Ah, stigma. Our old friend.
This is a subject that those of us who take an interest in mental health politics are constantly banging on about, but the message still doesn't seem to be getting through. The problem is, I think, that all this banging on goes on in circles of people who already know it all already. If you blog about mental health issues as a sufferer/survivor, it is almost certain you will have faced stigma yourself. You will have faced the dilemma of whether to reveal your illness to employers, you will have avoided the subject with relatives you know will just make stupid comments. So reading the statistics just confirms what you already know.
A report, published earlier this year by the NHS Information Commission, found that only 25% of people would trust most ex patients of a mental hospital to babysit for their child. 21% believed that anyone with a history of mental illness should be prevented from ever taking public office. 11% would not even want to live next door to somebody who has ever suffered from mental illness. People with mental illness have the highest “want to return to work” rates of all disabilities, but face the biggest unemployment rates of any category of disability. They also report difficulty in getting treatment, not only for their mental illness, but for any physical illness that may also affect them - people with severe mental illness have a life expectancy that is shortened by around 10 years.The facts make depressing reading, and even more so when, as I once witnessed myself, they are displayed on a colourful information board in the corridor of a psychiatric ward. Right next to the door. At one point I hatched a theory that it was put there to stop us wanting to escape to the stigma filled outside world. Looking back, I was probably over thinking things a little...
This is the thing through. When we are mental in the first place, we need a bit more understanding, because we are likely to be much more vulnerable. There is no doubt that we face problems that we are less able to cope with. It's just that I'm not sure that just telling ourselves that the problems exist is really going to help much. It might just make us more afraid to go out of our comfort zone, away from the people who know what it is like to be mentally ill. Of course, there shouldn't be stigma, but I think that we need to go beyond raising awareness that it exists and start trying to cope with it when we do see it.
These statistics are quite shocking. I wonder how the questions were posed. I would imagine that the scope for receiving different answers would be great, depending on the questions.
ReplyDeleteMy SIL has been in a hospital for treatment of bipolar disorder, but it would never have occurred to me not to let her babysit for my children. I can say the same of the other friends and family who have suffered from MH issues.
It is such a shame to hear that this is not always the case.
It is likely not helped though, by the portrayal in the media of people with MH issues being like ticking bombs, ready to blow at any time.
Mme Lindor you are right the media really don't help, they do portray people with schizophrenia for example in a terrible light. On the other hand some celebs like Stephen Fry seem to be doing a lot to help bring MH issues out in the open more.
ReplyDeleteI was devestated a couple of years ago to be rejected for Jury Service because of past MH / medication, I think I am a really sane, sensible and rational person and quite capable of sitting on a jury and weighing up evidence with other people.
There is also a sense that MH blogs are like preaching to the choir in that most people who read them are other people who already know about MH ishoos. I still find it extremely hard to talk in person and admit to people that I've had PND / depression.