Channel 4 has announced their ‘4 Goes Mad’ mental health season, due to air this summer. The season is an opportunity to raise awareness of mental health problems and a chance to challenge the taboo that has existed for too long.

Time to Change has been working with individual production companies and the Channel 4 team to ensure that the voice of people with mental health problems has been listened to and that the issue is dealt with sensitively and accurately. If done well, these types of shows have the power and ability to reach a huge audience and one that we might not normally be able to target with our messages.

Sue Baker, Director of Time to Change, England’s national mental health anti-stigma programme run by the charities Mind and Rethink Mental Illness, said:

“The stigma that still surrounds mental health problems is life-limiting and sometimes tragically life threatening.  Even though mental health problems are very common, people still feel too embarrassed or afraid to talk about them. However we are slowly starting to see more open public discussion, and growing interest from employers. 

“It’s encouraging to see a major broadcaster tackle this deep-seated taboo. We realise that, at its heart, this is an entertainment season but we hope it will turn the spotlight onto a subject that desperately needs to be de-mystified and open it up to a much wider audience.“

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For more information please contact Hayley Richardson, Time to Change Senior Media Officer at [email protected], 0208 2152 358 or 07789 721 966. Follow Hayley on Google+