Young people and mental illness

Recently in the news reports have come through regarding young people and mental illness.  By ‘young people’ I am referring to children, teenagers and young adults.

The first report that caught my attention was the use of police cells to section those who are at risk of harm as a result of their mental health.  While it is satisfying to know that during a mental health crisis there will be somebody to help the use of police cells almost gives the young person a sense of criminality rather than being in a place of safety.  The report said that this often happens when there are not any free psychiatric beds and the use of police cells are to keep them safe until one does become free.  Help for those with mental health problems are disgustingly low, but to hear about children spending up to twenty-four hours in a police cell is discomforting to read.

(http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25900085 - 26 January 2014)

The next report, although the lesser of the evil above, is still not acceptable.  Children and young people admitted for mental health problems are often referred to adult mental health wards.  Although this is only a last resort option it is still shocking to read that 350 young people under the age of 18 between 2013-14 were admitted to these adult wards, a rise of 108 from two years previous.  One patient reported how strict the rules were in the wards, meaning that friends and family could not visit her, which could only further add to her distress.

(http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-26255533 - 20 February 2014)

In the last report AnxietyUK and YouthNet warn that young people need help with their anxiety and for it to be better recognised by their GPs, with guidelines set by the National Institute of health and Care Excellence (NICE).  Many GP’s are only prescribing medication when NICE’s guidelines instruct that psychological treatment is required as well, such as counselling.  Anxiety disorders are disruptive and constricting, in regards to getting a job and enjoy life, whilst for teenagers it can have a more sociological affect.  A girl in the report explained that she could not go to parties if there were people she did not know and she had to commute earlier to work to avoid the busy rush hour. 

(http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/26273892 - 21 February 2014)

It is disturbing read to find out that children, teenagers and young adults are being plagued by mental illness with lack of support, whether it be from family, friends, school, work, the health system or a mixture of the above.  Young people should be concentrating their time on friends, schooling, work, future prospects and the things they enjoy, whether it be sports, music, art and more.  Young people developing a mental illness can greatly affect their life, from social isolation to lack of self confidence and self esteem, which could affect them into their adult years and, in the worst case scenario, their mental health could worsen from lack of proper support.

Whilst I argue that treating mental illnesses needs to be improved across the spectrum I believe correctly diagnosing, supporting and treating children, teenagers and young adults should be priority.  As an adult I understand how difficult it is to live with anxiety and depression and, whilst I suffered with it as a teenager, it breaks my heart to read that, ten years after my illness developed, we are still ignoring the warning signs.  Children should be able to be children, and teenagers to be teenagers, and not to miss a single day of their youth because of a mental illness.

My next blog will be giving advice to parents who have children with a mental illness and what they can do to get support themselves.

‘Asylum’ and ‘mental patient’ themes – too PC or is it reinforcing a stereotype?

Looking on Twitter, Facebook and the BBC website I see articles and blogs reporting on how Thorpe Park’s The Asylum maze is stigmatising mental illnesses and portraying psychiatric wards negatively.  This comes weeks after supermarket chains Tesco and Asda removed their ‘mental patient’ themed Halloween costumes when they were deemed too stigmatising (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24278768).  There is a clear definition between mental health charities and anti-stigma campaigners who agree that there should be a name and theme change, but some of the general public have commented that this is becoming too politically correct and it is just a popular Halloween theme that has caused no issues in the past.

As an anti-stigma and anti-discrimination campaigner myself I can see both sides to this issue.  Firstly, I do agree that it is stigmatising.  Recently I spoke to people regarding mental health treatment and they often used the words like ‘psycho’ and ‘mad’ to define those needing treatment and describing the psychiatric wards as ‘mental homes’, ‘loony bins’ and ‘asylums’.   It always leaves a bad taste in my mouth when I hear these words as it describes these wards as scary, dangerous and dark, how ‘asylums’ are depicted in the media.  It’s also a reminder of the atrocious care that those with mental health problems received decades ago through electrical compulsion therapy.  Therefore I believe these themes reinforce the whole mental illness spectrum, and those with mental health problems, as an area of uncertainty, instability, danger and fear.  Rethink Mental Illness conducted a vote on their Twitter page for or against the ‘asylum’ theme, which shows a overwhelming ‘No’ (http://topsy.com/analytics?q1=%23asylumOK&q2=%23asylumNO&via=Topsy)

Flipping the coin, I can see why the general public think that this is political correctness taking over.  Thorpe Park commented that their The Asylum maze, for their annual Fright Nights Halloween theme, which has been operating for an eighth year running, has not caused issues in the past (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24278768).  We have to take a step back and view the Halloween themes, vampires, walking mummies, werewolves and other well-known Halloween characters.  These are all unreal with their intention to be perceived as scary and frightful.  The feeling towards the stereotypical ‘mental patient’ and ‘psycho’ fits this theme.  Games like Batman’s Arkham Asylum takes the player to a psychiatric prison for the criminally insane where the Joker, who has always been depicted as a psychopath, has caused trouble.  Films, that are popular to this day, like Silence of the Lamb and The Shining, have psychopaths as the villain.

I am sitting on the fence when it comes to this issue.  I, personally, am not a fan of the ‘psychopath’ and ‘asylum’ themed rides, events and media, whether that’s because of it’s stereotypical connection to my illness or as a matter of taste.  Members of the public (especially if you read comments on articles regarding this issue) think that mental health charities are taking this issue too far, some going as far to say that they are reinforcing the stigma and making it more of a taboo themselves.  I can see why they think this is so, but I do believe that this fantasy image of mental health is too imbedded into popular belief.  Mental health units and psychiatric wards are not places of danger or fear, but a bright place of safety and help.  I do believe that once the general public see mental illness and wards the way they deserve to be depicted then these ‘asylum’ and ‘psycho’ themed costumes and rides will become more acceptable.

Why The Sun's headline was irresponsible

On Monday 7^th October popular tabloid newspaper The Sun published on their front page ‘1,200 killed by mental patients’.  When I went onto Twitter that morning my feeds were full of tweets regarding the headline from mental health charities and other followers.  It shocked me so much I didn’t believe it at first, until I went onto the tabloid’s website.

The Sun is completely irresponsible for publishing such a headline.  The headline itself, the phrase ‘mental patient’ reminds me of stories of patients suffering inhumane treatment back in the ’70s and ‘80s.  It’s a term, which is derogatory, means a patient who is suffering from a mental illness and receiving treatment.  According to The Sun I am a ‘mental patient’, along with millions of other Britons undergoing treatment for their mental health problems.  The Sun, along with other media, must make an effort in using more acceptable language when addressing someone who has a mental illness.  Mind, a mental health charity, already has a page on this very subject:  http://www.mind.org.uk/help/media/how_to_report_on_health

It was made clear by other tabloids and media that the statistics used by The Sun were fabricated.  Half of those killed were by people with a mental health problem diagnosed BEFORE the murder, the other half by those diagnosed AFTERWARDS.  But looking at statistics of all homicides committed in the UK in that 10 year time span of 2001-2011 those deaths account for 5% of all homicides.  It is still a tragedy that any murder is committed but if The Sun want a shock factor in high number of deaths then they may want to turn their attention to road traffic accidents and drinking related incidents.

What we all must remember is that this level of violence from those with a mental illness is RARE.  Unfortunately films and other entertainment have branded those with schizophrenia and other serious mental illnesses as unstable and dangerous when this really is not the case.  With the correct treatment plan they can lead a normal day-to-day life with limited problems.

Charities such as Mind, Rethink and Time to Change have all worked hard to help end stigma and discrimination against those with a mental illness and irresponsibility from tabloids, like The Sun, ruin their work.  I try to be honest about my illness, it’s my way of breaking the taboo, but since this headline has been published I don’t want to risk being discriminated against.  I am also concerned that this headline will make the public believe that those with a mental illness are dangerous, if so I worry for their safety.  After all, it has been proven that those with a mental illness are more likely to be a victim of crime than the rest of the public.