Mental Health

Hannah Bardell Excerpts

Wednesday 9th December 2015 Commons Chamber

[Hannah Bardell (Livingston) (SNP)]

I congratulate the hon. Member for Liverpool, Wavertree (Luciana Berger) on securing the debate, in which it is a great privilege to speak.

On 11 April 2002 football fans in England held their breath after David Beckham famously broke the second metatarsal bone on his left foot and was ruled out of the World cup, a mere 50 days before it was due to kick off. Over the following days and weeks the good footballing fans and folk of England watched with trepidation as Beckham recovered and eventually scored the winning goal against Argentina to take England to the quarter-finals. Most Members in the Chamber will be wondering what on earth this tale has to do with the matter of mental health. A great deal, because at the heart of this issue and the debate is parity of esteem for mental and physical health and ultimately how we frame our vision and views of mental health. In Scotland we have parity of esteem in Scottish legislation.

If David Beckham had suffered mental health issues which prevented him from training or playing, would we have tracked his progress and wellbeing with such careful attention? Would he even have admitted to having had a mental illness? I am speaking hypothetically, but for a variety of reasons we often treat mental health completely differently from physical health, and there is no good reason or explanation for that. How we frame the debate is hugely important. According to the charity Mind, which surveyed almost 6,000 people in January 2015, over a third of people—40%— come up against stigma and discrimination on a monthly and weekly basis, and over half the people surveyed said that stigma and discrimination were as bad as or worse than the illness itself.

In Scotland we are proud that the early introduction of targets for child and adolescent mental health services has supported substantial increases in the CAMHS workforce. The Scottish Government are investing over £100 million over the next five years to ensure that our health service is equipped to train the workforce that offer these vital services. I pay tribute to the great work of organisations such as the Scottish Association for Mental Health, which recently launched its “Give mental health a sporting chance” campaign. In partnership with Chris Hoy, SAMH is building on the success of sport in Scotland, such as the 2014 Commonwealth games. Its chief executive says:

“The time is right for sport to use its collective power to tackle the stigma and discrimination around mental ill health.”

It is important in a debate such as this to recognise the root causes of mental ill health and how we can ensure that every child and young person gets the very best start in life. That is why I find it incredible that the UK Government are choosing to continue with their austerity agenda, when a recent report by Psychologists Against Austerity called “The Psychological Impact of Austerity” states:

“It’s now well established that austerity has hit the poor much harder than the wealthy: we have indeed, been ‘balancing the books on the backs of the poor’”.

The report goes on to say:

“What has not been sufficiently highlighted is the psychological price people have paid.”

In closing, I would like to read the last two verses of a poem that a constituent who has suffered mental illness sent me:

“I know we’ve had this conversation before

But this time I’m throwing you out of the door

I tried in the past but I didn’t want to be rude

For after all you’ve done me such good.

I appreciate that you’ve been my friend

But now I’m afraid it has to end

I cannot keep you by my side

There were times you almost let me die.”