facts n Stats
"Today an estimated 56% of the population still believes that someone who is mentally ill has to be kept in psychiatric or mental hospital ..........people are still undecided about whether people with mental health issues should have the same rights as anyone else."
(from STUFF STIGMA strategy document, by Melanie Ducret)
Fewer than four in ten employers would consider employing someone with a history of mental ill health ......One third of people with mental health problems report having been dismissed or forced to resign from their job ...70% of people with mental health problems have been put off applying for jobs fearing unfair treatment
(from Rethink website January 29, 2008/Campaigning for Change)
Yet the list of famous people throughout history who are thought to have suffered from mental ill health is immense:
Beethoven was believed to have suffered from depression.
Winston Churchill often referred to his depression as his "black dog"
Charles Dickens, Ernest Hemingway, Isaac Newton and Van Gogh are just some of the famous creative talents whose names appear on the lists if you do a simple internet search for famous people who have been affected by mental ill health.
How different might our artistic, scientific and political history have been if all these people had been locked up!!
Mental ill health and the link to creativity are still issues today.
Perhaps the most well-known examples are the comedian the late Spike Milligan and more recently the actor, comedian and writer Stephen Fry, who has spoken publicly about his own experiences of living with bipolar disorder.
Yet anyone can be at risk, since the causes range from the biological through to the stress of life events and an estimated 20% of men and 25% of women experience some form of depression during their lives.
It could be your grannie, your son, your husband, your wife - and 56% of people would seriously consider locking such people up!
There's a lot more information about the causes, the conditions and managing mental ill health on the Rethink website:
http://www.rethink.org/about_mental_illness/who_does_it_affect/index.htm