I have to go to the you know medical facilities to go do it so it doesn't excite me then I'm gonna go stop at the grocery store really quick pick up a couple of things and then go home and have coffee because I haven't had been able to have coffee yet right it's the worst part of it not getting you hey guys all right obviously we're crooked we're crooked all right we're back in the art room so yesterday I am the couple days before I have been setting up my planner for 2021 because I'm just done with 2020 don't know don't know about you all but yeah I have actually one more planner calendar for downstairs I still need to sit up but this one and the one I carry in my wallet generally to remember appointments and stuff those are both all done but this is a webster's pages color crush planner I believe the color is jade I know it looks turquoise blue they call it jade anyway I have had it for a long time I really love it but it's starting to show its wear and tear its age around the edges it's starting to fray and so especially along the spine so I did cover it with some bookbinding tape and I had painted it but it's staying a little bit sticky and I'm just looking at it kind of liking the way it looks we got on there and kind of thinking how fun would it be to just you know sort of cover the cover with decals and you know different things not necessarily right away but as I as the year goes on but then I'm gonna want to cover protect them and this is like I said sticky so I'm thinking what about a clear plastic sleeve to cover the cover I know for a lot of Hobonichi journals you can buy the cover for your Hobonichi but then the cover has a plastic protective cover over it and I was watching a video from somebody it might have been my girl in Quill lower I don't remember who now anyway she was showing a brand new one she got for next year and the new cover she got in the protective sleeve and I thought I could make one of these for this probably so we're gonna try it anyways I have a number of these you know you'll recognize it you get bedding and stuff in these right I do save them because they do come in handy for different projects sometimes I save the zipper too but I don't think I'm gonna do that I'm gonna cut this one apart so I get flat sheets of fabric from it and we're gonna work I'm gonna work on trying to make a protective sleeve for this and we'll see how it turns out I'll be back what I'm done which I decided to save and stick this in there I love that and use this for all or part of 2021 I might as well have fun with it right I was able to get everything back in it I was able to leave pull out the pen loops so I can get my pens still in the in the loops maybe as I say that I can't get them in I love it it's such a great idea now you know it's not a pattern I'm gonna write it's not a pattern I'm gonna draw out for you but really it's not that hard to make the biggest thing you want to do is the first cut I had to stitch it a couple of times because I made it a little bit too tight and it wouldn't close so you really want to measure around this way because it's gonna be a little longer than when it's open flat there are lots of tutorials out there for a slip-on book covers I believe in fact there might even be some on my channel it's not that different it's just made of clear plastic that being said when you do make a mistake you leave holes there you see that in the plastic because it's plastic it's not gonna seal up so I don't really mind that too much I'm gonna just leave it and let it go but yeah it's cute if nothing else if it breaks or tears or rips I have more of this plastic in the closet and I can always use this one for a pattern for the next one so anyway using what I have to make do with what I have because hello COVID yeah it is Friday November 6th I think it's still morning you know 1139 technically still morning I had a little chat with some art friends this morning and as we're semi-joking not joking my designated support emotional support Canadian Laura thank you for the chat this morning Barbara too who also came that was good it's good to have people you can talk about art with share ideas with but also talk about everything else that's going on right now anyway I mean you know it's really the only time we get out of the house anymore is to run errands or go to the dentist or the doctor so very exciting but there anyway we're gonna see what we can see and we'll be back watching this clip you've seen the clip I believe the shape of these is called a stiletto shaped box of them I think I got them from a wish like anyway I sort of a faux beetle wing there is a beetle it's called a green something beetle I'll put a link in the video description I believe but I'm not positive they shed their wings naturally and the wings are often used especially in the like 19th century they were used in embroidery and things they have holes drilled and I think they're still used today they're beautiful this beautiful like iridescent green color again check out the link the shape is intriguing but I'm not using bug parts in my work like that's just not happening so I occasionally paint up a bunch of these fingernails to look like the beetle wings and so I've been doing that oh god these they're down on the one side there oops still white on the backside but don't really wear nail polish anymore I mean hello but yeah so anyway so I'm painting faux bug wings because you know why not 2020 it's COVID why not it's building a hell of a ride this week hasn't it but and it's not over yet but you know right now my personal focus is and hope is that we as a world and as a nation can get COVID under control and get some kind of handle on that so things came to get back to it right because they can't get back to it if we don't get COVID under control it's been a wild ride but you know we're staying creative we're doing what we can to have those meaningful conversations that we need to have with people and not avoid those tough situations and dealing with it how we can and how we need to and you know it's going to be a weird holiday season we're probably most of us not going to see the majority of our family because you know it's recommended you don't do that this year you need to stay home you don't know who you could be bringing COVID to and you know you don't know who there who could have it they could be symptomatic you just don't know it's gonna be really strange anyway just despite all of that I am going to keep making art and I'm gonna keep being here for you all and we will keep up the discussions and my teeth are feeling better so I'll be able to go live again soon we'll be getting my permanent crowns in at some point but the majority of the issue is fixed and it's all good and I'm just sitting here pulling you know fingernails off I know you can probably can't see very well because it's kind of dark in here because it's 9 o'clock at night it is what it is anyway I think this year I am going to spend some time doing things I haven't done in a long time like my adventures with slow stitching and I think this year for the first time ever we're gonna write a holiday letter we're gonna send it off to a few people for Thanksgiving I think we'll edit it just a little bit and probably include a copy of it in our Christmas cards and let everybody know look we would love to see you but we can't and you know for so many reasons but we hope you have a great one and we hope to see you soon when this COVID thing is all under control and you know I think writing a little snail mail notes not a bad idea you know sending everybody an email or text message or posting on Facebook is one thing but an actual old-fashioned note with a stamp doesn't have to be too many just do five or six year closest people I think it's a good idea maybe pick pick a friend or a family member that you haven't talked too much of the lives far away or you know that you're just losing contact with because of COVID or maybe not just because of life and maybe ask them if they want to be a pen pal right so anyway think about it there's lots of things we can do together as a world community to help us all get through and to help us all stay safe I'm here to help you as are I know many others so that being said I want you to support the free content if you can and you're able there's links for the ways to support my free content down in the description below there's a link tree listed links which includes my Etsy shop and the tip jar and patreon and all of that stuff there's lots of different ways there's even the YouTube community here on YouTube it's not I think it's 99 cents it's not much and all your favorite creators most of them have a way to support and I know they'd appreciate it because we're all you're struggling but so are we so I know they'd appreciate it and most of us bring you free content on Facebook too in the art group so I know we'd really appreciate it the most important thing of course is to stay safe stay healthy stay creative go out and do something nice for yourself because you deserve it even if it's just turning all the devices off for a few minutes and turning on some music and just being at peace with things yeah it's not a bad idea all right that's it for this week I'll be back with you next week I'm gonna paint a few more fingernails and I'll see you soon bye guys


Felly, wrth gwrs, rydyn ni'n gweithio i gael gael y swyddfaith cymdeithas ar gyfer bod y ffasig cymdeithas yn bwrdd yng nghymru aeth y hollwyrwyr campus. Y ddylanol yw'r busnes yw'r busnes cymdeithas yn ffosiwn 10009 yn y namei Paul Maclennan ar World Mental Health Day 2021, mental health enw yn y bwysig ddylen. Oes y debat wedi'i wneud o gael eich�커n am gyfer y ddodgol, ac rwy'n yn fwy o ddoedd gymryg o bryd cyddiolст y llyfr o phry 1939. Isch i gael. Rydw i gyd followers o ddull i top modifiedotd yn gwneud ei dis 급 lun ish. Metw hodd g annoyedd gan the raised to detaengorllaf ac yn sicr i t 날au ymddechreuinh youngestol dyming o heddiw yllyr marchOULD 2021, i d ducks panamech要m yn mewn croes ac i wyw pwynt yn osu The World Mental Health Day provides us an elected representative of the Parliament the opportunity to highlight the importance of and need for mental health education as well as raising awareness of the inequalities in our society and its implications for our mental health and wellbeing. In March 2020 we entered a global lockdown in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. We are still experiencing these challenges today. y gwaith hwnnw i ddweud hynny yn ymwyaf i'w ffordd ar gyfer'i defnyddio'r gynlluniau i ymddangos. Felly rydyn ni'n fawr oedden nhw'n eu cyflwyffydd o'r pethau. Scythes yw'r cyffredinol yn edrych i gael i erbyn ynchydigol, yn ymgynghwyl, yn eich drws, yn fawr i'r cyffredinol. Ydwch chi'n i ddataeth wedi ddweud o'r cyfreidiau yn gyfleidio'r cyfreidiau byddai gynhau gwahaniaeth i gael tynnu ei wneud cael ei gallu teulu i ei weldgfyrwyd. Gendithiau yn lleol, eich teulu, ac mae'r bodgyrchu o'r gwahaniaeth oeddol o'r gyflugwladau mae'n gallu cyllidigau sydd gyda gweithredu o'r cyfrifodau a'ch cymaintau gwahaniaeth sydd gyda'r cyfrifodau o'r erbyn o'r cyfrifodau sydd gyda'r cyfrifodau, sefydlu Gymraeg, sydd cyfrifodau yn gynhyweiddiol a'u llehosidau cyflugwadau pecaw. I my constituency, and I have heard from people who have had a hard time. I listened to what happened between man club and Dunbar, and I was free to attend mental health support group for men. I attended their men support meetings where I heard the experiences of other men, and how Covid has impacted their mental health. It gave me an opportunity to pause and open up about my mental health, and I find that incredibly ychydig iaeth o'r cael ei ddim yn iawn cyfrifiadau. Felly mae'n ddod i sut mae'r peisiwys yn rhan feddwl i'r cyfrifiadau i'r gwleidudeb ychydig, ond mae'n wedi gweithio arddangos. Ar fy ysbytyd, yn yr eich bod yn ddiwedd aeth sydd wedi cyfosio ar gweithwyr, rydyn ni wedi cefnod bod ei gweithio. Felly mae'n arbennig hir ymddangos cyfrifiadau hefyd ar gyfer gael efyddennau mewn hefyd a eu lleoladau iawn i'r cyllidau ar y cyfrifodol yn ei gwaith. C練 ar gyfer y sydd o'r cyfrifodol yw ymlaen i'r cyfflygiadau a maen nhw'n fwy fain? Felly mae gafodd ei geiniadau o fwy hwy ac y gallwn gwath ei gwrdd iawn i'r cyfrifodol yn ei gwaith. Eryddiadau a'i gwcail sydd hwnnw i'r cyfrifodol yn ei gwaith, yn ei gwasanaeth yn ei gwasanaeth, yn ei gwasanaeth o'r gwaith i'r cyfrifodol yn ei gwasanaeth sydd a'r cyfrifodol yn eu gwaith. of a person experiencing poor mental health wellbeing and mental health was partly linked to their socio-economic status. During the pandemic, those from a lower social economic group have consistently reported higher rates of depression and suicidal thoughts compared to those from the higher group. It is no surprise that the adults living in the most deprived areas in Scotland are approximately twice as likely to have mental health problems as those in least deprived areas. That means, in my constituency, that people who live in the areas of Trenant and Preston Pans that are amongst the most 10 per cent most deprived in Scotland are up to twice as likely to have mental health problems than those who live in the most affluent areas of, say, for example, North Berwick. In preparing for this debate, it has clear mental health impacts on all of us in many, many ways and in many spheres of life. I want to give a few examples. The RNIB in its briefing for this debate stated that a sight loss diagnosis can have a serious impact on a person's emotional wellbeing. There is a link between sight loss and higher rates of depression and anxiety. Iclinic liaison officers, counselling services and support groups can all help someone with sight loss to come to terms with their diagnosis. Up to 40,000 people a year are impacted. The CITB in its briefing mentioned that it showed 11 per cent of in-work suicides happen in the construction sector, which employs 7 per cent of the UK workforce. The risk of suicide among some site-based male construction workers was three times the national average, and skilled finishing trades such as painters and plasterers were twice the national average. 26 per cent of construction workers who responded to a survey in 2020 had experienced suicidal thoughts. 97 per cent had experienced stress over that past year. Hospitality Scotland was also in touch with the wellbeing of hospitality workers. Hospitality is a sector just now with many workers and owners working extra shifts to keep businesses running. Others may have experienced reduced working hours as businesses offer a restricted service due to shortages. Custom expectations are still high and, like today, it is in everyone's interests to continue to be kind to each other. That is a direct quote from Hospitality Scotland. Prior to my election in May, I had discussions with the Royal College of Psychiatry on the Nation's mental health. I want to thank Aiden Reid for all his help and guidance both before and preparing for this debate. I have had several meetings with the Royal College and the Scottish mental health partnership since then. I very much stand by the philosophy of deeds, not words, when it comes to the response to mental health recovery, especially for those who are experiencing mental health inequalities. Last year, 18 per cent of people waited over 18 weeks for an appointment with psychological therapy with NHS London. 42 per cent of children and young people waited over 18 weeks for CAMHS treatment or support. We all know that we need to do better. Recovering our nation's mental health needs action. Actions are outlined in the Scottish Government's coronavirus Covid-19 mental health. Transition and recovery plan demonstrated with £120 million allocated for funding for the mental health recovery and renewal fund, which will recruit 800 additional mental health workers this year. We will ensure that by the end of this session, 10 per cent of all front-line NHS spend will go towards mental health improvement. Commitments such as that will help to shift the focus to prevention and early intervention, reducing demand and waiting times for clinical services, while addressing the evident mental health inequalities, by ensuring that the right mental health support is available to every Scott when he needs it, no matter where his post goes. Those are welcome steps in the right direction, but I am under no illusion that we can and we must do more. In my maiden speech, I made a pledge to be a champion of mental health. So long as I am an elected representative of this Parliament, I intend to be exactly that. Thank you, Ms McLennan. I now call Audrey Nicoll to be followed by Craig Hoy. Up to four minutes please, Ms Nicoll. Apologies. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I congratulate Paul McLennan for bringing this important motion forward today. I am really pleased to join colleagues across the chamber debating World Mental Health Day and within that mental health in an unequal world. I would like to thank all the organisations that provided members with briefings ahead of the debate, and I wish to acknowledge people here today in the chamber and beyond who have lived or living experience of compromised mental health. Thank you for listening. Earlier this week, I joined a SAMH briefing for North East MSPs, and while the focus of the briefing was suicide prevention, I had an overwhelming sense of deja vu, listening to the updated data on young people and suicide risk, albeit framed in the context of Covid-19. In their briefing paper on the impact of Covid-19 on 10 to 17-year-olds, Public Health Scotland outlined how loneliness has been an unintended consequence affecting young people, particularly vulnerable young people, with communication difficulties, young carers, those in the justice system and those who previously sought support because of mental health difficulties. Studies indicate that some young people who had poor mental health and wellbeing prior to the pandemic had better mental health during lockdown, possibly due to school closures and the removal of school-based pressures. However, young people with pre-existing mental health issues described many barriers to help-seeking, including not wanting to burden their families, feeling ashamed or feeling that they were not sufficiently unwell to seek help. The World Mental Health Foundation report, published to coincide with World Mental Health Day, states equality, fairness and opportunity must be central to developing our young people in order to address existing inequalities and their effects on young people's mental health wellbeing. World Mental Health Day 2021 provides an opportunity for us to consider how we might achieve that. The Minister for Mental Health, Wellbeing and Social Care recently outlined poverty as a single biggest driver of poor mental health. While we know that the pandemic has exacerbated pre-existing structural inequality in our society, the adverse impacts on mental health have been felt disproportionately by disadvantaged groups. As Paul McLennan outlined, the Scottish Government has committed £120 million towards a mental health recovery and renewal fund, with £10.83 million allocated to help to improve access to child and adolescent mental health services. The World Mental Health Foundation report reminds us that Covid-19 has underscored how critical mental health and wellbeing are for all children and young people. However, the magnitude of the mental health burden that the world faces is simply not being matched by the response that it demands. This month, the foundation launches its state of the world's children report, and we will call on Governments to commit to increase investment in calm services, promote connection through evidence-based interventions and take a leading role in breaking the silence surrounding mental health. Let's make the 10 October World Mental Health Day the starting point for this. I very much hope to see you all there. I thank Paul McLennan for lodging that motion, enabling us to highlight the upcoming World Mental Health Day 2021. Almost each and every person in this chamber, or those who are watching at home, will have experienced soft mental health issues or will know someone who has suffered mental health problems. Experiencing a mental health problem is often upsetting, confusing and frightening, particularly at first and especially for the young. Those fears are often reinforced by the pernicious stigma surrounding mental health. Even though campaigns such as See Me have worked hard to eliminate stigma and discrimination against people with mental illness, research conducted by Sam H and the Mental Health Foundation found that 56 per cent of people experiencing mental health problems have also suffered discrimination. That, in turn, is likely to increase distress and a sense of isolation or even lead to suicide. In Scotland alone, 805 people took their own lives last year. Sadly, around one in four people in Scotland are estimated to be affected by mental health problems in any given year. Covid has made this worse, as the Royal College of Psychiatrists has noted that those with a pre-existing mental health condition have been the most adversely affected as to have been the most disadvantaged, as Paul McLennan has said. Sadly, the stark truth is that Scotland is currently experiencing a mental health emergency. For too many people, assessing psychological support through the NHS is simply too difficult or, as the Public Audit Committee found out this morning, too disconnected or too distant. Launching its new strategy, We Won't Wait, Sam H said that, after too many promises and the pandemic, people are being left behind. Rejected referrals, intermediate or indeterminate waiting times and inadequate support are sadly all now too common in the system. We know that, before the pandemic, SNP ministers had repeatedly failed to get a grip of the mental health crisis among young people. We must not let ministers dodge accountability for this. The problems that we see are not caused by Covid, although I recognise that they have been exacerbated by the crisis. Research produced by Mental Health Foundation Scotland reveals that lockdown and the closure of schools increase levels of distress and that many people suffered anxiety due to feelings of loneliness and worries about education and their own future. I am grateful to the number given we are and congratulate Paul McLennan on his debate and his speech. The member is making an excellent point about access to mental health services. Will he agree that we should also be concerned about those who love people who are suffering from mental illness? Sometimes the sense of helplessness can also be overwhelming as many members and family members will probably have discovered for themselves. Absolutely.  She talked to me about her torment and the fight she now has to try to make sure that she gets him the treatment that he so clearly needs and that the system is not at that point giving him. Like too many SNP targets, the targets for mental health are being routinely missed. Almost one in four young people are rejected when they ask for help. In NHS Lothian, 37 per cent are not being seen within the 18-week treatment time target. In the Scottish Borders, the position is even worse at 46 per cent. Referral rates in Scotland have now reached their highest on record. One in every hundred children and young people are being referred to the child and adolescent mental health service for care. That is why SNP ministers must urgently ensure that the money that has been allocated to improve CAMH services, made available through the recovery and renewal fund, is delivered quickly. We all hope that the minister can elaborate on how that will be done. As Sam H said, the Government must expand the network of support, increase funding for community-based care and increase the NHS psychological workforce by 50 per cent so that it mirrors levels in England and Wales. Evidence shows that, with the right combination of self-care, treatment and support— Mr Hoyer, you bring your remarks to the conclusion, please. A person with mental health problems will get better, and that is why we urge that we need to get to a position, why no one is left behind and no one is left without the support when they need it. I now call Carol Mocken to be followed by Julian Mackay up to four minutes. I thank Paul McClellan for bringing this debate to the chamber. World Mental Health Day 2021 carries particular significance as people from nations across the globe have faced a pandemic, one that puts restrictions on our daily freedoms, limits our contact with friends, family and wider society, and continues to see many of us lose loved ones. Indeed, for our young people, this pandemic has been especially difficult having, for months at a time, been without the educational interactions that sustain so much of their daily life. Sam H highlighted that, and I quote, Covid led to a 55 per cent reduction in referrals to child and adolescent mental health services at a time when children and young people needed more support than ever. Indeed, it goes on to state that many children and young people feel they have been at a point of crisis before they seek help. We cannot stand by and watch as young people struggle. A functioning mental health service would actively offer help, being communities that educate people on signs of mental health difficulties and when to seek support. We must properly utilise the expertise of groups like Sam H, who know the struggles that many face and start dealing with the silent pandemic. As we come through the Covid pandemic here in Scotland and look towards recovery, we must be prepared to enhance mental health services with greater funding and resources as well. That starts with the creation of more posts to support those who are struggling with mental health problems. However, this is a global pandemic, and as the theme of this year's World Mental Health Day is mental health in an unequal world, the UK and Scottish Governments must be prepared to support other countries coming through the pandemic. That starts with supporting vaccination programmes across the globe and bringing as soon as possible an end to the pain that many continue to face on a daily basis. Although the UK may be making progress now, no country can expect to progress fully from the pandemic and the impacts it has, including on mental health, until every country has equal access to medical assistance. Health inequalities in Scotland predate the pandemic. The mental health crisis that I met with Sam H recently to discuss explained that it predates the pandemic. The failure to meet waiting times for adult psychological services and cancer services predates the pandemic. I know that the pandemic has exacerbated the problems that we collectively face, and I know that it has exploited global inequalities that we all must do more to address, but we do ourselves and our services no good if we pretend that those problems are new. The often alarming figures that are highlighted by mental health charities and organisations across Scotland of today's debate should be a wake-up call to ministers that there is no excuse for undervaluing and underfunding services, nor is there any excuse for not giving mental health policy the priority status it demands and deserves. Words do us no good when they are not backed up by action, and I do plead with the minister and the Government today to listen to the contributions of members, understand the figures and act, act to save lives and to improve services for those who desperately need it. Deputy Presiding Officer, I welcome World Mental Health Day, the awareness it raises and the focus it puts on education, understanding and the need for investment in services across the globe. We know that those living in deprived areas with less access to public services and facilities as well as outdoor green spaces are more likely to experience mental health illness, so it is crucial that in our endeavours we do all that we can to address health inequalities, whenever we find them and create a fairer mental health service that supports everyone who needs it. Scotland has a chance to lead the way, indeed it has the power to lead the way. Let us use World Mental Health Day 2021 to revisit strategy and deliver for the people the services that they so much need. Thank you. I now call Gillian Mackay to be followed by Beatrice Wishart. Up to four minutes, please, Ms Mackay. I welcome this debate in advance of World Mental Health Day and thank Paul MacLennan for bringing it forward. As the motion states that the pandemic has exacerbated pre-existing inequalities in mental health, we need to understand what is driving those inequalities or attempts to address poor mental health will be immediately undermined. Health and income are inextricably linked. According to the Mental Health Foundation, poverty is both a cause and consequence of mental ill health. Their report, Coronavirus, the divergence of mental health experiences during the pandemic, states that, already before the pandemic, those at the lower end of the economic ladder were more likely to be experiencing a mental health problem. We must acknowledge the impact poverty and income inequality has had on mental health during the pandemic. We know that Covid-19 has not affected everyone equally. The Tories cut to universal credit will seriously worsen matters. British psychological society has warned of devastating consequences for people's mental health. The impact on individuals and families who will struggle to pay their bills and be forced to make the awful choice between heating their home and buying food at a time when they are already dealing with rising living costs and the continued uncertainty of the pandemic will be immeasurable. The fact is that services will always struggle to meet demand while the Tories continue to enact policies that decimate people's mental health and income. A truly preventative approach would seek to tackle the link between poverty and poor mental health. The Mental Health Foundation is calling for a universal basic income pilot to be carried out in Scotland. The Scottish Greens have long supported the introduction of UBI in Scotland, and I have no doubt that this will be an important tool in our efforts to tackle Scotland's poor mental health. I know that the Scottish Government has committed to introducing a minimum income guarantee in the absence of powers to implement a UBI, and I look forward to proposals being brought. We must recognise, however, that many interlinking factors affect mental health, including racial inequality, gender, disability, age and sexuality, as well as economic status. I am grateful to the member for giving way. Does she also agree that loneliness is a modern-day plague and that that is a huge contributor to the mental health and wellbeing of people in our country? I think that that is a concern for particularly older people that we have seen during the pandemic who may have been isolated from friends and family because of wanting to keep them safe. Where was I? The report identified a need for better recording and reporting of information on ethnicity. Clearly, there is much work to be done in that regard. Wave 4 of the Scottish Government's Covid-19 mental health tracker survey revealed that only 20 people from an ethnic minority background took part. Only 16.5 per cent of those who engaged in wave 1. That is especially concerning, given that the wave 1 report revealed that respondents who identified as black, Asian and minority ethnic frequently reported worse mental health indicators. Quality data is vital if we are to understand and address the specific mental health challenges that people from ethnic minority backgrounds face. I look forward to hearing from the Scottish Government on how they will improve data collection. In closing, I would like to focus on the mental health of health and social care staff. They have been going at more than 100 miles an hour for almost 19 months now. Many are exhausted, demoralised and at increased risk of burnout. Yesterday, the Lanarkshire health board branch of Unison published a letter detailing how the current pressures in our NHS are affecting the mental and physical health of those on the front line in my region, but also more widely across the country. I therefore welcome the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport's announcement earlier this week of an additional package of £4 million to support front-line workers. When staff cannot access basic necessities such as food, water or rest during their shift, that will undoubtedly have an impact on their mental health. Staff have been under enormous pressure and have worked tirelessly in extremely difficult conditions to keep us safe. Now is not the time to turn our back on them and demand that they get on with the job. I look forward to working with members across the chamber to ensure that they get the support that they need and deserve. I now call Beatrice Wishart to be followed by Emma Harper up to four minutes. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and thank you to Paul MacLennan for bringing that important date to the chamber today. This Sunday is World Mental Health Day, and it gives us the opportunity to reflect on the treatment of mental health and the availability of support out there. The theme of World Mental Health Day this year is mental health in an unequal world, and we must improve mental health treatment the world over. We must also improve parity of mental health care and physical health care the world over. In Scotland alone, there is statistic after statistic that proves more must be done, but every statistic is someone's life and a person's mental health has an impact on family, friends and others around them. The Covid-19 crisis has disproportionately affected some groups more than others, carers, those part of the LGBT plus community, refugees, migrant workers and young people, but even before Covid mental health issues were prevalent in these groups and others. Like construction, as the CITV briefing advised us, with 7 per cent of the UK workforce and 11 per cent of in-work suicides, suicide risk among some site-based male construction workers was three times the national average. We will continue to see the impact on mental health due to Covid. In February this year, Scottish Liberal Democrats led the Scottish Parliament in declaring a mental health crisis. People are struggling, and when they seek help it is often not there. Problems that can start small become crises as help is either not available or arrives too late. I believe that there is a range of things that can be brought in now that we can start to introduce and build on into the future. We can act now to expand services, train more mental health specialists for community services, hospitals and schools, establish new walk-in services at A&E and crisis centres, get mental health first aiders into workplaces. We can work together to end long waits for diagnosis and treatment, create more services closer to where people live, something that is more difficult in rural and island areas. Where communities are more spread out, loneliness and isolation can often take hold more easily, and in spread out communities, access to mental health services is simply tougher. No one should be left to struggle in silence. No service should require endless hoops to access. A first hope that may leave people to stop seeking help is of no use.  I am full of admiration for the Shetland youth group, Chillax, who pre-Covid voluntarily started a self-help group to raise awareness of mental health, and they developed workshops for schools and youth clubs. Pandemic restrictions only make us more vulnerable and highlighted the issue. As a co-convener of the cross-party group on mental health, I look forward to the work of the group and developing ideas and strategies to reduce suffering. Just maybe that will help to reduce statistics, and just maybe it will be a large positive impact, even on one person, their family, friends and support network. Emma Harper is to be followed by Monica Lennon. Monica Lennon will be the last speaker in the open debate. Up to four minutes, please, Ms Harper. As co-convener of the mental health cross-party group with Beatrice Wishart, who is in chamber today, and our cross-party group is supported by Sam H, I welcome the opportunity to speak in this debate and congratulate my colleague Paul MacLennan in securing it. World Mental Health Day on October 10 this year focuses on the theme of mental health in an unequal world. It is hugely important to ensure that mental health is on the national agenda. It is also crucial in working to tackle stigma associated with mental health and in providing education. Indeed, we need to remind people that it is okay not to be okay and seek help and support. Covid-19 has changed all aspects of our lives. However, it has also brought people and communities closer together. It has allowed a greater emphasis on supporting local business, on helping one another and on the importance of kindness. Being patient and kind is really important. The pandemic has allowed a far greater understanding of the need to take mental health seriously and of having a society that puts the wellbeing of its citizens first and foremost. Supporting the mental health of our front-line health and social care staff is an issue that I have been pursuing over the course of the pandemic. Being a member of the NHS on Frees and Galloway's vaccination team has allowed me to hear directly from the front line of staff and the public about the very real challenges that everyone is facing. I am pleased that, since the beginning of the pandemic, the Scottish Government has provided more than £18 million, which has included support for NHS workers through £1.2 million for computerised cognitive behavioural therapy. I encourage the minister to ensure that those services continue to be available and are expanded on the as-need basis if that is required. Across my South Scotland region and nationally, there are many examples of fantastic hard-working groups dedicated to supporting all those who are concerned about their mental health. I have worked with many mental health organisations to promote the importance of positive health and wellbeing. Those include rural and agricultural Scotland, the Scottish Young Farmers, the Frees and Galloway Farmers Choir and the SAMH as well as support in mind Scotland and the Scottish Mental Health Partnership. All provide support to anyone concerned about their mental health and wellbeing, including for people affected by inequality. I do not really have time, because I want to proceed, because I have a couple of important points. I want to thank each and every one of the charities that I have just mentioned for all the work that they continue to do, particularly under those circumstances. The impact of the pandemic on mental health has been highlighted well, and the Scottish Government's mental health tracker study has got some interesting information in it. The report indicates that over a third of the sample reported high levels of psychological distress and a quarter reported levels of depressive symptoms and the earlier fifth reported anxiety symptoms of a similar level. Approximately one tenth of the sample reported having suicidal thoughts in the past week, with one fifth of young adults reporting suicidal thoughts. The report suggests that particular groups in our population were at elevated risk. Women, young adults, people with pre-existent mental health conditions and individuals on a lower socioeconomic background. Finally, Presiding Officer, I would like to raise awareness of the Hello Yellow campaign. Thousands of people in schools and offices communities across Scotland, including in the Frees and Galloway, will be wearing yellow on Friday to raise awareness of the work of young minds and child and adolescent mental health services who are fighting for young people's mental health needs. I congratulate them and I encourage all to consider participating in the Hello Yellow campaign. Hashtag Hello Yellow to raise awareness of mental health issues. Finally, Presiding Officer, I want to again welcome this debate and remind all that it is okay not to be okay and support and help is out there. I now call Monica Lennon. Up to four minutes, please, Ms Lennon. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I believe that this is Paul McCleannan's first member's debate, so I want to congratulate him on choosing such an important topic and to thank him for his commitment to being a mental health champion. Really, that is a call to action to all of us, that we all have to be champions of mental wellbeing. That brings me to the minister who I want to welcome to his post, because his new role as the minister for mental wellbeing and social care is a really, really important job. I am sure that the minister is telling colleagues across Government that they all have to be part of the solution, but when we think about this pandemic and the impact on workforce and social care and across the NHS, I am really concerned about levels of PTSD among our front-line staff. I worry about those on low pay, those who are the unpaid carers, the women who do the burden of the caring work, but I think that the minister will be well placed to look at what has happened to older people and disabled people during this pandemic and to make sure that we address that isolation. So many colleagues today have acknowledged that that is why Anzlo is so important and is very relevant to mental health. Colleagues have talked about the fact that we all have mental health and we all have to be champions in this place. I continue to be concerned about what appears at times to be endless waiting times, the warning statistics around rejected referrals and people speaking out and saying that they are not okay but not really sure where to turn. At the weekend, we were fortunate to meet local heroes from across Scotland who are doing their bit in their communities to show that kindness, to provide that cup of tea, to provide an open door to people, but we have to recognise that despite all the good work and the good effort from ministers and many across the public sector and the private sector, the system is still not quite right. We need to see system change. That is why I am very passionate about supporting my constituent from Central Scotland, Karen McEwen, who has got an excellent petition in front of the citizens participation and public petitions committee. Members including Tess White from the Conservatives spoke very strongly in support of that. We have an opportunity to listen to people with lived experience because they know the change that needs to happen. I was pleased to hear many colleagues mention construction as the continuing convener of the construction cross-party group. That is an area that we want to look at. Paul MacLennan and I will take that away and hopefully the minister can come along to future meetings. I know from his previous work in local government and building standards that he has a keen interest. I also have a lot of empathy for people who are affected by alcohol and drug misuse and how that intersects with mental health and wellbeing. As someone in my teens and early twenties, I have had to reach out for help myself and had counselling. I worry about young people who have had to be at home in the pandemic and not in school when there have been substance misuse in the home. I would be keen to hear from the minister what more can be done to support those young people and their families. I know that many stakeholders have sent briefings and they have all made really important points. The Scottish mental health partnership is looking for a radical refresh of the mental health strategy. That is why Karen McEwen's petition is really important. I end with an invitation to colleagues and anyone who is listening to join me and Clare Adamson MSP and others who will be at Stratford Clyde Park on Sunday. Farms are hosting a Let's Walk and Talk about mental health event. The minister would be very welcome, but that is a very public way for us all to show that we are all human. We all have mental health. If we continue to talk about it openly, we can address stigma and get that system change. I now call on Kevin Stewart Minister to respond to the debate on part of the Scottish Government up to seven minutes, please minister. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer, and I congratulate Paul MacLennan on bringing this debate to the chamber. I am pleased to close for the Government. I want to touch upon, before I get into all that has been said in this debate, the two of the points that Mr MacLennan made are extremely important. The first one is to be kind to each other. In this world, sometimes we are not, and we do not know if folk are okay. Let's think twice before we use harsh language and let's be as kind to one another as we possibly can. I know that that is sometimes a difficult thing to achieve in this chamber. The other thing that struck me is that Paul MacLennan said that he was going to be a champion of mental health in this Parliament. I congratulate him for that, but I think that we all need to be champions of mental health each and every day. It is important to continue to see world mental health day being marked each year, and I welcome the passion shown across the chamber today. I thank colleagues for sharing their personal stories and speaking so passionately on this topic. Sunday, I am afraid that I cannot come to Strathclyde Country Park, but thank you for the invitation, Ms Lennon. Instead, I will be speaking at a conference, a mental health conference at St Myrran, which I am sure Mr Paisley and George Adam will be happy to hear. I want to commend the fantastic work of our NHS services, the third sector and their staff. They have continued to do an incredible job over the last year and a half. I have had the privilege of meeting many front-line staff and those with lived experience since I took up post, and I will be doing more of that as I leave the chamber this afternoon. I am very impressed and grateful for the sheer resilience and dedication that they have shown over the most trying times. I know that some fault within the workforce is struggling, and that is why it is important that we recognise their needs, too. That is why the additional investment that Gillian Mackay mentioned that Humza Yousaf announced earlier on this week for the mental health wellbeing hub and the other supports for staff are so important. I will give way briefly to Mr Hoy. Could he say perhaps how he intends to train and recruit more psychiatrists into the NHS to relieve that pressure on staff? Mr Hoy, for that intervention, because he talked about workforce, which I thought was very interesting and I am more than happy to discuss numbers with him in terms of workforce. Let me give you an idea of the workforce situation here. CAMHS staffing is up 81 per cent in Scotland since 2006. The psychology workforce has increased by 110 per cent since that year, with a 3.3 per cent increase over the last year. In adult acute, we have 56 whole-time equivalent per 100,000 here in Scotland versus 40 whole-time equivalent in the UK average. I would dispute some of the things that Mr Hoy said about workforce. However, let me turn to the point about workforce for the future, because we have seen that great increase, but we all know that there is more to do. That is why workforce planning for the future is absolutely essential. It is one of the key priorities that I have to ensure that we get that right as we move forward, because we have an increase in those presenting with mental health problems. Sometimes we think that that is a bad thing, but that is a good thing, because far too long folks have kept things to themselves, and what we need to do is to encourage people to come forward for the help and treatment that is available. If I could go back to the point that I was going to make, the past year and a half has been tough for everyone in Scotland, and the impacts of the pandemic continue to bring significant challenge to our everyday lives. We know that the pandemic has exacerbated pre-existing inequalities in our society, hitting some population groups disproportionately hard. Recognising that, we published our transition and recovery plan last October, which set out a blueprint for improving mental health across the country. We need to continue to expand on that plan, because, as Gillian Mackay again pointed out, there is some data that we are missing. As Beatrice Wishart mentioned, there are some groups that we are not getting the data for in order to shape the services that are needed and required. LGBTI communities were mentioned, folks from ethnic minorities were mentioned, and we need to do more work there, and we will do so. I will give way very briefly to Mr Kerr. I am grateful to the Minister for Giving Way. Paul McLean gave an excellent speech this afternoon. He highlighted the length of time that people have to wait. The minister is also explaining that the pandemic has made the situation worse. What is the aspiration that he has in terms of waiting times? Our constituents have so many heartbreaking stories. We hear them all, and all of us hear them. What is his aspiration in terms of waiting times? It is great for young people to get mental health. That was rather a long intervention.  My aspiration is to bring waiting times down as quickly as we possibly can. Boards are putting together plans to ensure that waiting times come down. However, one of the key things that we need to do is to stop folk being referred in the first place. That means investment in services at a community level, in our schools and in our GPs. That is why the Government has resourced school councillors, for example, which is extremely important. It is why we are moving forward in investing in mental health link workers in our GP practices. It is why, very soon, we will make further announcements about community support. We will continue to look at that prevention agenda because prevention is better than cure. That is not to say that we will continue to invest in CAMHS and in psychological therapy scenarios 2. We have already provided £45 million to NHS boards to focus on CAMHS improvement and to help to clear waiting lists. We are also providing funding for around 320 additional staff in CAMHS over the next five years. We want to build on the innovative changes that have been made to services and some of that innovation coming over the pandemic period. We want to ensure, as Emma Harper says, that we can continue to invest in things such as cognitive behavioural therapy, which are very important for some folks. Our £50 million investment in children and young people's community wellbeing this year has delivered over 200 new and enhanced services. I look forward to sharing details of equivalent support for adults. It is challenge poverty week and it is important to recognise that poverty is the single biggest driver of poor mental health, as Audrey Nicholl said. I will continue to say that because that is the reality. Minister, are we bringing our remarks to a close? I will. Therefore, we are continuing to strengthen alignment of mental health policy with work to tackle poverty and reduce inequality. I have highlighted some of the work that is happening from government at this moment. I have highlighted some of the cross-government work that is going on. We all have a part to play in reducing inequalities, reducing stigma and ensuring that the right help is available in the right place at the right time. I would like to thank Paul MacLennan again for securing this debate today. I hope that everyone in the chamber will become mental health champions as we move forward. The minister, in congruously, started off talking about how we should be nice to each other and then made a comment about my contribution to the debate. Will you confirm that it is absolutely in order for a member to attend a debate and to make interventions? It is entirely up to the speakers whether or not they take the interventions. Can you confirm that it is absolutely in order to do that? I am not responsible for what members say in their contributions, including ministers. Secondly, it is up to members whether or not they take interventions and it is up to members whether or not they wish to put themselves forward to speak. That is quite clear from the rules. If that deals with that matter, I can proceed to conclude this debate and suspend proceedings until 2.30 this afternoon.


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