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Mental health violence stigma 'must be challenged'

18 August 2009 Breaking News

The belief that people with a mental illness will act violently is engrained in the public perception and must be challenged, according to a new report from Time to Change.

A poll of almost 2,000 people, commissioned by the anti-stigma mental health campaign, indicates that 44% of people hold this belief while 49% have seen people with a mental illness acting violently in films.

The charity believes that the two findings are connected.

"Mental health stereotypes have not changed over a century of cinema. If anything, the comedy is crueler and the deranged psycho killer even more demotic," writes psychiatrist Dr Peter Byrne, author of the report Screening Madness.

Sue Baker, director for Time to Change, said: "This report highlights that movies are the main source of information that reinforces negative stereotypes of mental illness above and beyond any other form of media. We need to make it clear to directors and producers that they can still break box office records without wrecking lives."

Most long term sickness absence is due to mental health problems such as stress, depression and anxiety. Statistics suggest that 13% of sufferers are in employment, compared with 33% of people with other chronic illnesses. It is reported that depression and anxiety affect 20% of the UK working population. It is by far the most common condition associated with chronic back pain and affects a quarter of cancer patients. However, a survey carried out for the Shaw Trust employment charity in 2006 found that 70% of employers estimated that five per cent or fewer of their employees would have mental ill-health in their entire working life. 

The Time to Change campaign is run by mental health charities Mind and Rethink. It has produced two online films to challenge stereotypes about mental health and violence, which can be viewed here.

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