A FORMER SNP candidate has condemned fellow Nationalists for “poisonous” attacks on Ruth Davidson after she revealed her struggles with mental health.
Toni Giugliano, who recently stood for Westminster and Holyrood, said he was “shocked by some of the Yes movement’s reaction” to the Scottish Tory leader’s disclosures.
In extracts from her new book, which were published on Sunday, Ms Davidson revealed she self-harmed, contemplated suicide and was diagnosed with depression as a teenager.
She said she had punched walls, cut her stomach and arms with blades and broken glass while a student at Edinburgh University, and been prescribed medication for the problems.
Mr Giugliano, a former coordinator at Yes Scotland who is now Policy Manager at the Mental Health Foundation, said the response from some on social media had been reprehensible.
In a letter to the National newspaper, he wrote: “Some questioned the veracity of the story.
“‘She has a book to sell,’ said some. ‘She’s a hypocrite,’ wrote others, given her party’s policies on austerity.
“Would people have reacted the same way if instead of a mental health problem she’d disclosed a serious heart condition or breast cancer? Of course not.
“She’d have been given all the sympathy in the world with no further questions asked.”
Mr Giugliano said such attitudes contributed to the stigmatising of mental health.
He wrote: “Political rivalry mustn’t cloud our judgment. The inability to see anything outwith the prism of Yes vs No is poisonous and damages our cause.
“You don’t need to agree with Davidson’s party to recognise that her intervention was important - both in challenging stigma and highlighting the necessity of early intervention.
“Just like SNP MSPs James Dornan and Gail Ross opening up about their mental health, Davidson’s story may hep more people to come forward and ask for help – and that is an ambition that transcends party politics.”
Mr Giugliano was runner-up to the LibDems in Edinburgh Western is the 2016 Holyrod election and in Edinburgh West in the 2017 general election.
Scottish Tory mental health spokeswoman Annie Wells said: “Toni Giugliano is absolutely right to describe the behaviour of some Twitter users as ‘poisonous’.
“It seems some fervent nationalists – including the MSP James Dornan – just couldn’t help themselves but to use this sensitive issue as a means to attack Ruth.
“They are being rightly criticised for that abhorrent behaviour.”
Mr Dornan, the MSP for Glasgow Cathcart, tweeted on Monday: "I congratulated Ruth on her bravery in writing about her mental health. However the whole ‘I never want to be PM’ made me instantly think of Michael Heseltine. In Scotland she is recognised as a vacuous, stand for nothing politician who will never be FM."
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