A campaign by SANE Australia which challenges misinformed community attitudes that discourage Australians affected by mental illness from seeking the treatment they need.

Kevin Harrington and Marcella Russo are among the respected actors who have worked with SANE Australia to produce a new series of radio ads, which aired in October and November 2005, and again in early 2006. The radio and outdoor advertising campaign is shaped by research that found people with a mental illness, their family and other carers regard the invisible stigma of dismissive, ignorant attitudes they encounter daily in the community, to be profoundly hurtful and unhelpful.

Callers to the SANE Helpline report that many people in the community still do not regard mental illness as ‘real’ in the same way as physical illness. Barbara Hocking, Executive Director of SANE Australia, says: ‘Not only do these outdated, inaccurate and harmful attitudes discourage help-seeking, but they also have a not-so-subtle effect on government priority-setting, contributing to the low level of funding for mental health services in Australia. We have to challenge these attitudes once and for all.’ The campaign exposes stigmatising attitudes such as ‘People with depression just want a day off work’, ‘People with manic mood swings are just attention seekers’, and ‘People with schizophrenia just need to pull themselves together’. These comments are then negated with an emphatic ‘MENTAL ILLNESS IS REAL’ slogan, followed by the offer of ‘real help and information’ via the Helpline at 1800 18 SANE (7263).

SANE Australia is at the forefront of combating stigma and prejudice against people affected by mental illness through the award-winning StigmaWatch program and advocacy activities. Creative work and logistics for the campaign are generously provided pro bono by the CommotionKWP advertising agency.

For Real information about mental illness see SANE Australia's Factsheets.

 
   Kevin Harrington

  Marcella Russo