Mental Health Stigma Tackled In North East

NHS staff in the North East are learning how to help break down barriers between mental health patients and health professionals.

A new pilot project is being launched between mental health anti-stigma campaign group Time to Change and Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust. It's to tackle stigma and discrimination, something which Caroline Wild from NTW says must change:

'We've got a lot of work to do to make sure that mental health is thought about in exactly the same way as physical health. One in four of us will have a mental health need over our lifetime, so its very common, and that stigma is reducing, but we've still got a lot more work to do.'

The project comes after mental health care service users across the country said that they continue to face stigma from healthcare professionals. Its now hoped it will encourage a dialogue about the small things that could make a big difference to both people’s experience of mental health services and the experiences of staff.

Joanne Cowen from Newcastle told Metro Radio she now uses her experiences of living with mental health problems to help others in a similar situation.

She told us: "I didn't feel as though I had a purpose in society when I was really, really unwell. It was only through becoming involved with people who were not afraid to share their story that I felt I had a purpose in life once again."

You can find out more information about the pilot project here: