Reports today that a 17 year old boy from Mid Wales hanged himself because he was hearing voices that told him to kill people are extremely sad. The anguish and suffering this boy will have gone through is something we dare not even imagine. It seems his mental illness literally scared him to death, and there are undoubtedly many more like him going through the same hell today.
Yet, despite the fact that one in four of us will suffer some form of mental illness in our lifetime, our newspapers and TVs are still too often only concerned with the lurid, violent aspects of mental disorders. Rarely do we get a glimpse into the suffering of those who are ill and desperately need help. It is far easier to attach the label ’schizophrenic’ or ‘manic depressive’ to someone whose actions we can’t comprehend, rather than try to see them as people who are suffering from teribble illnesses that they cannnot control and did not wish for.
This story today highlights the urgent need now for more support services and treatment programmes, particularly for young people with mental illness.
The very nature of mental disorders of all kinds means that sufferers are often ashamed to talk about what is happening to them because of the stigma attached. It is not acceptable to be seen once and then left to fend for yourself.
Jonathan Morgan is to be commended for his determined efforts to introduce mental health legislation to Wales. It is long overdue, but all of us have a responsibility to look out for the signs in our colleagues, friends and family and to keep fighting the stigma and shame that sufferers are still subject to.