MIND, the mental health charity, blogs for ITV News Central about language and attitudes

by Aimee Gee, Media Relations Manager, MIND

The death of Sandra Bainbridge was a tragedy, one compounded by the findings of a report that suggest more could have been done to get Andrea Cutler the help she needed to cope with her mental health problems.

This is not the first report to find failings in NHS mental health services and it won’t be the last – we are again left in no doubt about the catastrophic consequences of not getting people the support they need when they are unwell.

The heart-breaking testimonies of Sandra Bainbridge’s loved ones outline why it is so important that we get mental health services right. When we don’t, lives are affected, often irreversibly.

Homicides such as these are incredibly rare, but the details are usually so shocking that even the most balanced reporting is likely to reinforce negative stereotypes about people with mental health problems. Media reporting around mental health-related homicides is difficult but it’s important to get it right.

The stigma that has surrounded mental health for such a long time means that in many people’s minds, people with mental health problems are to be feared. Public attitudes to mental health are starting to change but it doesn’t take much to undo this progress.

Even those who become acutely unwell are far more likely to hurt themselves than anyone else and when it comes to schizophrenia, the condition most associated in the press with violent behaviour, the numbers just don’t match the fear that is still lodged in the public consciousness.

But we do need to have a conversation about mental health services.

Tragic, senseless incidents such as these expose something that those working in mental health know all too well – services have been under-resourced for such a long time that people fall through the cracks. At best, this means people struggle along without the help they need, relying on their own support networks until, hopefully, their mental health improves. At worst, someone loses their life.

For every horrific homicide, there are many more avoidable suicides. These attract less attention from the media and the public but the story is the same – countless ‘missed opportunities’ to prevent someone becoming so unwell they hurt themselves or, more rarely, someone else.

We are at a pivotal moment in mental health. The NHS has a plan to improve services over the next five years, a plan that comes with funding to address years of neglect and cuts. It’s a good plan but it needs now to be turned into action that sees improvements to mental health services. The proof will be in the experiences of people trying to access the support they need, and far fewer people losing their lives unnecessarily.

READ Trust condemned for 'missed opportunities' in care of woman who stabbed pensioner to death