We were part of a key coalition of organisations that reshaped mental health policy in the UK in the form of the Mental Health Bill 2007. We campaigned for a code of conduct, which involved, for example, expanding the guidelines for doctors and social workers with regards to sectioning someone. We wrote a great deal of the code of conduct, which has now been passed into legislation.
We’re continuing to lobby hard on this issue, working with the Mental Health Alliance to ensure that any new legislation respects human rights and takes into account the views of the most important people - those with experience of mental health problems. Our priority campaign this year focuses on reducing the stigma of mental health, as outlined below.
There’s a huge lack of knowledge about and misinformation surrounding mental health issues. Many people do not believe they are a legitimate illness, or believe that people with these problems are ‘just crazy’. The media perpetuates the stigma by exaggerating the role of mental health in the reporting of violent crimes.
Stigma
Reducing stigma is essential, as it can in itself worsen an existing mental health problem. If you fear stigma, you’re less likely to seek help from family members or from organisations, as you believe this will make people question your ability and competence. If you’re depressed, you may believe you are ‘going mad,’ and this can cause you to slip further into depression. This is known as a negative feedback cycle.
This year we’re working with other agencies to promote awareness of mental health issues. We’re planning to release a DVD, which we hope will help to change people’s views. It will also promote the help that’s available, so people realise there is someone they can talk to. In addition, we’ll be developing guidelines for students’ unions on how to deal with mental health issues and looking at ways of tackling how the media reports suicides and crimes linked to mental health.
Concerns
We’ve also previously raised concerns over the fitness to practice review, a set of guidelines established by universities and professional bodies. We considered that they laid down unreasonable criteria for prospective students of social work or nursing.
To date we’ve managed to secure a set of fit to practice guidelines for social work that focus on the safety aspect of the course, rather than on a specific disability, however, it’s proved harder to change the guidelines for medicine. At the moment institutions are free to ask their own questions, whether they’re fair or not. We’re calling for strict guidelines to be set down on the equality and standards of the questions that institutions can ask applicants to study medicine.
How you can get involved
- You can help challenge the discrimination and stigma of mental health by calling for student mental health to be a priority in your educational institution. See your students’ union’s disabled students’ officer for more information on this
- You could arrange for speakers from different communities and cultures to talk about their own experiences of mental health. This will promote diverse involvement around mental health issues
- You could hold an awareness day with your lecturers and academic staff to tackle the misinformation surrounding mental health
- We’ll keep you updated on all campaigning initiatives where we want students to get involved, whether by writing to your MP or lobbying parliament.
Links
Mental Health Foundation
SANE
Samaritans
MIND
Rethink
Depression Alliance
Eating Disorders Association (EDA)