Schizophrenia Daily News Blog

Essex Promotes Mental Health Awareness

(I-Newswire) - Essex businesses and support groups are uniting in support of the campaign aimed at combating misconceptions of a wide range of mental illnesses and schizophrenia.

"This campaign is a great opportunity to reach out to the many thousands of people affected by mental health problems in Essex. With fantastic support from Janssen-Cilag Ltd and local support networks, we are committed to changing public perception of mental illness and improving the lives of all those affected by any mental health problems from stress to schizophrenia," said Dr Patrick Geoghegan, Chief Executive of South Essex Partnership NHS Trust.

Although serious mental illness can be devastating, developments in understanding, rehabilitation and treatment can now enable people to live relatively normal lives. The campaign wants to support this understanding to enable service users to either remain at, or return to, work and function in the community whilst dispelling the associations some people still have of serious mental illness automatically translating to institutional care.

The initiative kicks off a day of educational activities with a breakfast meeting for representatives of business large and small, from Essex and beyond, at The Towngate Theatre, Basildon. The meeting will explore prejudice and discrimination in the workplace and offer advice on how to help, support and enable service users to enjoy fulfilling employment.

The campaign continues at The Towngate Theatre with a public exhibition which will provide information on mental health services, support groups and the opportunity to take a stress test. The exhibition will be open from 12.00 - 16.00.

Dr Geoghegan continued, “People should not be afraid or embarrassed about accessing services. Our service users are offered a tailored package of care with appropriate treatment and rehabilitation services to enable them to get better as soon as possible. We need to work together to combat the stigma surrounding mental health problems as they are extremely common - more common than asthma, and the chances are we will all know someone whose life has been touched by a mental health problem. We need to come together and show our support and encourage anyone experiencing a problem to come forward without fear of recrimination.”

John Andrews, Manager of the Service User Involvement Network, said, “We strongly support the initiatives being undertaken by the South Essex Partnership NHS Trust to raise awareness of the 1 in 100 campaign. Many families and communities are affected by Schizophrenia and can be very devastating for those affected and their close families.”

The start of this campaign closely follows the launch of a series of posters by South Essex Partnership NHS Trust to highlight how common mental health problems are, and at the same time promote membership of our proposed NHS Foundation Trust. Membership of our Foundation Trust means local people will have a greater say in how mental health and learning disabilities services are provided in Essex.

You can receive further information about this initiative by visiting the 1 in 100 website, http://www.oneinonehundred.co.uk, or can request a free information pack by calling the 1 in 100 helpline on 0800 587 1153.

For more information, please contact Sue French, Communications Manager on 01375 364686, ( on-site ) mobile: 0797 1047384 or e-mail: sue.french@southessex-trust.nhs.uk
http://www.southessex-trust.nhs.uk

This press release comes from I-Newswire.