Nick Clegg recently attacked NHS Mental Health Care saying it was "just plain wrong" to treat the illness as the "poor cousin" of physical health in the NHS and that there remains, "too much prejudice, too much discrimination" around the issue.

We have drawn together some Community Reporters voices talking about the issues that are important to them and how they feel they have been treated. This is what they are saying about mental health issues.

Mary, comments on how rewarding she has found using alternative therapies such as Reiki and acupuncture and joining a knitting group helped her illness much more than pills. She asks if these alternatives to pills should be paid for on the NHS? 

In Yaran’s film we get an insight into the loneliness felt by new refugees to the UK and the lack of support available.



Anne Marie talks about the difficulty of her situation, needing more support with her mental health illness and the issue of working and benefits.

See also Jean's blog on misdiagnosis and schizophrenia and some of the wealth of content from the Leeds Wellbeing Web

Mind have also made a film on the difficulty people with a mental health illnesses face in claiming benefits.

Through looking at around 20 pieces of content from Community Reporters the main recurring issues raised are that:

  • People need to be educated on mental health issues to change perceptions/prejudices
  • Services should be linked up and communication amongst them needs to be improved
  • Maybe it should be easier to access alternative therapies and community groups as part of treatment and not just be about prescribing pills

These experiences have contributed to Time to Talk Day which aimed to get more people talking about mental health than ever before with the aim of sparking one million conversations.​

In our next feature will focus on International Women's Day, (8 March) which this year has the theme of Inspiring Change, 

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