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Asked by 767mntj22 to Jack, Gem, Jermaine, Michelle, Steve on 21 Jun 2017.
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Jermaine Ravalier answered on 21 Jun 2017:
I think it’s quite widely acknowledged now – more widely than ever before (just look at the campaigns that channel 4 and the NHS have had, for example). However, there’s still a general stigma around mental health in the general public and in many workplaces.
Mental health is even more stigmatised in certain cultural groups. So for example in African, Asian, and Caribbean communities in the UK they’re really heavily stigmatised – so much so that people suffering with mental health feel that they often can’t speak to family and friends about the issue (just look at Stormzy).
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Gemma Taylor answered on 21 Jun 2017:
There is still a stigma against mental health, things are changing, but very slowly. Society acknowledges mental health, but again, not nearly enough. There is still more that can be done. There are massive health disparities between people with mental health problems and people without, for example people with schizophrenia die up to 20 years younger than people with out mental problems.
Mental health is not that dissimilar to physical health – they are not static experiences, and you can have good days and bad days, or chronic conditions that you can manage. So for example, you can have the flu one week, and be physically healthy the next. Similarly, you can have a illness like depression or croh’s and manage your condition and live a “normal” life. There is still much more we can do to normalise mental health, like learning about mental health in schools from an early age. In some countries employers allow staff to have days off of work to benefit mental health, known as “mental health days”, the UK could adopt something like this.
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Jack barton answered on 21 Jun 2017:
I think we are getting there but it is still a slow process. For example, I feel pretty comfortable telling people that I have crohn’s disease and this is something most people may not fully understand but are happy to ask questions about. I’m not sure I would be as comfortable chatting about my mental health. This is only an example from me but I think it sums up nicely the stigma and where we’re at with mental health in society.
That being said, there are a lot of fantastic campaigns which are trying to reduce the stigma of various mental illnesses – including schizophrenia (see link on my profile page). We still have plenty of work to do but society is starting to see mental illness in a different light now.
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Michelle Jamieson answered on 22 Jun 2017:
It’s been acknowledged more in recent years, but there is still a lot of stigma, especially towards more ‘serious’ conditions such as schizophrenia.
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Steven Brown answered on 22 Jun 2017:
Getting better every day, yes. I think some illnesses are still subject to myths though, such as OCD. “I’m a bit OCD like that” means you like the volume on the TV on an even number or something, not that you are suffering from OCD. It trivialises symptoms of the illness.
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