IT is estimated that one in four people will experience some form of mental health problem in the course of a year.
Often, these problems go undiagnosed.
Mixed anxiety and depression is the most common mental disorder in Britain. For some people, the effects can be severe.
Sadly, due to a lack of knowledge and understanding there is often a stigma surrounding mental health and it is all too common for people to see the illness before they see the person.
Last week I went along to meet Denise Charles, Hafal community link worker at Wrexham’s adult mental health recovery service, as well as some of the service users.
Denise has recently been working on a quarterly newsletter for the service – The Voice – which is produced by the service users themselves.
“I work for Hafal, the mental health charity,” she explained.
“My role here (within the recovery service) is community link worker. My job is to involve people who use the service in a variety of different things and to improve the service from their perspective.
“The newsletter is one way of us highlighting what’s available.
“The main aim is to provide support – and to ensure that things are done from the service users’ perspective.
“If a problem is highlighted we all work together to address it and improve the service.
“It’s also about getting rid of the stigma that surrounds mental illness and helping people to realise that they are ordinary people living ordinary lives.”
Along with Denise, I met three of the service users who have been instrumental in putting the newsletter together as well as organising the forthcoming Motiv8 2010, a day of activities to raise awareness of the close links between physical health and mental wellbeing.
Ian Baynes, 33, Gary Davey, 47, and Steven Roberts, 39, are all keen to highlight the problems they face because of their mental illness in order to bring about a change in public perception.
“I was diagnosed in 1997,” said Ian.
“I think it’s good for people to see people with mental health issues involved in things like this (the newsletter and activities day).
“Often mental illness is portrayed in a very negative way and, I think, the more acceptance there is, the better it will be.
“Attitudes are changing a little but there’s still a lot of stigma. TV sometimes still portrays it badly.”
The three men live in supported housing.
“It’s just like living in any house but you have someone there to give you support if you need it,” says Steve.
They work, albeit voluntarily, and they contribute to a number of initiatives within the service.
Like Denise said, the service users are ordinary people leading ordinary lives. But that doesn’t stop others from treating them differently
Steve told me about a recent instance: “There’s three of us in our house but we only had one bin. We needed another one so I phoned the council to ask for another one.
“It came up that we have mental health problems and the woman on the phone started talking louder and slower – what’s that all about?”
Steve, Ian and Gary have been working on a film which highlights their needs and what they would like to see from the service.
They will also be compiling a video diary on the Motiv8 day. The film will then be shown to recovery service staff.
“The film is about letting people know there are small steps that can make a difference,” Denise said.
“It shows that everybody’s mental illness is different and it looks at the stigma and the negative impact that people can sometimes have.”