Episode 7 - Mental Health & Stigma

“The worst part about having a mental illness is people expect you to behave as if you don’t”

How can we overcome the stigma associated with mental health?

1 in 4 people are affected by mental health issues each year with close to a billion affected worldwide. Depression, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are all examples of mental health issues. The UN has made it a core statement as part of their Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and governments worldwide are waking up to the sleeping giant which is mental health. Mental health issues costs close to £100bn in England alone and therefore addressing this head on is economically attractive but more importantly it has the potential to really improve the way we live and experience our lives.

In this episode, we talk to Dr. Nicole Votruba about the role stigma plays in mental health issues and we discuss the potential policy actions governments could take to improve outcomes for individuals.

Dr. Nicole Votruba is a post doctoral researcher at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience at King’s College London and focuses on global mental health, stigma, and suicide prevention. She is policy officer of the all party parliamentary group on global mental health. From 2014 to 2016 Nicole was coordinator of FundaMentalSDG, a global initiative strengthening mental health within the SDGs. Nicole has an MA in Political Science, and regularly consults organisations such as the World Health Organisation.