‘Alarming rise’ in mental health stigma in England, research shows | Mental health
The number of people in England who fear living near people with mental health problems has almost doubled to one in seven; Experts warn this is a “worrying increase in stigma”.
One in 10 people said they would not want to live near a mentally ill person even if they recovered, according to new research from mental health charity Mind.
The survey by the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s College London found that only 63% of people were comfortable with mental health services being carried out in their community rather than in psychiatric units; this rate was 70% in 2015.
Figures showed 14% of people feared mentally ill people living in their neighbourhood; this rate was 8% in 2017; In 2019, 16% believed mental health services “downgraded” a neighborhood, compared to 10%.
The number of respondents who agreed that being part of a community is the best therapy for people with mental health problems was at 68%, the lowest since the survey was first conducted in 2008.
Mind’s general manager, Dr. Sarah Hughes said: “The increase in stigma is worrying. We’ve seen a change in language, as well as people telling us their family’s attitudes have changed, we’ve seen increased narratives about welfare claimants, and some very difficult and horrific cases of violence linked to mental illness – it feels like a lot has come home to roost.”
He said the charity “frequently hears from mental health services facing challenges such as complaints from neighbours, objections to planning applications or working in inhospitable environments”.
The survey also showed a significant drop in the number of people who believe people with serious mental illness, such as schizophrenia or psychosis, can fully recover. This figure was 67% in 2019 and is currently 53%.
IoPPN’s Prof Claire Henderson said the survey showed that although people’s attitudes towards certain individuals with mental illness had improved, their attitudes towards mental illness overall were “back to square one”.
He said recent high-profile criminal cases involving perpetrators with mental illness, such as Valdo Calocane, who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and fatally stabbed three people in Nottingham in 2023, may have increased stigma.
“There’s a fear around people who are visibly sick and a push for more challenging care, when really it’s about having the resources to respond to people in crisis,” he said.
“But if you have a neighbor who is very sick and isn’t getting treatment, or you’re on the bus and someone is yelling for no obvious reason, and you have young children, people worry. It’s not fair to say people are ignorant or prejudiced.”
Difficulty accessing services increases pessimism about whether treatment is working, he said. “We asked people: ‘Can the medicine work? Will people get better?’ “And if you don’t see that happening, then you’re not going to answer those questions positively,” he said.
Henderson said the “increasingly negative discourse around young people with mental health issues” was “trivializing” some conditions and fostering misconceptions about welfare claimants.
The findings were published as part of Mind’s annual Big Mental Health report, which found there were 1.66 million people waiting for community mental health care in England and Wales in the third quarter of 2024-25.
Jenny Tan, a 22-year-old psychology student who waited years to seek treatment for anorexia, said she faced stigma and hostility when disclosing her mental health.
“There are a lot more celebrities now coming forward and talking about it. I thought society was a lot more tolerant, a lot more understanding,” he said. “But when people think of mental illness, they think of disorders that are stereotypically portrayed in the media as dangerous, things that are associated with violence.
“But I think if people really understood what it’s like to have a mental health problem, their reaction wouldn’t be disgust and avoidance.”
