Now that the news of Paul Whatuira is doing the rounds (Not wnating to discuss anything sub judice and without the full facts) I've noticed from a lot of the comments on other message boards that the stigma around mental health issues is still quite strong.



This really saddens me given the efforts of various people and bodies to combat this that it seems to still be quite prevalent. It's even more shocking when you consider that one in four of us in Britain will be affected by mental health issues at some point in our life. Why is it that for any other type of illness people are generally supportive but not for anything affecting a persons mental state or emotions? Some of the comments on the threads (subsiquently removed) on other sites have really p155ed me off and other peoples general acceptance of such comments seems even worse. If such ignorance was shown towards gay people or ethnic minorities the attitudes of other contributors would be rightly quite different.



Rant over.

It could be argued that learning to laugh at something is the first step to genuinely addressing it. For example the work sportsmen do to destigmatise male cancers. Its about breaking taboo subjects into chunks that people can comprehend.



I don't know what its like abroad, but perhaps illness of the mind is perceived in this country as a tangent of emotion which traditionally should be supressed. Stiff upper lip and all that.



One wing of my family has a tendency to this sort of thing (feel free to joke at this point - I don't mind), and I have learned to rationalise with myself when the blue starts to come down (as has my sister and dad). Without wishing to be immodest, I think the benefit of being fairly intelligent is that I can recognise symptoms and ward them off at the pass.

I think a lot of it is down to people not knowing the facts about a lot of mental illnesses. People then assume the worst and that fear leads to prejudice.

I think people tend to struggle more coping with others whose illness (or difference) is not necessarily visible.

Isn't it?

I mean people would rightfully view groundless suspicion, ignorance and prejudice with the same disdain not that being an ethnic minority or gay is an illness or negative.

According to the Catholic church one of them is.....

It is a pity that mental illness still gets the bad press, after all one in five people are affected by mental illness in some form. The media highlights sporting personalitiess, and I recall a heavy weight boxer getting a real turnover by the press. Sadly very little coverage when he had a full recovery.

I remember Robbie Paul coming to the Uni to do a talk about mental health a couple of years ago, he was very insightful and very honest about his own struggles on that front. He said it was a very difficult thing to broach with other players, but that when he was able, he'd been surprised how many others had experienced similar difficulties.

All good stuff this folks. More so because it's being dealt with in a serious and considerative manner. Some other boards/there posters should take note





One of the best / most informative reads about, IMHO, is "The Little Book of The Mind" - from down this neck of the woods - and was one of the best sources of information I've come across.



I did some research/work a few months back for a couple of self help groups down here and it really opened my eyes to the nonsense that people have to cope with and the difficulties that some people have to face.



Being viewed as "weak" and/or "damaged" was a reoccurring view that was raised on a regular basis.



MBBB's stats are, at the same time, both enlightening and frightening.