Mixed Messages On Mental Health

While many people in the UK say they are scared by people with mental health problems, many also realise the positive qualities of people who suffer from mental illness, according to research commissioned by the Priory Group.

The feature of people who have mental health issues that the public most agree on is that they can be unpredictable, with 79 per cent of British adults identifying that as a characteristic. Some 49 per cent of those surveyed said they found people with mental health problems scary, while exactly half believe such people are dangerous.

However, the research also revealed that 65 per cent of Brits say that people with mental health issues are intelligent and a further 63 per cent would describe the mentally ill as kind. While 76 per cent of people do not believe that mental illness is due to personal weakness, exactly the same number think that the media does not do enough to dispel the stigma surrounding mental illness.

Consultant psychiatrist Dr. Natasha Bijlani at the Priory Hospital in Roehampton commented: “Mental illness does not respect age, sex, marital status, class or region, which means that anyone, at any point in their lives, can become mentally ill.

Susceptibility to mental illness is part of the human condition – no one is immune.”We must stop being judgmental about people with mental illness. Mental illnesses are real illnesses, just like cancer, diabetes or arthritis.”