Unofficial Christ's Hospital Forum

Actually music is probably my favourite subject, but mental health comes a close second!

I have 4 children at school and so am a little clued up on the state system and education in general. But... I am bemused, I fully support sexual health being on the curriculum (as long as it has moved on from Dr Matthews and his slide show!) as a preventative measure, I support multi-cultural studies as a combat to racism... but why oh why, when so many people suffer from mental distress and then experience stigma and discrimination because of their mental health, is it NOT taught in schools?

If we want to reduce mental distress and reduce stigma in this country then we must educate and inform, positive mental health promotion is key. It is perfectly acceptable to call someone a looney, nutter or psycho; these and other derogatory terms are all too frequently used in the press. On the day that someone was expelled from the Big Brother house for using a racist word, the word nutter was used 5 times.

The stigmatism associated with AIDS has drastically reduced in the last 5 years, racism has been reduced, why can't we work the same magic on mental health?

How do we get mental health on the curriculum to reduce ignorance and fear and improve the well-being of the population? Should we?

Any thoughts?



Rant over.

I must admit although my brother (and his wife) both work in mental health, and my father husband and son have all had problems, and I have been aware of it through my own career (midwife) I have not thought of it in the same way as you clearly have.

When I was young 'spastic' was used a lot, and this is now not used, well not in my hearing anyway, so I agree with you about psycho, nuttter etc.

gingerbeard wrote:The stigmatism associated with AIDS has drastically reduced in the last 5 years, racism has been reduced, why can't we work the same magic on mental health?

Because it is a sign of weakness and failure and is perpetuated by the 'affluent' society we live in. In fact the economy depends on poor mental health as it can medicate in the form of shopping, alcohol, drugs, sex and celebrity.

In the same way a body can become ill and not work properly so can a mind. Part of the mental illness stigma problem in my view is that the media focus on the extreme schizophrenic cases like Christopher Clunis where innocent victims die at the hands of the mentally ill.

It is therefore easy to fall into the trap of thinking such cases encompass all mental illness rather than form one small part of it. It's like saying, for example, cancer is physical illness. You ignore heart disease, diabetes, arthritis and an infinite host of other complaints and conditions.

There should be more education about specific mental illnesses rather than use of the blanket term "mental illness." From my limited knowledge schizophrenia and depression are as different as cancer and the common cold yet that doesn't seem particularly well publicised.

The power of the mind is lauded and acknowledged when something good happens. A topical example being the achievement of the England Rugby Team reaching the final. A change of mental attitude and approach has played a large part in transforming a shower who lost 36-0 a month or so ago into the form team of the tournament. They may still lose on Saturday but it won't be by 36 points.

To attempt an answer to your question if examples (such as the one above) are given about the positive power of the mind then accepting that minds, like bodies, can get illnesses may not be such a seismic concept.

Just my thoughts for what they are worth.

Stephen Fry seems to be a one-man band for education, though I take your point about the differences between schizophrnia and depression and everything in between.

Mid A 15 wrote:In the same way a body can become ill and not work properly so can a mind. Part of the mental illness stigma problem in my view is that the media focus on the extreme schizophrenic cases like Christopher Clunis where innocent victims die at the hands of the mentally ill.

It is therefore easy to fall into the trap of thinking such cases encompass all mental illness rather than form one small part of it. It's like saying, for example, cancer is physical illness. You ignore heart disease, diabetes, arthritis and an infinite host of other complaints and conditions.

There should be more education about specific mental illnesses rather than use of the blanket term "mental illness." From my limited knowledge schizophrenia and depression are as different as cancer and the common cold yet that doesn't seem particularly well publicised.

The power of the mind is lauded and acknowledged when something good happens. A topical example being the achievement of the England Rugby Team reaching the final. A change of mental attitude and approach has played a large part in transforming a shower who lost 36-0 a month or so ago into the form team of the tournament. They may still lose on Saturday but it won't be by 36 points.

To attempt an answer to your question if examples (such as the one above) are given about the positive power of the mind then accepting that minds, like bodies, can get illnesses may not be such a seismic concept.

Just my thoughts for what they are worth.

Ah the power of the media! Yes they feed on our fears, if they had their way every person with a diagnosis of schizophrenia would be locked up! They never let facts get in the way of a "good argument" either, a person with schizophrenia is 100 times more likely to be a victim of violence rather than a perpetrator.

I accept that positive stories in the press would help, but high profile people outing themselves, showing that the majority of people experiencing mental distress lead "normal" lives would have greater impact. Alistair Darling, Stephen Fry and Paul Merton are not even the tip of the tip of the iceberg

I still believe that education is still the major key though, as ignorance is the biggest enemy. I like your idea of teaching specific illnesses, but not concentrating on how they are different, that just targets the prejudice at one or two illnesses. There really isn't a huge difference between schizophrenia and depression, they share a large number of symptoms, diagnosis is based on number of symptoms, severity and longevity, it's far more complex than diagnosing physical illness.

We spend a fortune in this country teaching people how to look after their physical well-being, why ignore the mind?

cj wrote:Because it is a sign of weakness and failure and is perpetuated by the 'affluent' society we live in. In fact the economy depends on poor mental health as it can medicate in the form of shopping, alcohol, drugs, sex and celebrity.

I appreciate the irony cj, but actually the cost of mental illness far outweighs the income, unlike smoking or alcohol.

gingerbeard wrote:I still believe that education is still the major key though, as ignorance is the biggest enemy. I like your idea of teaching specific illnesses, but not concentrating on how they are different, that just targets the prejudice at one or two illnesses. There really isn't a huge difference between schizophrenia and depression, they share a large number of symptoms, diagnosis is based on number of symptoms, severity and longevity, it's far more complex than diagnosing physical illness.

We spend a fortune in this country teaching people how to look after their physical well-being, why ignore the mind?

I think you could have partly answered your own question as to why the mind is ignored.

The health service is strapped for cash as exemplified by hygiene scandals and waiting lists. Whether the reason is mismanagement or lack of investment is a topic for another thread.

It's pretty clearcut though that the NHS is struggling at the sharp end as it is without taking on something that's, to quote your goodself,......."far more complex than diagnosing physical illness.".......

I maybe cynical but I also think there is a pragmatic fear of being sued in this litigious society which prevents too much delving into mental illness.

Illnesses like cancer, heart disease, diabetes etc can easily be dismissed as the fault of the victims. They may have smoked, drunk or eaten excessively and thus become ill because of their own lifestyle choices.

Mental illness is far more problematic in that, unless the victim smokes strong cannabis or uses other drugs to excess, it is far harder to blame the victim for being the architect of his or her problems.

Rather it could be argued that the cause is society itself. Bullying in schools, oppression in the workplace, pressure to quickly become fully functional following a traumatic event like a bereavement etc, etc.

Given that the Government is a major employer one way or the other in this country there may be a fear of releasing an uncontrollable genie from the bottle.