Mental Health Stigma

neemish

A new survey was released by St. Patrick's hospital for World Suicide Prevention Day today.....

"The disturbing findings show that over a fifth of people surveyed believe that those suffering from mental health problems are of below average intelligence. 31% of respondents stated that they would not willingly accept someone with a mental health problem as a close friend. 62% would discriminate against hiring someone with a history of mental illness on the grounds that they may be unreliable and 42% felt that undergoing treatment for a mental health problem is a sign of personal failure."


I was more than slightly disturbed by this. Is this honestly how people with mental health problems are viewed?
Do you see people with mental health problems as unintelligient (in other words stupid), unreliable, failures in life and career, and all round bad friends?

wes

Its rather sad that so many people feel that way Hopefully, people can be educated, so that they understand Mental Health issues better.

fishy fishy

it's the people who view people with mental health as un-intelligent, who are actually the stupid ones.

Sir Pompous Righteousness

neemish wrote: »

A new survey was released by St. Patrick's hospital for World Suicide Prevention Day today.....

"The disturbing findings show that over a fifth of people surveyed believe that those suffering from mental health problems are of below average intelligence. 31% of respondents stated that they would not willingly accept someone with a mental health problem as a close friend. 62% would discriminate against hiring someone with a history of mental illness on the grounds that they may be unreliable and 42% felt that undergoing treatment for a mental health problem is a sign of personal failure."


I was more than slightly disturbed by this. Is this honestly how people with mental health problems are viewed?
Do you see people with mental health problems as unintelligient (in other words stupid), unreliable, failures in life and career, and all round bad friends?

Anyone who thinks that mental health is a gauge of personal success/failure is an idiot, it's beyond one's control. Also there are so many different types of mental health issues that you can't make such broad sweeping statements by saying that all people with mental illnesses wouldn't be as reliable in a job. Furthermore, I think statistically you're guaranteed that at least one fifth of all people have below average intellience, not just people with mental health problems.

Joey the lips

I suffer with anxiety which is a mental health issue. I never have trouble with friends but i have trouble making friends. Mainly because i loose interest in a lot of stuff when i am suffering

Having said that. I was involved with the youth service for many years and i remember the no 1 reason for homelessness in my area was suffering mentally and/or alcoholism.

I am not classed as superintelligent but i do have a Dip in engineering, Dip in Business management. I routinly redo occupational first aid cert and i am currently studieing Fetac 5 in healthcare.

The greatest thing you can do for a mental patient is understand them.

neemish

neemish wrote: »

A new survey was released by St. Patrick's hospital for World Suicide Prevention Day today.....

"The disturbing findings show that over a fifth of people surveyed believe that those suffering from mental health problems are of below average intelligence. 31% of respondents stated that they would not willingly accept someone with a mental health problem as a close friend. 62% would discriminate against hiring someone with a history of mental illness on the grounds that they may be unreliable and 42% felt that undergoing treatment for a mental health problem is a sign of personal failure."


I was more than slightly disturbed by this. Is this honestly how people with mental health problems are viewed?
Do you see people with mental health problems as unintelligient (in other words stupid), unreliable, failures in life and career, and all round bad friends?

Jesus, that's awful sad

ejmaztec

neemish wrote: »

A new survey was released by St. Patrick's hospital for World Suicide Prevention Day today.....

"The disturbing findings show that over a fifth of people surveyed believe that those suffering from mental health problems are of below average intelligence. 31% of respondents stated that they would not willingly accept someone with a mental health problem as a close friend. 62% would discriminate against hiring someone with a history of mental illness on the grounds that they may be unreliable and 42% felt that undergoing treatment for a mental health problem is a sign of personal failure."


I was more than slightly disturbed by this. Is this honestly how people with mental health problems are viewed?
Do you see people with mental health problems as unintelligient (in other words stupid), unreliable, failures in life and career, and all round bad friends?

This must mean that over a fifth of the people surveyed must be below average intelligence themselves, if they believe such claptrap.

im invisible

meh...

*pulls blanket over head, goes back to sleep*

Someone who suffers from mental health issues are below average intelligence? Nobody told Stephen Fry, who suffers from bipolar disorder.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqMcAeLWO9c

later12

The only surprising statistic there was the one related to intelligence. I've never even heard a belief that mental illness is related to lower intelligence - I wonder how the question was phrased. If the survey asked whether mental health was related to strong cognitive ability, you might understand people getting mixed up. However if it was a blunt question about intelligence and mental health, that's more than surprising.

The findings in relation to mental ill health and social stigma are not surprising. I think it's indicative enough that terms like "nutjob" and "mental case" are still widely seen as valid slurs on an individual's character.

Part of the problem with facing up to the whole spectrum of mental health disorders is that it blurs our comprehension of good vs bad. Human being have an innate desire to define and sort people and behaviours into neat little boxes.

If you have to consider that Johnny is a destructive little boy because he has ADHD, or Josephine is not just being highly string but suffers from bipolar disorder for example, then that upsets your 'system' and requires greater mental energy to process, energy which a lot of people are often unwilling to spend.

TeddyTedson

Some people are just too stupid to ever understand mental health problems.

I'm not sure how people actually get diagnosed for it really though. I mean I'm fine as far as I know but I have to meet my doctor every couple of months and he asks me how I'm feeling. Asks if I feel depressed or any changes of mood lately. I always answer and say I feel in good form so he moves on. You'd think he'd quiz me a bit more though.
But luckily for me I usually feel good so I don't have any issues there realistically. Please god I never do. Some day I'll probably ending up bursting out crying on a bus or something perhaps now..

Mental health screening would be nice wouldn't it.

I had a good friend in school who was about as sound as you can be. Very funny and everyone had lot of time for him. But I sort of lost contact over time and now he doesn't reply to me anymore which I find really weird. But I met a friend of his who I had met with him a couple of times and I've heard he's become really withdrawn from people and gone very quiet. They said his friends are worried about him but don't really know what to do. I find it so odd that he blanks me now seeing as we were good friends and never had a falling out. I'd have no idea how to help him in this situation though?

If I could chop off my arms and legs to bring back all the people who've killed themselves that I know I'd gladly do it.

Maybe society needs to look out for each other more. Too many people seem just to not give a ****.

I apologise for the way I've gone about this post. I'm functioning at 20%.

1ZRed

neemish wrote: »

"The disturbing findings show that over a fifth of people surveyed believe that those suffering from mental health problems are of below average intelligence.

If anything I believe that people who suffer from depression are of a higher intelligence to others.
Honestly, ignorance is bliss but if you are an intelligent person, you might run the risk of over analysing and mounting your problems and dwelling on them which can cause your mental state to get progressively worse.

That's just my take in it.

TeddyTedson

1ZRed wrote: »

neemish wrote: »

"The disturbing findings show that over a fifth of people surveyed believe that those suffering from mental health problems are of below average intelligence.

If anything I believe that people who suffer from depression are of a higher intelligence to others.
Honestly, ignorance is bliss but if you are an intelligent person, you might run the risk of over analysing and mounting your problems and dwelling on them which can cause your mental state to get progressively worse.

That's just my take in it.

I actually don't agree with this. Devore said the same in his depression thread.
It seems logical at first but everyone is capable of becoming struck with mental illness I believe.

hattoncracker

I think the stigma of mental health in Ireland Is a social mental health problem in itself.

For a long time we kept quiet about everything, and were taught to put up and shut up.. Its a slow process to break that habit, and not to see people who speak out as people who rock the boat, and expose our collective issues.

examples are people's attitudes to others who report neighbours etc. for illegal activity. Everyone resents the person who tells, no one bats an eyelid at the person not declaring their tax or whatever.

Hersheys

I'm struggling with my mental health at the moment.

My doctor and my counsellor are trying to get me to tell my place of work about it to get a bit of lee-way with regards deadlines etc (my work is negatively affected but not to the extent that my employers notice - just not up to my usual gold standard).

But I'm afraid to tell my employers because when I move on from this job I'll need them as referees for employment & I don't think Ireland has progressed enough over the last few years for it not to be a problem. I also feel I could be overlooked for positions within the company if they were to arise should my mental health become widespread knowledge.

later12

TeddyTedson wrote: »

Maybe society needs to look out for each other more. Too many people seem just to not give a ****.

I think I'd agree there.
One of the cruellest devices that society has allowed to fester is this proposition that we are simply not responsible for one another.

I know that in a practical sense, there is a limit to the degree to which human beings can take care of another, and that is why we delegate to an administration whose job it is to keep watch over the weaker, infirm or vulnerable on our behalf.

It is abundantly clear, through various Mental Health Commission reports, and from users of the services, and from practitioners, that our mental health services are failing to do their duty on our behalf.

As a society, it is our duty in turn to address that with a remedy.

But the glitch in the system is our own apathy and/ or prejudices against the vulnerable, be they the homeless, the mentally ill, the poor, and so on. At a certain stage we have to question the validity of constantly blaming "the system" instead of ourselves and our own outlooks, because we live in a democracy & it is we who ultimately run the system.

I feel that we have confused our delegation of authority with a total derogation of authority. Seemingly many people simply don't feel we have an ongoing duty to act as the guardians of the vulnerable.

Logical Fallacy

Meh, people always want to feel better than other people, nothing new hear.

Personally as my health improves I find myself wondering, when I go back into the workforce...do I tell prospective employers why I haven't worked in so long? I doubt it.

say_who_now?

Deleted User wrote: »

Someone who suffers from mental health issues are below average intelligence? Nobody told Stephen Fry, who suffers from bipolar disorder.

Nobody told Kerry Katona, Jordan or Jade Goody either, and numerous other "shellebrities" who constantly use mental disorders as some kind of "victim" card, the most notable of recent times being Sinead O' Connor who people find hard to take seriously when one day she asks to be left alone, shuts down her website and twitter, etc, and everyone thinks "ok then", and just as they are about to move on and forget about her, suddenly she's back doing gigs again and it's only a matter of time till her next attention seeking "im a victim" stunt.

Stephen Fry is the same, he's no more intelligent than your average man on the street. Well read and well educated certainly, but because of his various airs and graces, he has been able to pass himself off as intelligent to a very niche community who also happen to self-proclaim themselves as above average intelligence. I find in MY personal experience that those who claim to be of above average intelligence, often self diagnose themselves as suffering from depression because they have a "victim complex" that allows them to believe their own hype-

"I'm depressed because I'm super intelligent and I have to interact with all these ignorant people that are not as intelligent as me so they want to put me down".

I am not denying the concept of mental illness, certainly it exists, in many and varied forms, including depression, but in my experience, I see too many people self-diagnosing and celebrities using mental illness as a way to garner sympathy for themsleves.

I also find it interesting that in the OP the poster points out the fact that over a fifth of people surveyed believe people who suffer from mental illness are, as the OP puts it "unintelligent (in other words stupid)". This is NOT what the survey says. It says that over a fifth of people surveyed believe people are BELOW average intelligence. The OP fails to notice that NEARLY FOUR FIFTHS then, of people surveyed, DO NOT believe this to be the case.

So, why is this then so startling to anybody? It shouldn't be! It depends on how you look at the figures tbh. Now for me personally, surveys and statistics prove nothing because they tell you nothing about the individual and why they might hold that view, but normally they hold that view based on their personal experience of mental illness, and as I said, there are far more forms of mental illness than just depression. Some mental illnesses are severely disabling for the individual concerned, and employers are entitled to assess whether hiring a person with a history of mental illness could be considered reliable, or a liability. The good news for those that have a history of mental illness is that 38% of employers do NOT think this way.

As for the OP's assertion that the survey says people who suffer from mental illness are viewed as a a failure in life, that's NOT what the survey says either. The survey says that 42% of people felt that undergoing treatment for a mental health problem is a sign of personal failure. This again is another reason why I would like to see how this survey was conducted, because everyone has different levels at which they view failure. I would be of the opinion that those who do NOT seek treatment for mental illness I would see their lack of acceptance that they have a mental illness as a sign of personal failure.

Most conditions regarding mental illness are manageable, and of course there is a stigma attached, but as we learn more about mental illnesses and the way the brain and the mind works, these "shocking and disturbing" figures will slowly decrease. You will never find 100% acceptance of mental illnesses or those that suffer from them, you will just varying degrees of tolerance, depending on the severity of the illness, and that is the reality of the situation.

1ZRed

TeddyTedson wrote: »

I actually don't agree with this. Devore said the same in his depression thread.
It seems logical at first but everyone is capable of becoming struck with mental illness I believe.

I agree with that but that's not what I really meant. I'm not generalising everyone who might not be as intelligent as not being able to be struck by depression, I mean that people that are often more intelligent are more susceptible to it for obvious reasons I think.
But yeah, I'm not denying depression can effect anybody regardless of their level of intelligence.

neemish

say_who_now? wrote: »

Nobody told Kerry Katona, Jordan or Jade Goody either, and numerous other "shellebrities" who constantly use mental disorders as some kind of "victim" card, the most notable of recent times being Sinead O' Connor who people find hard to take seriously when one day she asks to be left alone, shuts down her website and twitter, etc, and everyone thinks "ok then", and just as they are about to move on and forget about her, suddenly she's back doing gigs again and it's only a matter of time till her next attention seeking "im a victim" stunt.

Stephen Fry is the same, he's no more intelligent than your average man on the street. Well read and well educated certainly, but because of his various airs and graces, he has been able to pass himself off as intelligent to a very niche community who also happen to self-proclaim themselves as above average intelligence. I find in MY personal experience that those who claim to be of above average intelligence, often self diagnose themselves as suffering from depression because they have a "victim complex" that allows them to believe their own hype-

"I'm depressed because I'm super intelligent and I have to interact with all these ignorant people that are not as intelligent as me so they want to put me down".

I am not denying the concept of mental illness, certainly it exists, in many and varied forms, including depression, but in my experience, I see too many people self-diagnosing and celebrities using mental illness as a way to garner sympathy for themsleves.

I also find it interesting that in the OP the poster points out the fact that over a fifth of people surveyed believe people who suffer from mental illness are, as the OP puts it "unintelligent (in other words stupid)". This is NOT what the survey says. It says that over a fifth of people surveyed believe people are BELOW average intelligence. The OP fails to notice that NEARLY FOUR FIFTHS then, of people surveyed, DO NOT believe this to be the case.

So, why is this then so startling to anybody? It shouldn't be! It depends on how you look at the figures tbh. Now for me personally, surveys and statistics prove nothing because they tell you nothing about the individual and why they might hold that view, but normally they hold that view based on their personal experience of mental illness, and as I said, there are far more forms of mental illness than just depression. Some mental illnesses are severely disabling for the individual concerned, and employers are entitled to assess whether hiring a person with a history of mental illness could be considered reliable, or a liability. The good news for those that have a history of mental illness is that 38% of employers do NOT think this way.

As for the OP's assertion that the survey says people who suffer from mental illness are viewed as a a failure in life, that's NOT what the survey says either. The survey says that 42% of people felt that undergoing treatment for a mental health problem is a sign of personal failure. This again is another reason why I would like to see how this survey was conducted, because everyone has different levels at which they view failure. I would be of the opinion that those who do NOT seek treatment for mental illness I would see their lack of acceptance that they have a mental illness as a sign of personal failure.

Most conditions regarding mental illness are manageable, and of course there is a stigma attached, but as we learn more about mental illnesses and the way the brain and the mind works, these "shocking and disturbing" figures will slowly decrease. You will never find 100% acceptance of mental illnesses or those that suffer from them, you will just varying degrees of tolerance, depending on the severity of the illness, and that is the reality of the situation.

I flattened the language, because I wondered what kind of questions in a survey led to the results. A survey is, by its very nature, limited because the respondants are not free to input their own answers in the vast majority of questions.

In reality, people with mental illness are on the same spectrum as the rest of the population in regards to intelligience, work ethic, sense of humour, etc. But unfortunately our lives are coloured by the addition of a mental health problem. For some, it will be as simple as saying "that guy is kinda quirky" but for others, it has nearly become the defining feature of our lives.

The survey didn't measure our intellienge and the rest, it measured people's attitudes.

There are a whole lot of contributing factors to how a person with difficulties comes across - the problem itself, medication, severity - but underneath, I promise you, there is a person who just wants to be "normal" whatever that means.

Mully_2011

The sort of people who would discriminate against people with depression are the same people who have never suffered from it. I've being suffering with it on and off for the last few years and it completely ****s you up I go through phases where I'd just go AWOL.

Best thing to go for someone with depression is just talk to them.If you haven't seen one of mates in a while ring them up and ask them hows it going

Strawberry Fields

I've been suffering from mental health issues for a number of years been on anti depressants for 3. I have a degree, a masters in business and a pg dip law, I also have 4 exams in blackhall, 4 more and I can practice law, but do I explain to employers there's gaps on my c.v because I was admitted to psyche wards 3 times? Do I say I was so unwell I spent 14 weeks there? I was going to be honest about it when the time came and say I'd improved a lot but reading this really bugs me.

It's like people want to put you into a box, if it's not black it's white well news flash it's multi coloured, people and life are a rich tapestry.

steddyeddy

neemish wrote: »

A new survey was released by St. Patrick's hospital for World Suicide Prevention Day today.....

"The disturbing findings show that over a fifth of people surveyed believe that those suffering from mental health problems are of below average intelligence. 31% of respondents stated that they would not willingly accept someone with a mental health problem as a close friend. 62% would discriminate against hiring someone with a history of mental illness on the grounds that they may be unreliable and 42% felt that undergoing treatment for a mental health problem is a sign of personal failure."


I was more than slightly disturbed by this. Is this honestly how people with mental health problems are viewed?
Do you see people with mental health problems as unintelligient (in other words stupid), unreliable, failures in life and career, and all round bad friends?

People who stigmatise people with mental health problems are not intelligent people in the first place. Nor are they people I would want in my company either.

Turtwig

steddyeddy wrote: »

People who stigmatise people with mental health problems are not intelligent people in the first place. Nor are they people I would want in my company either.

Alas, very often they tend to be the very folk interviewing people for jobs. "It's all in the head, like.":(

token101

neemish wrote: »

"The disturbing findings show that over a fifth of people surveyed believe that those suffering from mental health problems are of below average intelligence.

That's probably far more accurate.

say_who_now?

A link in the OP to an article, or even the survey itself would've been helpful. This is taken from The Journal:

20 per cent think people with mental health problems are ‘of below average intelligence’

More than 40 per cent of people surveyed said that undergoing treatment for mental health problem is a sign of personal failure.


MORE THAN ONE fifth of Irish people surveyed believe that people suffering from mental health problems are of below average intelligence, according to research carried out by a Dublin hospital.

Almost two thirds of respondents to the survey by St Patrick’s University Hospital said they would not easily accept someone with a mental health problem as a close friend while 42 per cent of people said that undergoing treatment for a mental health problem is a sign of personal failure.
The hospital released the figures to coincide with World Suicide Awareness Day in a bid to highlight the stigma around mental health which it says is stopping people from accessing the support they need.

Approximately one million people worldwide die by suicide every year according to figures from the World Health Organisation.
Paul Gilligan, the chief executive of the hospital, described the figures as “very worrying”.

“These figures highlight the critical requirement to reduce stigma and barriers to accessing mental healthcare. It’s also essential that those looking for help are provided with adequate high quality services that they can trust in,” said Gilligan.

40 per cent of respondents said that a member of their immediate family had been treated for mental health problems, while just over half said they had worked with someone who had been treated for emotional or mental health problems. Almost two thirds said that a close friend had been treated.

The survey was carried out among 300 people across the country.

Speaking on RTE Radio One’s Morning Ireland, Paul Gilligan said that the figures were consistent with international findings and with other national research. He said:

We have deeply ingrained negative views about mental health in Ireland, some of which date back to how we used to deal with mental health in the past, and I think we really have to tackle them on a number of levels.

A total of 525 people took their own lives in Ireland in 2011, an increase of 7 per cent on the previous year.

The bolding in the article was my own emphasis.

SEPT 23 1989

Its seems to me that 100's of things can go wrong with the body but if 1 thing goes wrong with the mind people don't want to know

Micky Dolenz

That survey makes for sad reading alright.

If you break a bone you go to the doctor. Why can't people see that mental health is similar?

DB21

That's, quite frankly, the worst indictment I've seen of Irish society in a while. I've suffered from depression in spells since I was 16 (for reasons I'm not going to air over the internet). I'm fairly offended by this train of thought that mental illness = lack of intelligence as someone who is going into the third year of a Science degree. It just seems like such a backward idea, and this sort of stuff is why I bottled up my problems. Being told on numerous occasions to "get over it" or "you have nothing to be depressed about" had me questioning was there some chronic misunderstanding in society, and based on this, there seems to be. I mean, it's far from a majprity, but the fact that people still think this way worries me.

Joey the lips

Micky Dolenz wrote: »

That survey makes for sad reading alright.

If you break a bone you go to the doctor. Why can't people see that mental health is similar?

Mickey i see a doctor who says this to me all the time and i only have anxiety

My retort is simple. Mental health is a disese of the mind. To the sufferer its like breaking your back. You loose your independence. You are dependent on everyone around you to support you and most of all. You can see it on the faces of the people around you that they are worried about you.

This effects your self estem and your general well being.

Granted you go to the doctor but the one thing that a sufferer with mental health issues hates is loss of control and dependence.

say_who_now?

Micky Dolenz wrote: »

That survey makes for sad reading alright.

If you break a bone you go to the doctor. Why can't people see that mental health is similar?

Because of the ingrained stigma that the person themselves feels Mickey-

First of all might fail to realise they have a mental health issue, second that they refuse to acknowledge it, and third- that they refuse to accept it.

You cannot say the same about a broken leg, because if you break your leg, there's no denying you are suddenly functionally incapacitated. With mental illness the thinking is "I cannot see it, therefore it does not exist!", and for most people, mental illness is more of a gradual process, so most people fail to recognise the symptoms, and carry on thinking they can function as normal and "take their mind off things" by throwing themselves into work or whatever. What they are actually doing then is denying there is a problem, and thereby letting it fester and build up in the background, until the pressure gets too much and they simply cannot cope.

My perspective just on depression alone (as for me "mental illness" is far too vague a term to cover the myriad of mental disorders, but within the context of this discussion I am going to assume it means depression that can lead to suicide), is that it's not mental illness and depression itself we need to encourage people to talk about, it's getting them to talk about themselves and what's going on in their lives.

We Irish as a society are not a very open society when it comes to talking about ourselves. We're enviable world champions at boasting when things are going well for us, but when things are not going so well for us- we close off and shut down and become bitter and suspicious and untrusting of those around us who we wish would "just eff off and mind their own busines". We internalise everything because as far back as I can remember (I'm 35), Irish culture has grown up with the ideal of "oh jesus, mary and joseph what will the neighbours think!". We don't want anyone to see that we feel like we've failed and we need help.

Ireland if we ever took even one thing from American culture should look at the way they view failure- in American culture, failure is not seen as a weakness, but a chance to help your fellow man get back on his feet. Tomorrow if you watch the American media, they will show countless examples of how people have managed to rebuild their lives with help from others. We in Ireland have yet to learn that lesson, that there is nothing wrong in failure, and that there is nothing wrong in asking for help.

say_who_now?

DB21 wrote: »

That's, quite frankly, the worst indictment I've seen of Irish society in a while. I've suffered from depression in spells since I was 16 (for reasons I'm not going to air over the internet). I'm fairly offended by this train of thought that mental illness = lack of intelligence as someone who is going into the third year of a Science degree. It just seems like such a backward idea, and this sort of stuff is why I bottled up my problems. Being told on numerous occasions to "get over it" or "you have nothing to be depressed about" had me questioning was there some chronic misunderstanding in society, and based on this, there seems to be. I mean, it's far from a majprity, but the fact that people still think this way worries me.

It's the way the article is worded. I would read it that while 20% of the people surveyed believed that people suffering mental health problems were of below average intelligence, however this means that 80% believe that a person's intelligence is NOT a factor in the diagnosis of mental illness. So that in itself is a POSITIVE aspect of this survey, and not one that should be dismissed, as it shows that the majority of people are becoming more understanding of mental illness, unlike as little as 50 years ago when those figures would have been reversed- 80% of people would have considered people of below average intelligence as being more susceptible to mental illness and perhaps suffering from some sort of mental illness!

Where do you think the term "the village idiot" came from.

Micky Dolenz

While slightly off the point but with the week thats in it. Depression and it's many causes and factors no doubt contribute largely to suicide and suicide attempts. I would be interested to know what the stats are on stress related mental health issues causing suicide.

We live in a society where financial and peer pressure is huge. A sense of shame and personal failure can have a massive bearing on someones mental health.

When I first read this I wondered if the survey was carried out in the 1860s or something.

Smidge

Micky Dolenz wrote: »

While slightly off the point but with the week thats in it. Depression and it's many causes and factors no doubt contribute largely to suicide and suicide attempts. I would be interested to know what the stats are on stress related mental health issues causing suicide.

We live in a society where financial and peer pressure is huge. A sense of shame and personal failure can have a massive bearing on someones mental health.

As I was reading through this thread a thought came to me.

This "report/survey" seems somewhat off, especially in it's phrasing etc.
I think the timing of this report is somewhat suspicious as people are now becoming more and more alarmed at the increasing number of suicides(as was done on a thread here recently)and it is NOT just people with mental health issue ie depression, drugs, alcohol etc anymore.

The demographic has changed.
There are more and more people(mostly men) from 30's upwards who have fallen under through the collapse in the economy here.
Unemployment, debt, shame and worry are now causing more suicides than in people who have been diagnosed with mental health disorders.
I don't think the government want those particular statistics shown in any survey anytime soon.


That's just my opinion for what its worth.

say_who_now?

Deleted User wrote: »

When I first read this I wondered if the survey was carried out in the 1860s or something.

Really? Really?

From the FIRST LINE in the OP:

neemish wrote: »

A new survey was released by St. Patrick's hospital for World Suicide Prevention Day today.....

You're not one of the 20% are you? :rolleyes:

say_who_now?

say_who_now? wrote: »

Really? Really?

From the FIRST LINE in the OP:



You're not one of the 20% are you? :rolleyes:

It's just a comment on their attitude, not literally thinking it was the 1860s

say_who_now?

say_who_now? wrote: »

Really? Really?

From the FIRST LINE in the OP:



You're not one of the 20% are you? :rolleyes:

"Carried out" and "released" are not only spelled differently, they also mean two different things.

Micky Dolenz

mishkalucy wrote: »

As I was reading through this thread a thought came to me.

This "report/survey" seems somewhat off, especially in it's phrasing etc.
I think the timing of this report is somewhat suspicious as people are now becoming more and more alarmed at the increasing number of suicides(as was done on a thread here recently)and it is NOT just people with mental health issue ie depression, drugs, alcohol etc anymore.

The demographic has changed.
There are more and more people(mostly men) from 30's upwards who have fallen under through the collapse in the economy here.
Unemployment, debt, shame and worry are now causing more suicides than in people who have been diagnosed with mental health disorders.
I don't think the government want those particular statistics shown in any survey anytime soon.

That's just my opinion for what its worth.

I agree 100%. It's all around us and clear to see.

say_who_now?

Deleted User wrote: »

"Carried out" and "released" are not only spelled differently, they also mean two different things.

Ahh will you stop with the silly árse covering semantics, it was a ridiculous comment to make given how far we actually HAVE come since the 1860's in our attitude to mental health and treating those with mental health issues. Some posters are focussing FAR too much on the attitude of the 20% and not seeing what a huge leap forward in our attitude to mental health it is that 80% now understand that one's level of intelligence is nothing to do with their suffering from mental health issues.

I see it as a positive that people are finally beginning to do away with the concepts of "the tortured genius" and "the village idiot" and seeing that no matter what a persons socio-economic background, no matter what their material wealth or intellect, nobody is immune from suffering mental health issues, and it dispels the long held belief that people of a superior intellect are more susceptible to mental health issues than those whom it could be described were of a lower than average intelligence.