Mental Illness - The Unspoken Barrier

Most people in our society still don't understand mental illness. Too often it is seen as a weakness - something that is 'put on' by those who somehow don't want to face reality and 'pull themselves together' - as opposed to a medical condition which can blight lives and which deserves understanding and compassion.

I'm fortunate not to have visited the very outer reaches of such conditions myself - but when I was younger, I suffered deeply from social anxiety and clinical depression. It made life extraordinarily difficult for almost two years, and there are few weeks when I don't thank my lucky stars that I am now in a better and more stable mental place than I was.

Perhaps the worst thing about it all was the feeling of helplessness that not being in control of one's own mood, outlook and social reactions engenders - and the knowledge that many people simply don't understand how a chronic mental condition can affect every aspect of one's being. Someone with depression is not being 'lazy' or malingering - they are sapped of their energy, their drive, and their passions. It's not a good place to be, and when combined with anxiety attacks, it's even worse. Millions of people suffer, in one way or another, from such illnesses - often in silence.

It doesn't have to be this way - and it shouldn't be. That is one of the reasons that I am supporting ReThink's campaign to overturn the blanket ban on anyone receiving treatment for a mental illness being able to serve on a jury in the UK. Rather than being based on the capacity to make sound judgements, the ban applies to anyone receiving treatment - even if their condition is being effectively self managed, or simply monitored by their GP to ensure against a relapse. This is just one example (there are many others, including election to Parliament, in fact) of the stigma that is still attached to mental illness.

Mental illness doesn't have to destroy lives - it can be managed, survived, and worked through. Winston Churchill's 'Black Dog' depressions didn't stop his career, and neither did Abraham Lincoln's frequent bouts of intense melancholy. Marcus Trescothick has bravely spoken out about his own anxiety disorder, and has found happiness back at Somerset, having defied the expectations being laid on his shoulders by others. In contrast, the recent suicide of Robert Enke shows just what can happen when mental illness is viewed as weakness, and when those suffering feel that they can't speak out.

Politicians hardly ever talk about this issue.

They should.

I will.

Diane Abbott and Gary McKinnon

As I've written about before, one of the major challenges of standing as a non-Labour candidate in Hackney North is that Diane Abbott has a strong reputation as a radical MP. In some ways, that is deserved - she is certainly not a generic Blairite or Brownite, that's for sure. However, much of her reputation seems to be based on her politics in the late 80s and early 90s - and the more research I do, the more examples I turn up of her voting in ways that one would never have expected, given her history.

I've already covered her recent, surprising vote against a transparent Iraq inquiry - and now there is this article in the Guardian, which points out her vote against the campaign towards a fair trial for Gary McKinnon. It's made worse because she has spoken out about the unfairness of the US-UK Extradition Treaty before, and yet when it comes to doing something about this test case, she votes with the government. Very odd.

Of course, I'm not saying that just because Gary McKinnon is clearly a confused person his actions should not be investigated. Just that they should be investigated in a court that is unbiased, and with proceedings that will not destroy his life, whether he is proven guilty or innocent.

So, I seem to be building up a list of things I would have done differently from Diane if I had been the MP for Hackney North & Stoke Newington over the last couple of months. I would have voted for a transparent inquiry into Iraq, not against one. I would have voted for an immediate inquiry into the workings of the US-UK Extradition Treaty, not against one. I would have spoken out actively and strongly in support of the Vestas occupation. And your MP would have been campaigning in the borough against further privatisation of the NHS over the last couple of weeks - not being a member of the Party doing the privatising.

I suspect this list will get longer and longer over the next few months!