What you can do as a parent or carer

The ‘see me ’ campaign to eliminate the stigma around mental health problems (mental ill-health) has until now been aimed at adults. But young people’s attitudes need to be challenged too. That is why the 'see me' young people's campaign was launched in 2005 to target the 12 to 18 age range.

It is important that you, as parents and relatives, are aware of the message the campaign is sending, and aware of where to guide your child, or relative for more information and support.

With support, the majority of people who experience mental health problems recover fully. Often, it is the support of those closest to a young person that is of the greatest value in ensuring that recovery.

We aim to raise the issue for discussion in the home, giving you the tools to fight stigma and the signposts you need to support your family members in what can be very difficult time.

How Can I Address Stigma?

One of the most effective ways of fighting stigma is to make sure you have good quality information, keep an open mind, and talk about the issues, as a family, and with others. Keeping things hidden can help to give stigma a home.

To help you to bring issues out into the open:

• Read some personal accounts of stigma, which highlight the real impact on individuals. Showing these to your child can help him or her feel less alone. You may also wish to share your own experiences of stigma.
• Download factsheets about mental health problems. You might use them as a basis for discussion with family, school staff or other professionals
• Contact other organisations for support or details of local projects in your area.
• Get information about stigma, mental health and wellbeing, and mental health problems, and use it to make sure you and your family know what they need to be supportive.
• Download or order campaign materials both for this campaign, and for the ‘see me’ public and workplace campaigns. You can use these to help discussion in the home, or you can display them at work, or in your community .
• Avoid using stigmatising language yourself, or giving other people encouragement by laughing at stigmatising jokes. Joking about someone with a different mental health problem to the one you’ve come into contact with hurts just as much as joking about more familiar issues hurts your family.
• Make your home a no-stigma zone… react to the use of stigmatising language in the same way, as you would respond to racist or sexist language.
• Respond to episodes of stigma in the media, in business or services by getting involved with Stigma Stop Watch.