Together, let’s make 2010 a watershed year for mental health

Mon, 04/01/2010 - 8:00am - Sue Baker - 2 Comments
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Mental health has been under the spotlight for many reasons in recent weeks and months.

The tragic death of Robert Enke in November woke people up to the harsh reality of stigma and the ultimate consequences it can have. I hope that the outpouring of grief and support will now translate into a greater understanding of mental health issues. Something that the Governor of Lower Saxony said at the memorial event in the Hanover stadium caught my eye in particular, as it echoes my beliefs:

“We don’t need flawless robots. We need human beings with rough edges.”

I hope that we’re now moving towards a society that’s more accepting of this, it was heartening to see so many sports people speaking out on the BBC’s Inside Sport documentary a few weeks later. I hope that this will go a long way towards empowering others to speak out about their own experiences.

Mental health has also had a high policy priority, with the launch of the New Horizons strategy and a range of government reports on mental health, wellbeing and employment.

It’s been encouraging to see that New Horizons is a cross-governmental responsibility, with an underlying ethos of mental health and wellbeing as everybody’s business. The strategy reflects what we’ve been saying from the start: that mental health is a mainstream issue that affects all areas of life. It’s crucial that this is now embedded into national government policy.

Our challenge, and that of New Horizons, is to ensure that sectors beyond mental health and social care feel shared ownership of the vision to end inequality and improve the nation’s wellbeing.

In the last few months, we’ve brought this idea to life – in our work with employers and employees through Time to Challenge and working with NHS Employers on an anti-stigma campaign targeted at the NHS Workforce.

Together, let’s make 2010 a watershed year for public attitudes.

Sue Baker
Director, Time to Change

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Everybody's Business?

Submitted by Yendor on Wed, 06/01/2010 - 9:18pm.

you need to run campaigns over a much longer period of time to have a real impact," concludes Rickard Bracken.

I find myself having to take issue with the anonymous arbiters who post pronouncements on here, yet again. If Stigma and discrimination was everybody's business, presumably Everybody is being discriminated against in equal measure and there is no point in this campaign.

Well that is the Whole Point. As soon as you go off tangentially into the realms of government even-handedness and disinterest in where the mentally ill are coming from - into Get Moving and diversionary distractions like Pop Concerts, Bungee jumping and the irrelevancies that so strongly feature in Time to Change, you lose sight of the objectives of the campaign and the objectives which people, like those in continuing care and the long-haul Victims of Stigma and discrimination, Came on Board Time to Change to tackle!

You seem to have no perception of how Frustrating it is for people who continue to wrestle with these problems in their everyday lives, to have you taking the wind out of our sails as you blaze a trail through our lives without Tackling Anything!

Furthermore there is nothing in your current campaigning that is built to last - nothing which can be said to be bedding down with a new construct remoulding the landscape so things will be better in the future. As soon as you say everybody's mental health is the priority, we wave goodbye to any prospect of improving the lot of the people who have ill-health Now, and into the Future.

Despair is the most abiding sense I derive from your current campaign. WHY? Because you have virtually turned your backs on the people who have, speak, and act upon First-hand victimisation - and Experience does not get more ground-breaking than that.

Up until now, comment which has been critical of this campaign has simply been excluded from posting. I defy you to take on board what is being said as valid, personal reflection of the mess being made while a glossy facade is carefully constructed to obscure the chaotic reality which is this campaign.

All our knowledge brings us nearer to our ignorance

M E M P H A S I S

http://hypoconcer.ning.com

I very rarely, if ever post

Submitted by Andover Mind on Mon, 08/02/2010 - 2:39pm.

I very rarely, if ever post blogs, but felt compelled to respond to the previous comment.

Whilst I applaud and support your interest and right to comment on each and every aspect of Time to Change, I do feel that some of your remarks are un-necessarily negative and you do seem to have missed a few salient points.

To start with I do not understand what your comment on whether Stigma and Discrimination are 'everybody's business' was aimed at. No one is suggesting that everybody suffers from discrimination, just that unless everyone takes notice and makes it 'their business' to do something about it if they encounter it, then we will continue to get no where with the problem and it will continue to be brushed under the carpet.

Moving on, you seem to have an awful problem with the advertising aspects of the campaign. You seem to feel that most of this seems frivolous, but most of the advertising features people who have, or had mental distress at some point in their lives. Also, playing Devil's Advocate for a second, don't we live in a cynical world, where unfortunately people do seem to be attracted to 'celebrities' and gimmicky marketing ploys? Whilst I believe that Time to Change's marketing campaign is more substantial than frivolous and gimmicky, even if it was, surely some noise about Stigma is better than none. Which is where we would be to a large extent without the campaign.

I also have to take issue (in a big way on this one) on the fact that you completely seem to ignore the fact that Time to Change has set up many projects that have employed many people (many of whom have experience of mental distress) to help and support people with many different mental illnesses to get out into the community and out of their houses. These projects have worked tirelessly to try and raise understanding and support for the plight of those with these horrible illnesses and I think it is a bit disrespectful to hundred's of people's efforts that these projects don't even warrant a mention from you, or did you not even realise that these efforts were happening?!

I know about these projects because I happen to work for one, which I joined after starting on the project as a mental health service user just over two years ago. In response to your comment that people who suffer discrimination are forgotten by the campaign, I suffered about the worst forms of discrimination that you can imagine including dodging bricks, punches and bogus allegations of child abuse simply because I had a diagnosis of mental illness. I have never felt forgotten by the campaign and welcome the fact that someone is doing something about it, which does include giving myself, and people like me, an opportunity to both work and support people in a similar position to get help.

I can finally re-assure you that I am no 'faceless arbiter' wheeled out by Time to Change, but a person whose life has been changed and massively improved by an involvement with the campaign. By the way, the previous 'faceless arbiter' that seemed to rile you so much is the campaign's national director. I have yet to hear the national director of anything that is faceless.

I hope that this is not seen as a personal attack, I just felt that I wasn't particularly up for letting some of these points go. Again, I welcome the interest but please calm down a little bit on the negativity, people are trying their very best to make the world in the future a more inclusive one and it does hurt to have their efforts dismissed as frivolous nonsense.

Adam Hatcher
fit4Life