New research highlights public attitudes to mental health in Northern Ireland
New research announced today highlights conflicting public attitudes to mental health in Northern Ireland. The Health Promotion Agency for Northern Ireland (HPA) findings were presented at a seminar celebrating World Mental Health Day.
The research found that while the majority of people believe that anyone can experience mental health problems and those who do should have the same rights as everyone else, just under half said that people with mental health problems should not be allowed to carry out important jobs and two in five felt the public should be better protected from people with mental health problems.
Previous research shows that as many as one in four or one in five people experience mental health problems, yet in this study far fewer admitted it.1, 2 This is reinforced by the fact that just under half of those surveyed said they would be afraid of experiencing mental health problems and more than half said if they did they wouldn’t want people knowing about it.
Dr Brian Gaffney, Chief Executive of the HPA, said: “These findings illustrate the complexity of attitudes towards mental health in Northern Ireland. Often people are either failing to recognise that they have a mental health problem or are unwilling to disclose it. Everyone has mental health needs but many people have a limited understanding of what mental health is and attitudes prevail based on fear or embarrassment. Stigma can lead to people being labelled, devalued or set apart from others, preventing them from seeking help and inhibiting their recovery.
“A new HPA public information campaign using this and other research is due to be launched early next year. The campaign aims to destigmatise and increase public awareness of mental health issues and encourage people with mental health problems to seek the appropriate help.”
Summary of key findings:
- 63% underestimated the proportion of people who might have a mental health problem at some point in their lives.
- 98% agreed that anyone can experience mental health problems.
- 54% said that if they were experiencing mental health problems they wouldn’t want people knowing about it.
- 46% said they would be afraid of experiencing mental health problems themselves in the future.
- 15% said they have experienced mental health problems themselves.
- 91% agreed that people with a mental health problem should have the same rights as anyone else.
- 46% said that people experiencing a mental health problem should not be allowed to do important jobs such as medicine or nursing.
- 41% agreed that the public should be better protected from people with mental health problems.
The theme of this year’s World Mental Health Day is: Building awareness – reducing risks: suicide and mental illness. It addresses one of the world’s most pressing public health problems – the high prevalence of suicide among people with a mental illness.
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Notes
to editors:
The seminar Research into public attitudes to mental health will be held in the Templeton Hotel, Templepatrick from 9:00am to 1:00pm on Tuesday 10 October 2006. Key speakers will be available for interview.
The World Federation for Mental Health organises World Mental Health Day each year. It is the only global public awareness campaign focusing exclusively on major mental health topics. World Mental Health Day was first commemorated in 1992 and is now observed on 10 October in over 100 countries. For further details go to: www.wmhday.net
For further information contact:
Rosie McGaughey or Jenny Dougan at the HPA on Tel: 028 9031 1611.
1. Mental Health Foundation. Statistics on Mental health factsheet. Glasgow: Mental Health Foundation, 2003.
2. N orthern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. Northern Ireland Health and Social Wellbeing Survey 2001. Belfast: NISRA, 2002.
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