Mental health targets 'help get better care'

The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy in Edinburgh welcomes the Scottish Government's decision to introduce waiting times goals for a range of conditions, saying it would end the "postcode lottery" for care. However, the organisation said there was possible for other, less common psychological conditions to be included.

Adding mental conditions to the list of health improvement, competence, access and treatment targets - which include the likes of cancer and A&E wards - would also make health boards more accountable for the punctual treatment of mental health, the organisation said. Its lead adviser for Scotland, Shane Buckeridge, said: "It is estimated that at any one time there are some 850,000 Scottish people with mental health problems and until now it has been a postcode draw in terms of what is available, leading to a huge disparity in service provision across Scotland."The new targets will hopefully ensure that all patients have access to the services they need in a timely method.

Mental illness stigma lingers despite organism known as brain disease

Public perception of mental illness and dependence has changed significantly - and for the good - in the past 15 years. That doesn't mean, however, people feel comfortable working or living near or being friends with someone with mental illness, according to a major new survey.

Ten years of research: The study compared people's responses to vignettes involving mental illness and addiction to gauge public understanding of the illness and feelings toward those who are ill or enthusiastic. The surveys took place in 1996 and 2006.
The idea, the researchers said, was to charge whether major efforts to improve the treatment of mental conditions and eliminate stigma in the United States is working. Several sweeping efforts have been made in the past two decades to educate Americans on mental illness. A major theme of these campaigns is that mental illnesses and addiction are biological, brain-based, sometimes-inherited illnesses that are each "a disease like any other."