People with mental ill health are constantly challenged by their mental well-being and also those in society. Others do not see mental health as an illness and so make others that do, feel isolated in a way that they fear talking to other people about it in case they will be judged or be look down upon. Mental ill heath can be very difficult to talk about especially when people in society are ignorant and disgusted by those who are 'ill'.
- Nearly nine out of 10 people (87%) with mental health problems have been affected by stigma and discrimination.
- More than two thirds of people with mental health problems (71%) say they have stopped doing things they wanted to do because of stigma.
- Even more (73%) say they have stopped doing things they wanted to do because of fear of stigma and discrimination.
- People with mental health problems say that stigma and discrimination affect all aspects of their lives: work, education, friendships, community participation, going to the shops, going out to the pub, talking to other people about their mental health problems.
- 53% of carers of people with mental health problems also say they feel unable to do things they want to do because of stigma and discrimination, and 43% say they are unable to do things because of fear of stigma and discrimination.
- Stigma and fear can stop people (and people from BME communities in particular) seeking help at an early stage for their mental health problems.
- Two thirds of people with mental health problems live alone - four times more than the general population.
- More than 50% of people with mental health problems have poor social contact, as defined by the Oslo Social Support Scale, compared with six per cent of the general population.
- People with mental health problems see fewer friends regularly – between one and three in an average week, compared with the four to six friends reported by the general population.
- People with mental health problems say that stigma and discrimination leave them vulnerable to violence.
- In one survey, 71% of respondents had been victimised in the community at least once in the past two years and believed this was related to their mental health history.
- Nearly nine out of ten respondents living in local authority housing had been victimised.
- Nearly half (41%) said they were subjected to repeated bullying.
- Only nine per cent would feel very comfortable about a mental health problem and 24% would feel fairly comfortable.
- The main reason is fear of losing their job (26%), followed by concern about their colleagues finding out about their diagnosis (19%).
- 92% of the UK public believe that disclosing a history of mental health problems would damage a person’s career.
- Careers considered most vulnerable to damage include doctors (56%), emergency services personnel (54%) and teachers (48%).8 Only 21% feel that having a history of mental health problems could damage the career of an MP.
- More than half of the UK public (56%) would not offer the person a job, even if they were the best candidate, if the interviewee disclosed that they had a history of depression – 17% because they thought the person would be unreliable, 10% because they thought they would be blamed if the person then took time off sick, and 15% because they thought they wouldn’t work as well as other staff or other staff would not want to work with them.
- Nearly three quarters (73%) of doctors would not seek professional help for mental health problems for fear of damaging their career (33%) or their professional reputation (30%), and because of the perceived stigma of having a mental health problem (20%).
- 36% of people think someone with a mental health problem is prone to violence.
- 57% believe people with mental health problems need to be kept in a psychiatric hospital.
- 48% believe that someone with a mental health problem cannot be held responsible for their own actions.
- 34% of people agree there should be less emphasis on protecting the public from people with mental illness.
- 75% think that people with mental health problems should have the same rights to a job as anyone else and 25% do not.
- 15% (down from 18% in 2009) believe mental illness is caused by lack of self-discipline and will-power.
- 77% of adults believe that the media does not do a good job in educating people about mental illness.
- Nearly four out of 10 readers of national newspapers say they are the source of their beliefs about a link between mental illness and violence.
- About one in six readers affected by mental health problems say that newspaper portrayals of mental illness generally have discouraged them, or friends or relatives from seeking help for mental health problems.
Statistics taken from http://www.lancs-mentalhealthhelpline.nhs.uk/documents/NMHDU_FF6.pdf
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