World Mental Health Day
10 October will be World Mental Health Day
As World Mental Health Day approaches, charities are warning that people with mental health problems in the UK will lose out as a result of government cuts and prejudice towards benefit claimants. The day, which is marked around the globe on 10 October, is an initiative of the World Health Organisation (WHO). They say they want to promote ‘open discussion of mental disorders, and investments in prevention, promotion and treatment services.’
According to the WHO, the majority of low and middle-income countries spend less than two per cent of their health budget on mental health.
In the UK, campaigners fear that people with mental health problems will be disproportionately affected by cuts to disability benefits and local services. The government is aiming to slash expenditure on disability living allowance by twenty per cent.
Last Friday saw a national day of action against Atos, a company paid by the government to assess disabled people applying for employment support allowance.
‘Many of our members are finding that the people assessing them don’t understand mental health,’ explained Victoria Blazeard of the charity Rethink. She told the Friend: ‘the most vulnerable people in society are being told they’re going to be pushed back into work without the support they need and it’s actually making their health much, much worse.’
She said that Rethink’s members were often ‘very scared’ by parts of the press describing people receiving disability benefits as ‘scroungers’.
Sue Baker, director of the Time for Change campaign, said that everyone can help to reduce stigma by talking more openly about mental health. She told the Friend: ‘Talking can strengthen friendships, aid recovery and break down stereotypes. It’s often a few small words that can make a big difference and get the conversation started – you don’t have to be an expert, just a friend’.
