Tomorrow, 6th February 2014, will be the first ever 'Time To Talk Day' - a whole day dedicated to encourage people to initiate conversation and talk about mental health; raising awareness, breaking down stigma and more. Mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of, and neither is talking about it.
Time To Change, the creators of this day, are aspiring to get 1,000,000 conversation going on the 6th.
Up and down the country, in schools, workplaces, libraries etc. there will be thousands of events taking place, all with an aim to talk about mental health.
Before you go thinking 'It's too late! What can I do?' Don't distress - you can still get involved, all you got to do is start/have a conversation, whether it'd be on-line or over a cup of tea. Easy as pie! You can also check here for any public events near you!
Time To Change are also holding a 'Conversational Challenge'. On the social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, they will be setting a number of challenges throughout the day - asking people how many conversations they've had; all counting towards their 1,000,000 conversation target.
That's not all. Time To Change are also holding a competition 'have a conversation to win a conversation' - when you share your conversation and why it has inspired you. By doing this you can be entered into this competition and win a conversation with either Russel Kane, Beverley Callard or Ashley Roberts.
So stick on the kettle and let's have a natter. Let's make this day an everlasting legacy.
I can certainly say that 2013 has been another big year for mental health. the year has seen increases in media coverage on mental health; some good and some bad. The beginning of the year saw Time To Change's advertising campaign come on to our telly boxes, encouraging us to talk about mental health and to break down the wall of stigma that surrounds it, mid-year saw Stephen Fry opening up and talking about his experiences of suicidal feelings and his previous attempt last year, and only a couple of months ago saw the outrage at Tesco, Asda and Amazon and their selling of 'mental patient' Halloween costumes, as well as Thorpe Parks offensive 'Asylum' 'attraction' - just to name a few
In this blog post I have compiled a list, like I did last year, of this years biggest stories on mental health.
January saw the TV screenings of Time To Change's advert on mental health stigma, encouraging viewers to start conversations about mental health, with an aim to remove the 'fear and awkwardness that stop people from talking about mental health' [1], this time focusing more on people that do not necessarily have much knowledge about mental health but helping them to feel that they can start a conversation.
May16th saw Parliament give another debate on mental health, following the landmark debate that occurred last June; where a number of MPs spoke out about their experiences of mental health problems for the first time. Paul Burstow, Charles Walker and Madeleine Moon initiated the debate, and covered a wide range of subjects including: the addressing of inequalities between physical and mental health services; discussion of improving acute and crises services; tackling the issues of the inequalities experienced by ethnic minority in mental health services; talks over making improvements to the Work Capability Assessment (WCA); as well as talks over providing better support for people with mental health problems wishing to enter the workplace, as well as, working with employers to build better support working environments. If you wish to read more you can read the proceedings in the Hansard here.
Early June saw Stephen Fry speak out about his experiences of bipolar disorder, suicidal feelings, and his suicide attempt last year. Whilst Fry has been commended for his openness and raising awareness of bipolar depression and suicide, unfortunately there have been one too many insensitive troglodytes making sarky, misinformed comments - highlighting that there is still quite a way to go in tackling mental health stigma.
July witnessed BBC 3's 'It's A Mad World Season', a week of programmes that covered a wide range of topics surrounding mental health, similar to the project carried out by Channel 4 (Channel 4 Goes Mad) in the previous year. The week saw the broadcasting of a number of documentaries and programmes that explored mental health units, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), depression, suicide, eating disorders, as well as delving into other issues such as the wall of stigma that surrounds mental health, as well as the effects of funding cuts to health services.
In August Time to Change launched its 'It's time to talk' campaign, with an aim to stamp out the stigma surrounding mental health, as well as encouraging others to talk about mental health. Ambassadors such as Frankie Sandford, Ruby Wax, Rachel Bruno, Russell Kane and many more wore #TimeToTalk temporary tattoos and took to social networking sites to help further the campaign.
My #TimeToTalk tat
Late September experienced an uproar when supermarkets Asda and Tesco, as well as on-line retailer Amazon, were selling 'mental patient' fancy dress costumes. After many complaints and petitions, the supermarkets, at last, withdrew these 'costumes', apologized and made donations to mental health charities. Whilst such an atrocity should have never happened in the first place, this gave us an opportunity to see the work we have ahead of us, as well as how many people are willing to stand for mental health and challenge the prejudices and stigmas that surround it.
October saw another uproar, at Thorpe Park's 'The Asylum'. The 'attraction' included walking through a mock psychiatric hospital, whereby 'actors' would pretend to be mental patients; some of which jumping down from fences, jumping out onto visitors and others chasing them with chainsaws. Thousands signed a petition to urge the park to close the 'attraction' and to rename it. A spokeswoman for Thorpe park said that there are going to be meetings at some time after the new year; as of yet, however, we are still unsure as whether such an appalling attraction is yet to see another year.
2013, in my opinion, has been a notable year for mental health; it has seen quite a few bricks removed from the wall of stigma; however, more still needs to be done - not only to keep breaking down this wall, but also removing those stubborn bricks, as well as preventing these bricks being piled back on. Let us see what 2014 has in store.
Wishing each and every one of you all the best for the new year!
Last month it was Tesco and Asda, this month the culprit is Thorpe Park. This Halloween the troglodytes Thorpe Park and Liongate have teamed up to bring theme-park goers 'terrifyingly entertaining horror attractions', one of them being called 'The Asylum'.
The 'attraction' includes walking through a mock psychiatric hospital, with 'actors' playing mental patients; some of which are jumping down from fences, jumping out onto visitors and others chasing them with chainsaws. Top marks to Thorpe Park for reinforcing an incorrect negative stereotype of mental illness. Discriminating against people with mental illnesses is just utterly unacceptable. This makes me sick to my stomach. Once again, some idiot(s) has thought that doing something like would be acceptable and that nobody would batter an eyelid. No! Many people, including myself took to Twitter to complain and show our disgust to Thorpe Park. They had the audacity to tweet this:
'A fantastical experience'?! What on earth are they thinking? How can they get it so wrong? The only right about that tweet is that it is not 'a realistic portrayal of a mental health institution'. That being the case why are they even hosting such an 'attraction'? Do they not realise how offensive this is to so many people? Whether it is intended or not to be a realistic portrayal it still reinforces the negative stereotype that people with mental health problems are violent and murderous. When in actual fact people with mental health problems are far more likely to be victims of violence - it is things such as these that can evoke such violence and hostility towards people with mental health problems. As well as this, such hostility is what can prevent someone from seeking the help they desperately need. I fear that Thorpe Park don't care what we think, or how much they have offended so many people. As long as it makes them money then that is all they care about. I am suggesting a boycott; hit them where it hurts - their wallet. Perhaps that is the only way to get this 'attraction' withdrawn, unless they have any shred of human decency or compassion (which I doubt they do). This is not the end of this.
I am pretty sure if you have got your finger on the pulse you probably would have heard about the supermarket chains Asda and Tesco, and online retailer Amazon being caught in a uproar for selling Halloween costumes entitling 'Psycho Ward' outfit and 'Mental Patient' fancy dress costume. These costumes included ragged clothing, fake blood, a mask, and a fake meat cleaver or an orange boiler suit with a plastic jaw restraint as well as machete to "complete the look". After a storm of complaints and outrage from customers and people on social networking sites these companies subsequently withdrew these offensive outfits from sale, have made apologies and will be donating to the mental health charity Mind. Unfortunately there have been one-too-many troglodytes saying '...if you don't like the outfits then don't buy them....what's all the fuss about?' It's times like these I face-palm myself and try to keep myself calm over the frustration as to how someone could be so callous and ignorant, but if it still needs saying until I'm blue in face then I accept the challenge.
Sometimes I ask myself why I bother...
...but then I remember why.
It is quite astounding, and worrying, to think that 'intelligent' (seriously considering whether this is the right word to use or not), successful people of these large companies would ever think it would be okay to do something like this - did they consider to sell outfits depicting cancer, diabetes or coronary heart disease as well? When were they born? 1847? The hard work that every single mental health charity, campaigner, activist, or volunteer does to try and break down the wall of stigma and then you have these buffoons pilling on more bricks and cement. It is things like this that re-enforce the unfair, incorrect negative stereotypes of mental health and mental illness - that we are blood-thirsty, violent, cannibalistic murderers. When actually people with mental health problems are far more likely to be a victim of violence. It is things like this that make people treat individuals with mental health problems as second-class citizens or as targets of abuse. Having a mental health problem in itself can be a struggle; without the additional layer of guilt or fear of social persecution or abuse making everything worse. There are thousands people with mental health problems who are not receiving the help and support they need - it is not just down to the lack of resources and funding available, but also fear of reaching out for help (from a GP, friend or family member) and receiving nothing in return except contempt, abuse and guilt. Now when I title this blog post '...A Blessing In Disguise' I mean it in the sense that these companies idiotic actions have given a great opportunity for mental health charities, campaigners, activists, people with mental health problems and thousands of others to raise awareness and to help end mental health discrimination - to tell everyone that this kind of behaviour is not okay and that we should be treated with the same amount of care and respect as everybody else. Thousands upon thousands of people took to Twitter and Facebook to show everyone what a real #mentalpatient looks like. Do you know what they look like? Like you and me. If you would like to know how you can help end mental health discrimination check out Time To Change. BMNM.
January is over and February is here. How are those new years resolutions coming along? Congrats if you're still going - you rock! But if you've fallen off the metaphorical wagon or horse don't give up - brush yourself down and get back on that metaphorical wagon/horse that we talked about earlier. Even though the year is still young, I feel that this year will be a great year for mental health. Even though there are more and more people are talking, there is still a wall of stigma; but I believe that the more we walk about mental health the more the wall gets broken down.
At this time 9 out of 10 people with mental health problems experience stigma and discrimination. I believe that it is the myths surrounding mental health that are perhaps the biggest contributor this stigma. Here are a few of these myths...
Mental health problems are very rare.
People with mental health problems are very different from other people.
Only celebrities get mental illnesses.
People with mental illnesses are violent and unpredictable.
It's best to leave people alone if they develop a mental health problem.
When in reality...
Mental health problems affect 1 in 4 people.
We all have mental health, just like we all have physical health.
Anyone can be affected by a mental illness, regardless of their age, gender, ethnicity or background.
People with a mental illness are more likely to be a victim of violence.
Most people with mental health problems will want to keep in touch with their friends, family and colleagues. Keeping in touch can be a great help in their recovery.
These experiences of stigma and discrimination against mental illness can have very harmful effects. It can:
prevent an individual from applying or gaining a job,
leave an individual feeling isolated from friends and family,
most importantly, prevent someone from seeking help when they may need it most due to feelings of embarrassment or fear of discrimination.
You might be thinking now 'What can I do about this?'. Well, I have a few suggestions.
You don't have be a mental health expert to be supportive (but some knowledge can help). But doing nothing, or avoiding the issue, can making things worse. If someone close to you (a friend, family member or colleague) is experiencing mental health problems or a mental illness there are a lot of small things you can do that make a BIG difference.
Be there to talk and listen.
It can be very hard for somebody to tell someone about a mental health problem out of fear of reactions. If someone talks to you, acknowledge their problem and let them know you're there for them.
Make time to stay in touch, carry on with whatever you'd normally do.
Ask them how you can help; people will need support at different times and in different ways.
Also bear in mind that having a mental health problem is just one part of the person; don't define them by this alone. Speak about other things - TV, movies, music etc.
Furthermore, think about the words you use. Using words like 'crazy', 'nutter', 'loony' or 'psycho' can hurt and only reinforce the stigma of mental health.
For further help and advice, whenever you may want or need it, you can turn to mental health organisations like Mind, YoungMinds, Time to Change, Rethink, and many more.
So, with these tips in your arsenal why not start a conversation about mental health?
2012 has been a big year for mental health, particularly with tackling the stigma surrounding it. Legislation has changed, more and more people are speaking out and campaigns have even been held on TV, in the papers and online. We all hope that these efforts haven't been in vain and have helped to break down the wall of stigma, better our understanding of mental health and improve the lives of others.
In this blog post I have compiled some of this years biggest news stories concerning mental health - illustrating how much has changed over the course of the year. February8th - The House of Lords (HoL) voted in favour of an amendment to the Health and Social Care Bill - clarifying that mental and physical health will now have equal footing. The amendment itself was put forward by Mind, Rethink, the Royal College of Psychiatrists, The Centre for Mental Health and the Mental Health Foundation. This amendment means that in the NHS there is now a legal recognition that mental health is just as important as physical health. [1]
June14th - In the House of Commons (HoC) there was a four and a half hour debate on the subject of mental health it even saw four MPs speaking out about their own mental health problems. In the run up to the debate hundreds of people with mental health problems had contacted their MP urging them to speak out about local and national issues surrounding mental health. The debate covered a wide range of topics including: the need for politicians, the media and public to talk more openly about mental health; the breaking downs of taboos and stigmas; ensuring that everyone is able to ask for help whenever they need it; the problems faced when trying to get help for mental health problems; the need of investing more into talking therapies, crisis care services etc; the need to overhaul the WCA so that those who are too unwell to work can receive the the benefits they need; and ways in which employers can improve conditions in the workplace. During the debate, the MP for Croydon, Gavin Barwell, announced his plans for introducing the Mental Health Discrimination Bill into the HoC next week, which will see four pieces of discriminatory mental health legislation amended and overturned. [2]
September14th - Introduced by Gavin Barwell, the Mental Health (Discrimination) Bill was voted in favour by MPs - meaning that the Bill will now go onto the Committee stage. If eventually passed it will mean an end to archaic laws that interfere with the rights of people with mental health problems including the prevention of participating in jury service, becoming/remaining a company director and MPs losing their seats if they are sectioned under the Mental Health Act, regardless of recovery. [3] If you wish to see the progress of this Bill go to: http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2012-13/mentalhealthdiscriminationno2.html
October29th- Ed Miliband, leader of the Labour Party, gave a speech on mental health at the Royal College of Psychiatrists following the Labour Party signing the Time To Change Pledge.[4] He stated that the problem of mental illness in the UK is the 'biggest unaddressed health challenge of our age'. He also stated that he wants to give patients the same legal right to mental health therapies as with physical ones. He also criticized some celebrities for reinforcing the taboo and stigma that surrounds mental health and urged for a culture change.
This week Channel 4 goes mad. Tonight is the beginning of a series of documentories; composed and compiled together by celebrities (Ruby Wax and Jon
Richardson to name a few), volunteers, and mental health organisations
(like Mind, Rethink and Time To Change). They will come onto our tellyboxes and explore all things mental health: from issues surrounding them to different mental illnesses. In my opinion I'm excited and I can't wait to watch it all.
However, there's something that keeps on turning over and over in my mind. I can't help but think why we should rely (if 'rely' is the right word) on television programmes to teach us about mental health. The media plays a large part in the portrayal and education of mental health: from documentories to soap operas running storylines on their characters and their experiences. As much as they strive to raise awareness and reduce stigma sometimes these portrayals aren't always accurate and can present a varying amount of bias, and so can misinform us about things within mental health. These misunderstandings can potentially be harmful to us and others around us. Although, it is not to say that all we learn about mental health comes from the television. There are numerous organisations that provide us with facts, figures and first-hand experiences and these help us to better our understanding on mental health. The only criticism of these I can give is that they're not always accessible or available to everyone. I think education into mental health should be made more accessible, and more so available on the national curriculum.
Throughout my time at school we have been given lessons called 'Directions', aka Citizenship or PSHE classes, within these lessons we are taught subjects that are outside the standard curriculum, of which include sex education, the environment, diversity, drugs and substance abuse etc. however, not once have I recalled being delivered information/education on mental health, apart from within Psychology lessons (but that's a different kettle of fish). The point I'm trying to make here is that perhaps not enough is done to teach people about mental health, and that this lack of knowledge or understanding can lead to terrible consequences to those who experience a mental illness (whether it'd be directly or indirectly), e.g. bullying (not just within schools but also in the workplace), self-destruction, and even death. For something that affects all of us it should make sense to provide education on it, preferably from a relatively early age, so that we can develop our understanding and knowledge of mental health and improve the quality of life for us and others. It's a goal of mine to see mental health being taught in schools, and as part of the national curriculum. However, I cannot do this alone. I hope this to be the start of this campaign, and I would love to hear of your opinions or experiences - so feel free to comment below. Thank you.
