Media coverage of mental illness is biased and melodramatic. There are far fewer articles in the press about mental than physical illness, and they are much more likely to be negative.[1,2] Things are just as bad on social media like You Tube, but may be slightly better on Twitter.[3,4] Whilst … Continue reading
If we had a clear idea about the causes of people stigmatising mental illness then it would probably help us to do something about it, and perhaps reduce prejudice and discrimination. Unfortunately, it is not that simple.
The many causes of stigma
Notions that people with mental illness are sometimes … Continue reading
People with a mental illness die on average about 10-15 years earlier than people without one. The evidence is probably strongest, as it often is, for schizophrenia – because that condition tends to get the most research funding. Ten years ago, Hennekens and colleagues showed that people with schizophrenia had … Continue reading
Mental illness and those who suffer from it and even those that treat it are stigmatised.
The ideas challenged in previous blogs – that mental illness does not exist [1], is trivial [2], that treatments don’t work [3], that people with mental illness are somehow to blame for their problems … Continue reading
‘Covering it up’ is a far bigger problem than ‘making it up’…
It is still all too common to see reports or hear suggestions that people with mental illness are not trying hard enough to help themselves, give up too easily etc. etc.
It should go without saying that mental … Continue reading
The tragic deaths of all 150 people on board the Germanwings flight that the 27 year old co-pilot apparently flew into the Alps last Tuesday (17.03.2015) has brought the relationship between mental illness and violence to the fore again. The association has long exercised the public imagination, intermittently reinforced by … Continue reading