Changing negative public attitudes to people with mental health difficulties is the aim of a new nationwide advertising campaign which starts today.
Challenging Attitudes to Mental Health follows research which indicates that negative attitudes are among the greatest barriers to individuals with mental health problems seeking help and participating in society.
The two-week TV, radio and billboard campaign by the National Disability Authority (NDA) encourages people to look at the "whole person" rather than focusing on an individual's mental heath difficulty and features people who have experienced mental health problems such as depression and schizophrenia at some point in their lives. They include former captain of the Dublin football team and Gaelic Players Association chief executive, Dessie Farrell.
"Perceptions around mental illnesses need to be changed and stereotypes given to those living with mental illness need to be broken. We need to create a culture where people who feel distress seek help. No one is immune from poor mental health," said Minister of State with Responsibility for Disability and Mental Heath Jimmy Devins at the launch of the campaign.
According to statistics from the World Health Organisation (WHO), one in four people will experience a mental health problem at some point in their lives.
Other featured participants include journalist Carol Hunt, who has depression and suffered from post-natal depression after the birth of her two children, prominent chess player Paul Leavy who was diagnosed with schizophrenia at 17 and founding member of eating disorder support group, Bodywhys, Marie Devine who had anorexia for more than 20 years.
"Negative public attitudes continue the stigma and disempower the individual with a mental health difficulty . . . and stop a person seeking the support they need. Getting help in time is paramount if you have a mental health problem," said director of the NDA Siobhán Barron.
"People can get over mental health setbacks with the right support and can go on to lead very normal lives."
Recent research by the NDA has found that while public attitudes have improved significantly towards people with physical and sensory disabilities, the same is not true for people with mental health difficulties.
According to the results of a recent survey by the organisation, only 7 per cent of respondents thought employers would be willing to employ people with mental health difficulties, while respondents said they would be least comfortable having people with mental health difficulties as colleagues.