AIBU - Prince Harry separating mental illness from mental health

[Idontwanttotalk]

I disagree with what Prince Harry said earlier today in South Africa regarding mental health:
"I think most of the stigma is around mental illness we need to separate the two … mental health which is every single one of us and mental illness which could be every single one of us,” Harry said during a press interview at Monday morning’s event.

We ALL have both physical and mental health which, at particular times in our lives, will be either good or ill-health:

Good mental health.
Good physical health.
Mental ill-health.
Physical ill-health.

The stigma is caused by separating it from physical health, separating treatment centres so that patients with mental ill-health are isolated in units away from those with physical ill-health. It comes from the media's hyped-up reporting of crime where it has been carried out by a Psychopath. It comes from terminology where we refer to those with both mental ill-health and just outrageously nasty people as nutters, loonies, psychos, crazy, mad etc.

Why do we separate health and illnesses of the brain and mind from the health and illnesses of other parts of our form/body?

We have to get away from this in order that people who are suffering aren't afraid to come forward before they reach a crisis point, for fear of the stigma involved.

This is interesting. I am a first aider at work and today attended a course to train as a mental health first aider. Two very different roles.

We absolutely do have mental health and that, like physical health can be good, at times it might be less good, because of stress or tiredness etc.

Then there are people who have mental illness (like myself I should add). That isa little bit more complex than just feeling anxious or depressed in response to something that happens. At some point it tips the brain into an imbalance and it becomesmental illness, if it is chronic. Then people may have a actual mental illness so as bipolar, a chronic, possibly genetic illness.

So you might get a cold or have something more serious like cancer or asthma.

That's how I see mental health, as a spectrum. Everyone needs to take care of mental health, that doesn't diminish people suffering from mental illness, be it chronic or acute.

You can have poor mental health without mental illness.

Parents can cause their children to have poor mental health. Or environmental/poverty factors can.

So there is a difference.

If we don't look after our physical health, we get sick.

If we don't look after our mental.health, we get sick.

It us the same but different

I've worked in various Social Care roles, including the CP system and with refugees.

I'm putting this in simple terms.

Most refugees come in with poor mental health. This is given a temporary boost by entering a safe country. But often re-emerges. But that is different than the % of refugees that are mentally ill and needing immediate treatment. Very often these people have been kept tied up by their families for safety.

Re the children going through CP. Many will have poor mental health. But that again, this is different to a Personality disorder, attachment disorder etc and mental illnesses.

From the ordinary African Women i have met, I'd say there's a good amount of poor mental health amongst them, because of life circumstances. Their religion helps, somewhat with that.

Equating mental health to physical health

physically or mentally healthy

flu, broken leg, chest infection - reactive stress, depression, anxiety

asthma, hypothyroid, fibromyalgia - chronic anxiety, depression, stress

arthritis, diabetes, COPD - Bipolar disorder, Schizophrenia, Personality disorder

Cardiac arrest - acute psychosis

The above are clearly not exact, and there's obviously different degrees of severity in all of them which leads to even less of a corollary. It's just a 5 mins kind of guesstimate as to the way mental and physical health are parallel.

I agree with the separation. I have good mental health but experienced a brief period of mental illness earlier this year. I am now recovered from that. Luckily my work treated it just like a physical illness (ie took it seriously and offered support), which helped with my return.

I absolutely agree with him and I'm glad he's realised it. All the "let's talk" stuff that he, William and Kate were banging on about a while ago is all very well in terms of mental wellbeing/health but it's essential to treat mental illnesses as illnesses - with a diagnosis and appropriate treatment.

I think he is correct.

The only problem is that it could be read to suggest that mental illness does deserve the stigma. I don't think that was the intention at all and, as someone with quite significant mental illness, I don't read it that way myself. But I think it could potentially cause upset in that way.