Alex White (Dublin South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. Learning to live with mental health problems is extremely difficult, but, as the Deputy said, this difficulty can be compounded when someone experiences, at first hand, the prejudice caused by stigma. We know the stigma attached to mental ill health and suicidal behaviour presents one of the biggest challenges to prevention and that it encourages intolerance and prejudice. Stigma can affect all aspects of life, limiting access to employment and housing, harming social relationships and reducing self-esteem. Fear of being labelled as having a mental health problem also reduces the likelihood that individuals with mental health difficulties will seek treatment. The national stigma reduction campaign, See Change, launched in 2010 is working to change these attitudes in order that every person in Ireland can be positive about his or her mental health problems. The target groups identified in the first phase of the campaign include young males aged 18 to 24 years, people in the workplace and farmers and individuals living in rural communities.

To build on its baseline research conducted for the campaign in 2010, See Change recently commissioned Millward Brown Lansdowne to carry out a nationally representative survey of Irish attitudes towards mental health problems. The findings of this survey show there is an increased willingness to seek professional help and that an increased number of Irish people admit to having some experience of mental health problems, either themselves or through others. The survey also found there was increased awareness and understanding of mental health, mental health problems, stigma and support services. However, it also found there was a greater reluctance to be open and disclose information on a mental health problem in personal and professional relationships.

For its part, the HSE, through the National Office for Suicide Prevention, co-ordinates two national mental health awareness campaigns, the Your Mental Health campaign and the Let Someone Know campaign, which have been shown to be effective in changing the population's knowledge and attitudes to mental health and encouraging people to talk about their mental health and well-being. In challenging the stigma associated with suicide and mental health issues the language used by the media is also hugely important. Headline is Ireland's national media monitoring programme which is working to promote responsible and accurate coverage of mental health and suicide related issues within the media. It aims to highlight mental health issues and address the stigma attached to emotional distress, suicidal behaviour and mental illness through the promotion of responsible media coverage.

Eliminating stigma is not going to happen overnight. Reducing it was one of the priorities identified in the programme for Government. I reiterate the commitment of the Government and, in particular, the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, to promoting change in attitudes to mental ill health and ensuring people in distress do not feel isolated and alone.

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