RETHINK MENTAL I LLNESS ‘ YOU ARE NOT ALONE’
M ental illness affects more people every year than cancer or heart disease. It is the single biggest cause of lost working days in the UK, and a significant factor in the majority of suicides – the single biggest killer of men under 40. Yet while it accounts for 23 per cent of the burden of ill health in the UK, mental health services only receive 13 per cent of the NHS budget.
The figures only tell one part of the story; the bigger picture is that mental illness can and does affect anyone. Rethink Mental Illness is there for all of them – from those experiencing depression or anxiety for the first time to those who rely on the charity for long-term support to cope with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. Plus, crucially, those who love, support and care for them.
Its aim is to improve both the experience of people affected by mental illness and the understanding of it among the wider public. Sixty per cent of people with mental illness say that the stigma and discrimination they faced was as damaging and distressing as the symptoms of the illness itself. This can be especially difficult for young people – a quarter of under-25s with mental health problems report that the stigma attached made them want to give up on life altogether.
It was such despair at being diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder that drove Jonny Benjamin (left) to Waterloo Bridge in 2008, where he intended to take his own life – until a stranger stepped in to stop him. After helping Jonny back on his feet, the charity helped him launch a global campaign to #FindMike, with whom he was reunited in a Channel 4 documentary, The Stranger on the
Bridge, this year. Now a mental health campaigner himself, Jonny says: “If I’d known earlier that I could have found free information and advice on the Rethink Mental Illness website, or spoken to someone on the phone, I don’t think I would have found myself on the edge of a bridge, about to take my life, in the first place.”
As Jonny’s story shows, getting the right practical support and information can make all the difference, even in the bleakest of circumstances. Last year more than 60,000 people relied on Rethink Mental Illness’s one-to-one support and services, which range from crisis houses to a nationwide network of peer support groups, that help people realise they are not alone.
But more needs to be done. Limited funds mean the charity’s telephone advice service cannot answer even half the calls it receives. Every donation you make could allow the organisation to reach more people who would otherwise have nowhere to turn.