Mental health: there’s still a stigma

Mental health issues are still stigmatised in the work place and in universities, according to a recent study.

The research has suggested that this means that those battling these problems are ashamed to admit they are suffering, even to family and friends.

The study carried out by the Priory Group showed that 70 percent of students know someone with a mental health condition. Out of this, seven in ten did not believe they were being told the truth.

50 percent of those with mental health problems experienced negative sentiment after admitting to their condition. Further research undertaken by the Priory Group showed that many students who admitted to having a mental health condition faced discrimination.

According to Time to Change, this could severely exacerbate the effects of the illness someone may already have, or have a worse effect than the symptoms themselves.

It was also found that male students are less likely to believe their peers when they claim they have a mental health condition, compared to females.

In addition to this, London-based students are the most doubtful of their peers’ mental health claims. Whilst students at Warwick and other West Midlands based universities are the second most doubtful concerning claims of poor mental health.

However, students at the University are pushing for greater understanding of mental health. Warwick Mind Aware ran a ‘Mental Health Awareness Week’ during week seven.

Warwick Students’ Union (SU) also ran events to promote mental health awareness on Wednesday 18 February. The event included raising awareness of current services such as Nightline and the University Counselling Service.

Cat Turnhan, president of the SU, posted a blog on the SU website, to stress the importance of engaging with mental health. She urged: “We need to have mental health on the agenda all the time, because it’s too important to stay silent.

“If we don’t talk about it, we create a stigma around it – and if we do this, people go untreated. Put simply, talking about it helps saves lives.”

Recent studies have also shown that mental health is not fully understood in the workplace.

Research carried out by YouGov and the Institute of Directors explains how fewer than one in ten businesses have made a point of talking about mental health with their employees.

However, one third of employees have had experiences where stress and anxiety have interrupted their ability to work. This problem was found to be particularly prevalent amongst young people and adults.

In response, the organisation Time to Change focusing their ‘Time to Talk Day’ on open discussion concerning mental health for five minutes.

Take a look at this site for the full survey results:

http://www.priorygroup.com/blog/mental-health/mental-health-stigma-on-campus