DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
News Release issued by The Government News Network on 8 May 2008
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.
Notes to editors:
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.
For
more information on Shift, contact Gary Hogman on 7307 2445 or at gary.hogman@csip.org.uk
3. References:
Bird, L. 1999, The fundamental facts, the
Mental Health Foundation.