Attitudes To Mental Health Remain Broadly Sympathetic, Department Of Health, UK

Main Category: Mental Health
Article Date: 09 May 2008 - 1:00 PDT

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Public attitudes in England towards people with mental health problems remain broadly sympathetic, according to a new survey by the Department of Health.

The public is generally understanding of people with mental health problems, with 85% thinking they deserve our sympathy and more than 8 out of 10 saying society needs to be more tolerant towards them.

A number of attitudes that worsened during the nineties have since started to improve:

- 10% fewer agreed that it is frightening to think of people with mental health problems living in residential neighbourhoods compared with 1999

- The percentage agreeing that locating mental health facilities in a residential area downgrades the area has fallen from 29% in 1997 to 20%

- 5% fewer agreed that a person should be hospitalised as soon as they shows signs of mental disturbance compared with 1997

There are also some signs that fears about coming into contact with psychiatric patients, which worsened during the nineties, have started to lessen again.

About one in six people feel frightened thinking of people with mental health problems living in residential neighbourhoods, having dropped back to the same level as in 1994 after peaking at one in four in 1997.

Health Minister Ivan Lewis said:

"Most people hold reasonable views about mental illness. But the attitudes of a stubborn minority reflect enduring prejudices that should not be acceptable in today's society.

"People simply should not be discriminated against just because they have a mental health problem, any more than they should on grounds of race, sexual orientation, gender or physical disability.

"The reality is that many of us - or someone we care for - are bound to be affected by mental health problems at some point. But there remains a climate of fear and rejection that can prevent people from seeking the help they need. As a Government, we are committed to breaking down these barriers."

The survey also showed that since 1994, a number of attitudes have worsened:

- 9% fewer respondents favoured a more tolerant attitude in society towards people with mental illness
- 7% fewer respondents thought that those with mental health problems were deserving of sympathy
- 57% agreed those with mental health problems are "far less of a danger than most people supposed", a drop of 5%.

Shift, a Department of Health-funded campaign, is working to reduce the stigma and discrimination associated with mental illness by encouraging the media to improve its coverage of mental health issues and helping employers to recruit and retain people with mental health problems.

1. Further survey findings:

- 59% agreed residents have nothing to fear from people coming into their neighbourhood to obtain mental health services, an increase of 3% compared to 1997.

- Only two attitudes have changed significantly since last year, both an improvement - more think people with mental illness have been subject to ridicule for too long and less think it is easy to tell them from 'normal people'.

- Most also seem to remain supportive of the integration of people with mental illness into the community. More than 7 out of 10 still agree that no-one has the right to exclude people with mental illness from their neighbourhood and that mental health services should be largely community-based - attitudes that have not changed since 1994.

- Attitudes about people with mental health problems having responsibilities seem to have changed very little. But only a fifth - a drop of 8% compared to 1994 - thought they should be excluded from public office, compared with a third in 1997. About two-thirds thought people should have the same rights to a job as anyone else.

- Awareness of how commonplace mental health problems are remains poor. When asked to estimate the proportion of people who may have a mental health problem at some point in their life, 60% underestimated and only 14% gave the correct answer, 1 in 4.

2. About Shift:

Shift is working with Moving People, an £18m four-year charity sector led anti-stigma and well-being campaign, which launches in October this year.

Shift is part of a comprehensive ten-year government strategy on mental health to:

-- Improve the quality of care
-- Provide quicker access to appropriate services nearer people's homes
-- Increase choice in where and how patients access services
-- Provide the long-term support that some need to become independent after treatment
-- Reduce the risk that a small number of patients pose to themselves and others

Shift, launched in 2004 as a five-year programme to tackle the stigma and discrimination associated with mental illness, has now been extended to run until 2011. This will enable Shift, which has £600,000-a-year funding, to work alongside Moving People, an £18m four-year charity sector led anti-stigma and well-being campaign, funded by the Big Lottery and Comic Relief, which launches in October this year. http://www.dh.gov.uk