Stephen Pound MP meets local resident at Parliament to discuss mental health issues

Ealing residents met Stephen Pound MP for Ealing North, about mental health issues

Ealing residents met Stephen Pound MP for Ealing North, at Parliament on Wednesday 16th July to ask him what he is doing about mental health issues. 

With 25% of the population experiencing mental distress at some point in their adult life and times of recession being well-documented as increasing stress and anxiety, issues such as mental health provision and access are key. 

The meeting took place at a speed-lobbying event, organised by mental health charity Rethink

The meeting took place at a speed-lobbying event, organised by mental health charity Rethink, that brought together 10 people with mental health conditions from all over England to talk to their MPs and highlight the importance of focusing on mental health. 

 

Stephen Pound MP for Ealing North said: “Mental illness is something that affects us all.  We ignore it at our peril, and any attempt to isolate it (mental illness) would be a disaster.”

Polly Canning, Rethink Activist Manager said: “It is very important that people with mental health problems aren’t overlooked, especially as we are now facing public spending cuts.  One of the best ways for MPs to understand how these issues really hit home locally is to meet local people and hear it directly.”

Key facts
•         One in four people around the world will suffer from a mental health problem at some point in their lives  (World Health Organization, 2001, Mental Health: New Understanding New Hope)
•         16% of people pay privately for treatment because of the long wait for talking therapies on the NHS  (We need to Talk coalition, 2008, While we are waiting)
•         At any one time up to 630,000 people are in contact with specialised mental health services (Department of Health, 2004, Choosing health: Making healthy choices easier)
•         41% of people with a mental health condition said they had not put in an application for a job because they believed they would be discriminated against (Rethink, 2008, Stigma Shout)
•         3 in 10 employees will experience mental health problems in any given year (Office of National Statistics, 1995, Surveys of psychiatric morbidity in Great Britain. Report 3: Economic activity and social functioning of adults with psychiatric disorders)
•         People with mental health problems are at double the risk of losing their jobs (Social Exclusion Unit, 2004, Mental Health & Social Exclusion)
•         85% of employers who have employed someone with a history of mental health problems have no regrets. (Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2008, RC Psych: Mental Health and Work)
•         People with mental illness have the highest ‘want to work’ rate of any group of people with disabilities (Office of National Statistics, 2003, Labour Force Survey)

For more information contact Rethink’s media team on 020 7840 3138 / 3146