Supporting you and your wellbeing
Advice on a wide range of topics
Distress Brief Intervention Service for Young People in West Dunbartonshire
The Distress Brief Intervention (DBI) Service in West Dunbartonshire is here to offer quick support to young people aged 14 to 24 years (26 if care experienced) who are in distress. If you're dealing with issues like anxiety, feeling down, self-harm, panic attacks, or struggling with self-esteem, your GP or someone at your school or college can connect you with the service.
Once you're referred, you'll be contacted within 24 hours and supported for up to 14 days. A friendly practitioner will work with you to address your current challenges and help you manage your worries better in the future.
Find out more here
Planet Youth in West Dunbartonshire - Together, we can help every young person in West Dunbartonshire grow up feeling supported, valued, and full of potential.
The Planet Youth Model began in Iceland in the 1990s at a time when communities were concerned about the risk‑taking behaviours among young people. By listening to young people, they learned that strong family relationships, feeling supported at school, positive friendships and access to fun, healthy activities were key to helping them thrive. Strengthening these protective factors led to big improvements, with youth smoking, drinking and drug use falling to the lowest levels in Europe.
The Planet Youth Model is an evidence‑based prevention approach now used in many countries across the world, including several areas of Scotland such as Angus, Argyll and Bute, Clackmannanshire, Dundee, Highland and West Dunbartonshire. It is led by the charity Winning Scotland and aims to prevent problems before they start, helping children and young people grow up safer, healthier and more confident.
The approach brings together local decision makers, service providers, youth workers, parents and community members to take action, using the results of a confidential survey of 14–16‑year‑olds to understand young people’s lives and guide local solutions. The survey data informs the local implementation group what helps young people and the challenges they experience. This guides the group to make informed changes to local systems and environments to prevent harm.
Planet Youth Scotland
Planet Youth in West Dunbartonshire - what our data says
Planet Youth in West Dunbartonshire that has been in place since 2021, starting with one pilot secondary school and now involving multiple schools and partners.
In West Dunbartonshire, the approach is coordinated through an implementation group. Partners include Education, Health and Social Care partnership (HSCP) Health Improvement, youth providers, third sector organisations, and national support via Winning Scotland, with strategic oversight through Community Planning Partnerships structures.
The latest Planet Youth survey data (Oct 2025), gathered information on young people’s behaviours, attitudes and beliefs from over 765 (S3 and S4) young people in West Dunbartonshire.
Shameless Youth Campaign West Dunbartonshire
Shameless Youths is a local youth-led campaign which recognises the importance of supportive conversations between young people and the adults in their lives, particularly when it comes to being online and engaging in relationships online. These conversations need to be regular, judgement-free, informed and respectful... they need to be shameless.
Our aim is to promote positive conversations which support young people to understand what consenting and positive experiences online looks like.
The campaign was developed in partnership between West Dunbartonshire Youth Council, West Dunbartonshire Council, NSPCC Scotland a steering group of local partners.
Shameless Youths"I would like to see a kind of, one stop shop, if you like. For, not necessarily of personnel, but a one-stop-shop of information and guidance, about different pathways, you know, and how people can access help..."
finding from local research report
Cost of living crisis
The term ‘cost of living’ is how the level of prices for everyday items is measured. This includes the cost of housing (like rent or a mortgage), food and drink, bills (like gas and electricity) and other essential items.
What is the Cost of Living Crisis or the Cost Crisis?
You may have heard people talk about the term ‘cost of living crisis’ or ‘the cost crisis’ in the news or on social media. The Scottish Government is now starting to refer mostly to this situation as ‘the cost crisis’, and we’ll be referring to it this way.
The cost crisis is about the price of essential items rising faster than the amount of income a house has.
For example, people’s wages or benefits may have stayed the same, but the cost of food, rent, and energy bills have all increased. This can leave households with less money or not able to afford items or pay bills.
Taken from Young Scot. To find out more visit Young Scot Website
For more information on money related supports visit resources
About the site
This website is a product of engagement with local young people, parents and carers and people who work with young people in West Dunbartonshire. Glasgow University was asked by West Dunbartonshire Health and Social Care Partnership on behalf of Community Planning Partners to seek the views on local needs in relation to mental health and wellbeing supports and services.
All the work undertaken to provide new mental health supports and services is underpinned by the values, principles and components of Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) which reflects and the principles of United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).
This site aims to provide accessible information on a range of topics to support wellbeing and emotional health, including local mental health supports and services.
Young people from West Dunbartonshire Youth Council helped create the original logo design you see throughout the site. Members of the West Dunbartonshire Champions Board helped to voice and write the animation that describes how local activity is taken forward.
We will continue to collaborate with local young people to ensure the site remains current, useful and a key resource for supporting the mental and emotional wellbeing of those living in West Dunbartonshire.
Glasgow University Review of Community Mental Health Supports and Services 2022