Stigma is ‘Endemic in Society’

A BIRMINGHAM MP has spoken of her misery as a child caused by her father’s mental illness and the stigma surrounding it.

Lynne Jones (Lab Selly Oak) told fellow MPs that she had been ashamed to bring friends home, as she made an intensely personal speech in the House of Commons.

She warned that although attitudes had improved, there were still many prejudices surrounding mental illness.

Dr Jones was speaking as MPs considered the Government’s Mental Health Bill, which will allow people with serious personality disorders to be detained even if they have not committed a crime.

The legislation is designed to end a discrepancy in the law which meant people were detained only if their conditions were treatable.

Dr Jones, aged 56, said: “Stigma against people with mental health problems is so endemic in our society that people are ashamed of admitting that they might have a mental health problem.”

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