News

6th June 2002

John Bowis MEP: 'The defeat of stigma will bring real benefits to mental health patients'

John Bowis – Conservative Euro MP for London & Health Spokesman – has recently attended a Mental Health conference in Sofia, Bulgaria, highlighting the importance of defeating stigma to bring real benefits to mental health patients. The European Network for Mental Health Service Evaluation Conference took place on Saturday 1st June, with John Bowis delivering a key note speech on the stigma of mental health.

Speaking from Sofia John Bowis said, “If modern humane mental health policy is to work, it must have a spectrum of care from secure units to home support and it must have the range of health, social services, housing, training, transport and benefits services working in partnership; it must have trust between professionals, patients and families and it needs government resources, which needs political awareness, which needs public consent and professional support. A service, which does not gain professional, public and political support, fails patients and their families doubly. It fails to treat and care adequately and it prompts a downward spiral of public confidence and so reinforces stigma.”

John Bowis continued, “Yet stigma is rampant in all our countries and stigma is a human rights abuse; unintentional, born out of fear and ignorance, but just as damaging to the individual as any other form of abuse. We all contribute to the stigmatisation of people who, if they had a physical problem, would receive our sympathy and support. Yet with mental illness we so often turn away and hope someone else will cope. Living with mental illness is tough enough, without having added to the burden of illness, the pain of rejection and stigma.”