Conclusion
If the stigma around mental illness worsens, things for people with a mental health problem get harder. Worsening stigma means friends and family are more likely to avoid people with mental health problems, leading to increased social exclusion and isolation. Increased public stigma – as measured by the Attitudes to Mental Illness survey – is closely related to self-stigma, or feelings of shame. These feelings of shame can in turn lead to people feeling unworthy of getting the treatment they deserve, or of turning away from social interactions.
Report contents
- Foreword
- Introduction
- Background
- Results
- Discussion
- Conclusion
- Glossary
As the Scottish Mental Illness Stigma Study found, experiences of discrimination and unfair treatment can lead to increased anticipated discrimination and further withdrawal on the part of people with mental health problems.[12] In other words, the results reported here can have serious real world consequences.
At Mind, we believe no-one should be treated unfairly because of a mental health problem. We are concerned that key measures of the stigma around mental health look like they are starting to move in the wrong direction in England. We are continuing to deliver Time to Change Wales, which focuses on people facing poverty and from racialised communities.
What can be done?
The new UK government must act to address the growing mental health crisis
We are calling on the new UK government to take seriously our finding that stigma in England is at risk of worsening. We believe stigma is foundational to any improvements in the nation’s mental health; replacing stigma with respect is a precursor to wider changes. If mental health problems are a source of ignorance, prejudice, discrimination, and shame, then we will not have the investment in our mental healthcare system – or the service uptake – that we need to be a mentally healthy nation. And the voices of people with lived experience must be central to any discussion of the lived reality of stigma and how we should move away from stigma to being a mentally healthy nation.
We’ll continue to fight for support and respect
For our own part, through our network of over 100 local Minds, we will continue to deliver a wide range of anti-stigma interventions in communities across England and Wales. In Wales we are in the final year of funding for Time to Change Wales so we will be using the experience in England and the findings from the attitudes survey in Wales to make a case for continued funding. The mental health strategy provides an opportunity to continue to place stigma at the centre of the political and public debate around mental health, which will enable Mind Cymru to continue to have a platform to drive improvements.
In responding to these findings we have also refreshed our Media Advisory Service. Mind’s Media Advisory Service supports producers, researchers, programme makers and actors on how to depict mental health accurately and responsibly whether that’s in dramas or on factual programmes and documentaries. We put those with lived experience in touch with the actors playing them. We run workshops. We advise on what a mental health problem really feels like from the point of view of those of us who manage them every day.
We will continue to provide information on mental health to combat stigma. We hear from our supporters, campaigners, and members that they are determined to tackle mental health stigma and discrimination. We are too. We hope this research reignites the conversation around mental health stigma in England.
Notes
[12] See Ewens et al (2022), The Scottish Mental Illness Stigma Study: Final Report, The Mental Health Foundation and See Me