Do you think it’s ‘bad’ to have a mental health problem? Institute of psychiatry research

When nearly 500 secondary school
students were asked to describe people
with mental health problems, they came
up with 270 different words and phrases –
most of them derogatory. ‘Nutter’, ‘loony’,
‘mental’, ‘psycho’, ‘retard’ are used as
insults in the playground every day – and
perpetuate discrimination and prejudice
against the one in every four people who
has a mental health problem.
If your peers think it’s bad to be
a ‘loony’, then it’s much harder to
tell anyone or seek help if you’ve got
a problem. And the stigma of being
mentally ill can impact on everyday
life: research has shown that people
with mental health problems are
pre-judged, find it hard to get jobs
and be accepted as ‘normal’.
Research has also shown that
ignorance, fear and stereotypes
presented in the newspapers, on
the TV and at the cinema all help
shape attitudes towards mental
health. ‘People with mental health
problems are difficult to talk to’…
‘are likely to be violent’… ‘are weak’
… ‘are unpredictable’ are commonly
held – but incorrect – views.
So does finding out the facts
behind the sensational headlines
and talking to real people with
mental health problems help
change public perception?
The answer is yes, according
to Graham Thornicroft, Professor
of Community Psychiatry, who was
involved in research to find out if
telling groups of 14 and 15-yearolds
the facts about mental health
would shift their perspective. The
research project was carried out
jointly with Rethink, the national
charity previously known as the
National Schizophrenia Fellowship.
472 Year 10 pupils at five different
schools in Kent each went to two
50-minute workshops about mental
health problems presented within
their PSHE (Personal Social Health
and Education) classes. Researchers
tested their knowledge and attitudes
before and after by asking them to
fill in questionnaires.
The results indicate that
making education about mental
health a routine part of the PSHE
curriculum did make a difference:
the questionnaires completed after
the second workshop revealed positive
and significant changes in attitudes,
particularly amongst girls.
The sessions in schools were
presented by members of the Mid-Kent
Mental Health Awareness Group,
made up of people with mental
health problems and people working
in mental health services. They were
part of a Mental Health Awareness
in Action programme in Kent which
also included experimental sessions
with adults who work with users of
mental health services – housing
officers, Citizen Advice Bureaux
volunteers, school nurses, for example –
and the police. The team that analysed
the success of the programme included
IoP researchers, who were co-ordinated
by Dr Vanessa Pinfold.
Adults said the testimonies of
people with mental health problems
made a big impact on them – that
listening to personal stories helped
them challenge their preconceptions.
‘This supports one of the strongest
findings in all our research,’ says
Professor Thornicroft, ‘namely that
it is personal contact with people
with mental illness that has the most
potent impact in reducing stigma.’
Many of the
200-plus Kent
police officers who
joined two two-hour
workshops also said
that what they heard
helped them better
perform their duties
afterwards. As well as
trying to break down
the myths about
mental health, these
workshops set out to
give police officers the
confidence to support
people with mental
health problems, not
to assume that everyone is violent
and to treat people with respect.
‘We need to tackle the widespread
ignorance about mental illness,’ says
Professor Thornicroft, ‘rebut negative
attitudes and prejudice and make
discrimination towards people with
mental illness culturally and legally
unacceptable.’