Welcome to Mind's blog
Each week we'll be posting items on a whole range of topics relating in some way to mental health. We hope to stimulate debate and get you thinking about mental health and Mind's work in a new way.
We welcome comments and questions on our posts, but have a few ground rules to keep the site welcoming and interesting to every body. The first rule is the most important: be respectful of other commenters and bloggers. Read the rest of our comments policy.
Please note that some blog posts may not reflect official Mind policy.
Mental health in the media:
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5 March 2010
"Mental Health, It's Everyone's Business"Submit entries for Mind Journalist of the Year 2010
Almost a year ago, I rocked up at the Royal Institute of British Architects for the Mind awards with my colleague Kerry Grove. As local journalists working in a particularly unglamorous part of Sutton, it would be fair to say it's not hard to impress us. Usually we regard it as a bit of a treat to pop to the greasy spoon over the road for a bacon sandwich - or on an extra special occasion, we'll splash out on a Sainsbury's sandwich.
So it was a bit of a surprise to be greeted by a sweeping staircase, concert pianist and about 300 very well turned-out people. Even more amazing was that we won Mind Journalist of the Year against all the brilliant national journalists there that night. The event unfolded like some strange dream - from the moment I heard my name called to the late hour I called my family with the news.
I can't begin to say how much of a boost that night gave me and my colleagues in our office. In a year where local journalism had been ravaged to its bare bones by the recession, that award made me dare to hope that journalism did still matter - that it was worth fighting for.
The award was in recognition of articles written for our newsgroup's campaign, "Mental Health, It's Everyone's Business". We published fortnightly features which aimed to destroy the myths surrounding mental illness, something we learnt much from ourselves. The articles explored a range of illnesses including body dysmorphic disorder, schizophrenia and post-traumatic stress disorder. Through interviews with experts and case studies, we were able to create concise, fact-based articles which we felt raised awareness of mental illness while showing the local community where they could go to for help.
One year on, so much has changed. I'm now a senior reporter and health correspondent at the Wandsworth Guardian, and I've been working on some really exciting side projects too. We still go to the greasy spoon, but now we're indulging in the Sainsbury's splashes more regularly.
Our campaign is finished, but we're keeping the spirit alive. These days, I'm finding more and more people in the community coming to us with their mental health stories - people who perhaps would have been too scared to approach us before. It's meant those people now have a voice, and we've been able to hold local services to account more effectively.
I jumped at the chance to write about mental health because it had always frustrated me how little I myself had known about it as a youngster. Several people I cared about developed a mental illness, and yet no-one realised until it was very advanced because they didn't recognise the symptoms.
Just ten years later I've noticed such a huge difference in awareness about mental health - and that's partially down to all the amazing journalism which has appeared in that time. I'm very much looking forward to being on the judging panel for the next Mind awards and reading all the fantastic articles submitted this year.
If you're a journalist, why not submit your work, or the work of another journalist, for entry into this year's awards? And if you're a member of the public, let us know if there's an article that you think represents excellence in the coverage of mental health issues.
Eleanor Harding
1 Comment -
1 March 2010
Mental illness and violenceBy Marion Janner, founder of the Star Wards campaign
Note: this post was written before the transmission of the Why Did You Kill My Dad? documentary.
This is a very difficult blog to write, stimulated by the programme on BBC2 tonight, Why Did You Kill My Dad? (follow the link to watch it on BBC iPlayer).
Firstly there’s the unusual problem of it being inappropriate this time to rabbit on about my dog, Buddy. The issue is inescapably complex, fraught, widely debated and relatively well-researched. Balance is crucial, and this blog post's contribution will probably be through irritating or infuriating people with highly diverse opinions, equally.
Some might think that it’s not very balanced to comment on a programme I haven’t seen. Very Mary Whitehouse (for those of us old enough to remember the excitement of electric typewriters being invented.) But I’ve read a long and multiply-upsetting article in the Daily Mail by the film-maker, Julian Hendy, about his father’s killing; an understandably highly emotive, provoked and provocative piece, so I’ve got a rough idea of what’s to be unleashed.
Before even getting to looking at anything substantial, there’s the language hurdle. Referring to people as ‘service-users’ is generally OK, but in the context of mentally ill people killing ourselves or others, it’s ridiculous.
As Paul Farmer says in Mind’s press release: “The common thread in all the cases in this programme is the failure of mental health services and other agencies to work together to engage people who have complex multiple needs…”. Because Paul covers the most important factors around safety so well, I won’t duplicate these within the three aspects the blog covers: substance abuse, stigma and sense of self. (So nothing about sun, sea or sausages.)
Research in 2009 about the relationship between schizophrenia and violence revealed that it was the additional element of substance abuse which was the primary factor. Why then is this crucial aspect so under-represented not just in media accounts but also within the mental health field? (Interestingly, the newspaper article by Julian Hendy did say that the mentally ill man had a history of excessive use of drink and drugs.)
Statements about ‘the media’ are almost as problematic as those about ‘the mentally ill’ or ‘the Middle East’. The Daily Mail is not The Guardian, blogs are not the BBC. (Er, unless they’re the BBC’s blogs.)
How ‘balanced’ is it reasonable to expect different media sources to be? Is there a difference between the responsibility within a short news piece and a lengthy article in a colour supplement? Should journalists and broadcasters be conscious of the stigmatising impact of concentrating mainly or exclusively on the exceptional? Or is putting each story into its own immediate context without sensationalist language and images sufficiently professional and ethical?
And what degree of responsibility, if any, do those of us with mental illness have in challenging stigma? It’s hard enough just getting through each day, trying to access the services we need and cope with medication side-effects we don’t need. (Oh. And bringing up our kids, earning a living, trying to get our dogs to eat out of a bowl rather than insisting on being hand-fed. She’s such a scamp, that Buddy.)
There’s an interesting issue with anti-stigma campaigns arguably over-looking or denying the legitimacy of concerns about the behaviour of mentally ill people. Many of us who spend time on inpatient wards talk about how unnerving it can be when those around us (and we ourselves) are behaving in a highly ‘unconventional’ or unpredictable way. These extremes of behaviour don’t switch on when we’re admitted and off when we’re discharged so there are plenty of times when people see us in a disturbed and disturbing state.
Perhaps there’s a parallel between the disproportionate, stigmatising effect of the media concentrating on the exceptional and newsworthy, and anti-stigma campaigns avoiding the painful reality that mental illness is often characterised by some of us being irrational and behaving in ways which seem or are highly risky?
A fundamental marketing rule is to start where your ‘consumers’ are. This applies at least as much to ‘social marketing’ campaigns. So if the majority of people you’re hoping to persuade have a particular view (eg mentally ill people are worryingly unpredictable), however unreasonable this may feel, it’s essential to recognise and address it in all its complexity.
Explaining that mental illness is very common and that only a tiny minority of us are dangerous is analogous to telling smokers that cigarettes could kill us. That’s certainly true, but health promotion has moved way beyond that in recognising the complexities and individualities of people’s addiction.
Finally, how do programmes like tonight’s affect our sense of self? I’ve absolutely no idea because there’s four hours to go until it’s inflicted on me. But I’ve seen similar programmes and, beyond the obvious about the gut-wrenching tragedy for the individuals left bereaved, they make me feel a bunch of very painful things about my own illness and about me.
My naughty internal twins, Guilt and Inadequacy, usually start dominating, and their companions Despair, Distress and Frustration tend to soon join in. It’s shame by association, helplessness by overwhelm.
I do have murderous compulsions but because of my particular illness, borderline personality disorder, I am fortunate that it is entirely self-directed. People with gentler conditions (and of course others with BPD), will between them have the full array of responses but it’s very hard not to internalise the stigma that the whole ‘mental patients are violent’ imposes.
Perhaps the programme will turn out to have at least elements which are both factual and constructive.
Marion Janner
Why Did You Kill My Dad? was shown on BBC2 at 9pm, Monday 1 March. You can watch it on BBC iPlayer.
22 Comments -
29 January 2010
I'll be there for youObviously I am always fully professional and look at the number of comments on Mind’s blogs from various contributors as a sign of what interests people and not as a popularity contest. Yeah right! After careful consideration, I am just going to review the antics of cute cats.
Why should it matter? Why do we need to know how many followers we - or others - have on Twitter or friends on Facebook?
A BBC article informs us that the average number of friends is 150 and that the ideal number of close friends is between six and 12. Your popularity at school is positively linked to your wage level in later life – excepting, perhaps, those people who are unpopular at school and then go on to pen/produce high school misfit movies. To add to the pressure there is now the necessity of having the right number of friends on Facebook (it’s 302) to have the most appeal to others.
It is widely accepted that having social support networks can reduce your likelihood of developing mental health problems or help promote recovery when you do experience mental distress. So stop taking the time to count and start taking the time to follow the advice of Raymond Tallis and cherish those precious friendships.
Bridget O'Connell, Head of Information
6 Comments -
19 January 2010
Mental health stigma alive and well and on the airwavesThe news that Manchester radio DJ Steve Penk played the Van Halen song ‘Jump’ for motorists delayed by a road closure when a woman attempted to take her own life from a bridge, is a stark reminder of the distance we still have to go to tackle mental health discrimination.
Apparently the request for the song came from local motorists inconvenienced by the closures, which the Revolution DJ honoured moments before she jumped. Although he is in no way to blame for what happened, few people would argue that his actions weren't in incredibly poor taste.
He has since stood by his decision saying "I don't regret playing it for a minute" and that he empathised with the inconvenienced drivers. It is a sad state of affairs when as a society we start to view someone else’s tragedy as a personal inconvenience. Surely if the frustrated motorists stopped to think that this was a human life at stake, someone's daughter or friend, they would not be so flippant. Anyone who has ever lost a loved one to suicide will know how terrible the affects are for family and friends.
Over 100 people a week take their own life in the UK. The fear of stigma means that many people experiencing mental distress feel unable to speak to loved ones and as a consequence they suffer in silence. I only hope that the publicity surrounding this event might make the public question their own understanding of mental health issues. In the 21st century, is it too much to ask that we show compassion and understanding for people who are in the depths of despair?
Mind and the Samaritans will be complaining to Ofcom about the show, and we urge you to lodge your own complaint. Please include the following information about the programme:Name of the show: Steve Penk at Breakfast
Radio station: 96.2FM Revolution Radio
Transmission date: Thursday 14 January 2010Please note that the Ofcom site wil not find any information for Revolution Radio. To make your complaint, just select "Continue" below the message that you get about this, and then on the next screen select "I saw/heard the programme".
Alison Kerry, Head of Media
17 Comments -
11 January 2010
Let's blogA guest post by Zarathustra of the Mental Nurse blog.
It's not always easy for mental health professionals and patients to have an open and honest conversation with each other. In my own field, mental health nursing, we're often at the sharp end of the more coercive aspects of psychiatry - compulsory detention, restraint, rapid tranquilisation and so on. Such things may at times be an unpleasant necessity, but they inevitably put up barriers between staff and patient. Even in settings where there's no coercion at all - say, a CPN meeting with a patient on a community visit - there's still the structure of professional and patient, with all that entails in terms of boundaries, power hierarchies and so on.
So, where can all those involved in mental health meet as true equals to exchange banter, stories and the odd uncomfortable truth? I'd say one answer lies in blogging.
On my blog, Mental Nurse, we're keen to recognise the power of blogging as a way for people involved in mental health to tell their stories and debate with each other. That's why we host a weekly
round-up of the best in mental health blogs. On New Year's Day we hosted our own awards ceremony, recognising some of the writing talent that has impressed us and our readership over the past year.
Among the mental health blogs, one of the most popular is Seaneen Molloy's Mentally Interesting: The Secret Life of a Manic Depressive, recently adapted into an award-winning Radio 4 play Dos and Don'ts for the Mentally Interesting. Blogs like Seaneen's give the human story behind what it's like to live with a mental illness. Not just the experience of the mental illness itself (say, the experience of depression, or a mixed episode), but all the associated hassles and problems as well - the tussles with the benefits system, the side-effects of psychiatric medication, and so on.Sometimes these blogs give stark illustrations of the failings of mental health services. Mad Sad Girl's description of her time on an acute ward makes for grim reading, showing how frightening it can be to be admitted to such wards, and how physical healthcare for patients can be sorely lacking
For those looking for accounts of specific conditions, I can recommend Marine Snow and Obsessively Compulsively Yours for first-person depictions of anorexia nervosa and obsessive-compulsive disorder respectively. Borderline personality disorder is particularly well-represented in the blogosphere; Genius Gone Wrong, Becoming Hannah, Writing in the Margins of My Mind and Confessions of a Serial Insomniac all give insightful chronicles of living with that most-unfairly maligned of conditions.
As well as patients, there are a number of good quality blogs written by professionals. I can recommend Fighting Monsters and The Masked AMHP, both written by social workers, as well as Frontier Psychiatrist.
There's also some blog written by a bunch of mental health nurses, but I wouldn't bother with that one.
There's a third set of stories to add into the mix, and that's of carers. Schizophrenia - A Carer's Journal relates the fears and frustrations of a father with a son in a forensic secure unit. The Wife of a Schizophrenic is sadly currently inactive, but her back catalogue of posts is still worth reading.
The posts and comments threads of blogs provide one of those very few places where mental health professionals, patients and carers can engage with each other on a genuinely level playing field. I think that's an opportunity we should take. If you're new to the blogosphere, then the above recommendations are a good place to start.And if you don't like any of these blogs, then why not start your own?
Zarathustra, Mental Nurse
8 Comments -
8 January 2010
Can books help beat the blues?Harper Lee has Scout say it best in To Kill a Mockingbird: “Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.”
People can turn to books for comfort or to match their moods. As noted in the news, Marian Keyes has told her fans via her website that she is experiencing a depressive episode. The post has a number of quotes, some from other authors that show a profound understanding of dark, low moods. A. A. Milne’s donkey Eeyore gets a mention, as might be expected. I think that this Eeyore quote captures it well:
"Good morning, Pooh Bear," said Eeyore gloomily.
"If it is a good morning," he said.
"Which I doubt," said he.
"Why, what's the matter?"
"Nothing, Pooh Bear, nothing. We can't all, and some of us don't. That's all there is to it."
"Can't all what?" said Pooh, rubbing his nose.
"Gaiety. Song-and-dance. Here we go round the mulberry bush."Notable on Ms Keyes’ site is the tremendous support from her fans, also demonstrating that she is not alone in her feelings. TashiK writes “Your books are the one thing that helps me through my bad day. I wish I could do the same for you.”
If only Ms Keyes could use her own books for bibliotherapy as others have done. Diane Shipley, who has declared her appreciation of Keyes’ work, gives advice on what and how to read when depressed. There’s even a website recommending books to read when you’re depressed.
A number of Primary Care Trusts have recognised the power of the written word and offer books on prescription. The NHS site says that reading books about various conditions “can bring many of the benefits of conventional medication without the potential side-effects associated with drugs.”
Here’s hoping that the power of books can help move those mired in depression forwards towards a lighter, brighter place. Again, Eeyore helps us put it all into perspective:
"It's snowing still," said Eeyore gloomily.
"So it is."
"And freezing."
"Is it?"
"Yes," said Eeyore. "However," he said, brightening up a little, "we haven't had an earthquake lately."Bridget O'Connell, Head of Information
4 Comments -
27 November 2009
Marcus Trescothick: a sackful of sporting trophies won't beat off depression
As a person who has experienced mental health problems, I know how vital it is for people to understand that they are not alone when depression.I hope the interviews with Frank Bruno, New Zealand All Black John Kirwan, snooker star Ronnie O'Sullivan, footballer Neil Lennon and others on the BBC Inside Sport's Mind Games documentary will serve to show that the illness can strike even those at the top of their game.
As I have said before depression is an illness not a weakness and you cannot beat it off with a CV or a bank balance... or a sackful of sporting trophies.
From a personal perspective, my own part in the programme, based on the video diary I kept while touring India with Somerset, made interesting viewing for me. In the end I had to come home early but the fact I made it out there in the first place was a big step forward.
Marcus Trescothick
You can watch Mind Games: Depression in Sport on BBC iPlayer until 11.29pm on Wednesday 2 December.
Katie Prior of Mind's media team writes:
Marcus Trescothick's candour in speaking out about his experiences on the Mind Games documentary deserves praise. He first ‘came out’ in his widely acclaimed autobiography that gave valuable insight into the experience of depression, leading it to be shortlisted for Mind’s Book of the Year Award 2009.
It's this sort of honesty from public figures about their experience of mental health problems that can help lesson the stigma that contributed to German goalkeeper Robert Enke's death.
Former New Zealand All Black John Kirwan mentioned in the BBC programme that somebody came up to him following his involvement in a mental health awareness campaign to tell him that he had saved their life. That was just one person, out of the many who would have been touched by the experiences he shared, leading him to believe that his involvement with the campaign was “probably more rewarding than playing for the All Blacks”.
Away from the sports field, there was an interview with Fern Britten in today's Times. She rightly spoke without an ounce of shame about her depression. As she so matter of factly said, ‘for me, it’s like being a diabetic’.This is exactly what people need to hear, that everyone has mental health as everyone has physical health. Depression and other mental health problems are no different to having influenza, cancer or a sore knee.
Start the discussion -
19 November 2009
'Keeping schtum' about mental health problemsFollowing the tragic death of German footballer Robert Enke, the difficulties people feel about being open about their mental health experience has made international headlines.
Enke's death has prompted a wave of public sympathy. Strangely, Monday's Financial Times Deutschland article 'The Perils of Revealing Your Illness at Work' doesn't refer to Enke, but it does remind us of the terrible bind so many people find themselves in: be open and risk your job, or stay quiet and risk your health.
The article's author, Lucy Kellaway, claims that it's best to keep quiet about mental health in the workplace. "The truth is that given our ignorance and squeamishness about mental health, it is probably better to shut up about it," she says.
She seems less concerned that 'keeping schtum' about mental health problems can contribute to perpetuating stigma, and in Robert Enke's case, can lead to people feeling they can't continue.The article also takes a swipe at two well known faces of the Time to Change campaign, Stephen Fry and Alastair Campbell, suggesting that their public positions mean that disclosures about their own mental health 'don't count'.
On the contrary, it is their candour that has already helped bring mental health, and the stigma surrounding it, to the forefront of public attention. Every person who is open about their experiences should be applauded, as greater openness about the issue is what we need to break down the stigma that destroys lives.
However, Kellaway is right that admitting to mental health problems at work can be very frightening, and it's often a difficult choice for people to make. Recent research for the Time to Change campaign revealed that 92 per cent of the British public believes admitting to having a mental illness would damage someone's career.
Thankfully, developments in the law are making it less difficult to fight unfair treatment, and more organisations have positive policies on disability and equality at work.
No one should have to choose between their life and their livelihood.
Julia Lamb, Media Team
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12 November 2009
Alastair Campbell: May Robert Enke's death increase understanding of depression
I'm in Austria to make a speech and speak to government communications specialists. The news is wall to wall coverage of the dreadful suicide of top footballer Robert Enke, who had fought depression for years. I have no idea what channel I am watching but there is a calm and dignity to the coverage which adds profoundly to the sense of loss clearly felt right across Germany.
Most moving of all a remarkable interview with his widow Teresa, speaking of how she always tried to be there for him, and aways lived in hope that he would one day be free of his illness.
Politicians from Angela Merkel down are expressing their and their nation's grief. Footballers and coaches are doing the same, many saying they had no idea that the Hannover goalkeeper was ill, let alone liable to take his life.
When news coverage gives way to pictures, set to music, of candles being lit and memorabilia being laid outside the Hannover stadium, and slow motion shots of Enke in action, you almost sense the makings of a Diana moment for Germany.
It is certainly incredibly sad and nobody will ever know what was really going on inside his mind as finally he decided to end his life.
But the only hope to be found in this horrible event is the hope of greater understanding of a disease which is still surrounded by too much stigma and taboo.Alastair Campbell is Mind Champion of the Year. This post was originally published on his personal blog.
Start the discussion -
12 November 2009
German goalkeeper's suicide highlights mental health stigmaAs a long suffering Reading FC fan, and a keen supporter of England, the ups and downs of football are a big part of my life.
So this week's news of the suicide of Germany's goalkeeper Robert Enke is desperately sad for his family and friends, and for football supporters everywhere. Here was a player at the top of his sport who took his own life. Why?
Perhaps the words of his courageous widow give us a clue - "he was fearful he would lose Leila." Enke was depressed and desperately anxious about the consequences of his depression. He feared for his livelihood but most of all he feared that he would lose his adopted daughter. He said that he had deliberately not talked about his mental state.
Sadly, he's not alone. Time to Change, the national campaign to end the discrimination faced by people with mental health problems, found that many people fear disclosing their mental distress to employers, to authorities, even to friends and family. The fear of stigma can in turn lead to a greater sense of isolation and despair. In some tragic circumstances that in turn can lead to people choosing to take their own lives. Over 5,400 people in the UK take their lives every year.
But maybe from this tragedy of Robert Enke's suicide, some good will come. The media coverage of this has been sensitive and fair. Messageboards like the BBC's 606, where fans are not afraid to say what they think, has been sympathetic and concerned - it feels like the football community has united in its compassion for one of our own.
Perhaps the most important message has come from those who have said that it should be unacceptable that people feel they have to hide their poor mental health from others, that we as a society should be more supportive of people and bury the stigma once and for all.
For anyone out there who may be suffering in silence, Mind can help, so please get in touch with MindinfoLine on 0845 766 0163.
Paul Farmer, Chief Executive
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30 September 2009
Is this discrimination of the first order?On the second part of Mind's journey to Party Conferences, we landed in Brighton for the Labour Conference. The question on our minds was simple - can Labour achieve a joined up approach for mental health - however everyone else wanted to talk about Andrew Marr's quizzing of Gordon Brown about his health and whether he was taking "pills to help him get through".
Marr put the question to the PM after a number of bloggers had speculated that as Gordon Brown restricts chianti and cheese from his diet he may be taking MAOIs, an outdated category of antidepressant. The PM denied taking any pills and focussed on policy. End of story? Not quite, as the interpretation of the issue raged around the Conference floor.
I was amazed by this. There are almost 36 million prescriptions for antidepressants in the UK, so by definition thousands go about their daily work while on antidepressants.Winston Churchill, voted the "greatest Briton" in a national poll, struggled with his "black dog" of depression for years (for more on this, see the Time to Change campaign's A World Without report). And former Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik took a sabbatical to recover from his mental health problem and then went on to win re-election. Why should this be such a big deal?
We still want our politicians to be strong and superhuman. Yet it's a stressful job. We found that 1 in 5 MPs had experience of mental distress, but very few have talked about this openly. There is still stigma on this issue, and this is something the Time to Change campaign is tackling.
Our mission at the conference was to encourage Ministers and their departments to fully engage with the Department of Health's New Horizons consultation, which I urge you to comment on.
At first the signs were not good. Many MPs we spoke to were unaware of New Horizons. But as we discussed this with Ministers in the Department of Work and Pensions, the Ministry of Justice, Department of Communities and Local Government and elsewhere, it became clear that mental health policy already goes way beyond the Department of Health and mental health services. Now there's a chance for the government to follow a more joined up approach, with departments working together to create a clear sense of purpose for putting mental health at the heart of society.
As we head towards an election, we'll carry on pushing for a better chance for all.
Paul Farmer, Chief Executive
4 Comments