Archived entries for mental health

GUEST POST: Alastair Campbell on mental health

Alastair Campbell is the former Communications Director at No 10. Here he writes about his mental health problems and his decision to speak openly about them.

When I started working as Tony Blair’s press secretary, I knew that the ‘skeletons’ would probably come out, so I never hid the fact I’d had a nervous breakdown. I’d always been very open about it, calling it my ‘mad period’. There’s no point pretending I wasn’t mad, because I was, probably for some time up to my breakdown, and then it took quite a while to recover. I think people are disarmed when you’re up front about it.

It happened in 1986 when I was 29. I was doing a piece on Neil Kinnock in Scotland, and ended up being arrested for my own safety. After a spell in hospital, I slowly rebuilt myself with help from family and friends, and a wonderful GP. Although I might have a few grounds for complaint about the way the media have reported on me on a few occasions, I feel in relation to mental illness, I have had a pretty fair deal from them. Not everyone can say that of course. The constant linking between mental illness and violence in the media is a problem .. the mentally ill are far more likely to be victims than perpetrators of violence.

I do understand people’s reservations about being open. People worry their job or their prospects might be badly affected. And it would take quite a brave politician to stand up at election time and say oh by the way, I sometimes hear voices, or I tend to get addicted to things, or I may sometimes go missing with depression. But I do think it would help if people in positions of leadership and authority were more open. When I first got involved with the Time to Change campaign, we did a report called ‘A World Without’ in which we focussed on great historical figures who had what today would be defined as mental illnesses. Churchill with his black dog. Abraham Lincoln was routinely described as melancholic. Marie Curie. Charles Darwin. Florence Nightingale. Imagine if any of those people had not been able to do the work they did. But even today people with mental health problems will tell you that sometimes the stigma and the discrimination it leads to are worse than the symptoms.

One of the reasons I’ve wanted to be open about it is that I know from my own recovery that it is possible to take strength and hope from the experience of others who’ve gone to what feels like hell and back and lived to tell the tale. I have written a novel, All In The Mind, based in part on my experiences of depression and psychosis, and have also done a documentary, Cracking Up, which can be seen on my website and I have been really pleased with the response to both. Barely a day has passed since when someone has not come up to me and said that something that happened to me, or one of the characters in the book, was something they could relate to directly because of their own experience, or that of a relative or friend. If it is true that One in Four will directly suffer a mental health problem, that means we all know someone who will, even if we don’t ourselves. If anything I think One in Four is an underestimate.

I think attitudes are changing slowly and I hope I have been able to help in that. I am very glad that the Young Fabians have decided to take up this topic. I know that a lot of young people are struggling with mental health issues, and although my advice to them would be to be open and honest, the truth is stigma and discrimination still exist, and openness might be the thing that leads to someone being rejected. But I still feel it is the best approach. We need to get to a situation where people can feel as open about saying they have mental health issues as they are about saying they have cancer or a broken leg. We are a long way off that, but I am confident that one day we will get there. It is in many ways the last great taboo. But racism, sexism, homophobia have all been challenged and to a great extent eroded because of people taking up the issues and campaigning on them.

We can do the same for the stigma and taboo surrounding mental illness, and I wish Good Luck to the Young Fabians in their role in that great cause.

GUEST POST: Fighting the stigma

Matt Murray is a Young Fabian member. In this guest post, he writes about the difficulties encountered by people with mental health problems.

The Labour government has elevated equalities from merely a peripheral issue and as Young Fabians we have been leading the call for a progressive social agenda. Removing inequalities goes beyond policy decisions and includes a societal dimension of tackling stigma and discrimination whilst also encouraging aspiration and well-being. It is especially important that we fully recognise the impact on mental health that the economic recession has caused on young people and their prospects.

Lack of societal understanding of the variety of conditions and the impact on sufferers’ lives has led to an attitude that ‘unseen’ mental illness is less important than ‘seen’ physical disabilities. The government’s report on Mental Health and Social Exclusion, published in 2004, identified stigma and discrimination experienced by people with mental health problems as the biggest barrier to social inclusion and 55% identified stigma as a barrier to employment. It is therefore of no surprise that those with mental health conditions may not feel comfortable with being honest about their conditions when applying for jobs for fear that disclosure may harm their application. If applicants choose not to disclose their mental health conditions then they will ultimately suffer from a dangerous lack of support in the workplace, if such support exists.

Evidence shows that more than one quarter of the population still think that people who have mental health conditions should not have the same rights to a job as anyone else and fewer than four in ten employers have said that they would recruit someone who had a mental health condition. Despite these misconceptions many people with mental health conditions are successful in their jobs and people must be allowed to reach their full potential.

The economic recession has provided a backdrop of greater difficulties for young people with mental health conditions. Increased levels of unemployment amongst young people, who already experience the highest levels of developing mental health conditions, have exacerbated the stress and worry for young people facing bigger competition for jobs. Many businesses are also not pro-active in advertising support for positive mental health in the workplace to potential applicants, even where such support exists.

Poor standards of practice in the workplace regarding mental health does not only affect sufferers but Dame Carol Black’s review of the health of Britain’s working age population estimated that the economy loses over £100 billion a year through ill-health and associated sickness absence and unemployment. Mental health accounts for between £30 and £40 billion of this. Government aims for reducing incapacity benefit claims are unlikely to succeed in the recession and a renewed focus on getting people into work is needed.

The government are recognising the importance of mental health in the Equality Bill. On 7 December 2009 a cross government approach was launched on mental health and employment titled: ‘Working our way to better mental health: a framework for action’. The report provides strong commitments to further increase mental health provisions but there appears to be a lack of focus on young people with mental health and the associated problems that exist in finding and holding onto employment.

  • Come along to the Young Fabians Equalities Month event titled “Mental Health and Equalities: What more can the Government do for young people?” on 23 March, 6.30pm Committee Room 19, House of Commons. Speakers are: Lynne Jones MP (Chair of APPG on Mental Health) and Dr Rachel Perkins (South West London and St Georges Mental Health Trust), Victoria Walsh (Rethink) and Janet Davies (Time to Change).

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