Breaking the silence

One in four suffer mental health problems - where does that figure come from?

HOW many times have you read that one in four people in Britain are affected by a mental health condition? 

Just over a week ago, as the coalition government's No Health Without Mental Health strategy was launched, care services minister Paul Burstow said one in four people will suffer a mental health problem during their lives, while one in six do so at any one time, with an  estimated yearly cost to society of up to £105 billion.

Back in 2001, The World Health Organisation reported that one in four people will suffer mental health problems at some point their lives.  It said 450 million people worldwide were suffering from mental or neurological illnesses and were being failed by their communities.

Why are we scared of other people's prejudice?

One in Four magazine’s Summer 2010 issue includes cover article ‘Why are we so scared?’ by  Breaking the Silence’s Lyn Jenkins.

The article looks at how social and experiential learning relate to the stigma and discrimination that those who have experienced, or are experiencing, mental distress can face and absorb into their daily lives.

These experiences are not restricted to people with experience of mental distress by any means though… if you can remember a time when someone made you feel that you were not able to do something, until you found yourself not even willing to try, then this article could help you break free.

By thinking about how we learn within ourselves and how we learn from others, we can begin to identify ways of breaking free from old thought patterns that hold us back.

Would you take a pill that erased your painful memories?

 RESEARCHERS have successfully tested a new medication on rats that removes the fear caused by painful memories, as reported in The Independent. 

The medication interacts with a chemical in the brain that is involved in learning and memory. During testing the researchers found that by injecting the medication directly into a part of the brain central linked to forgetting memories they could take away the fear that a painful memory caused. The original memory itself was not lost though and if another similar painful situation was faced, the fear could regenerate.