How can Enda’s story influence policy-making for mental health?

The themes that come up so often in these stories are wonderfully intertwined here: self belief and peer support on the positive side, and stigma and hospital care on the negative. It is a shocking indictment that some people feel the need to make insulting gestures at harmless people waiting for a bus that are bound to upset. What does that tell us about society? Little surprise, if these sentiments are widely prevalent, even in much diminished form, that it is hard with a history of mental health problems to find a job or a partner. Both suggestions in this piece, famous people talking about their experiences and educating children are good and have been put in practice, but more is required. Let’s hope the ongoing campaigns and their evaluations will tell us more.

The bad experiences of hospital, and the abuse suffered at the hands of staff are emerging so frequently in these stories that it should become a priority for action. Hospital is where the most vulnerable people are placed to receive care and protection. It is intolerable that every time again it is felt as an un-therapeutic and damaging place. I cannot believe that staff enter this field intending to act as sadists, so an important question is what affects staff over time. What turns some motivated young people into abusers? One part of the answer lies in better quality control and transparent complaint procedures, but prevention will always be better than punishment.

Finally, again, I can also say how uplifting it is to read how Enda, despite all the pain and suffering, takes responsibility for herself, finds strength in the user movement and inspires others. And that includes me.

Dr Matt Muijen, Regional Adviser, Noncommunicable Diseases and Environment, WHO/Europe