From Psychminded.uk.co:

The biggest ever campaign in England aiming to combat the stigma of mental illness has been launched.

The Big Lottery Fund is pumping £16m into a campaign which will include anti-stigma television advertisements. Comic Relief is providing £2m.

The campaign, entitled Moving People, will be run by the charities Mental Health Media, Mind and Rethink together with the Institute of Psychiatry. The campaign aims to reach 30 million people across England.

Campaigners say people with mental health problems are one of the most excluded groups in society, and the announcement of the campaign come on the heels of Department of Health research published this month which claimed there has been an increase in prejudice over the last ten years.

The survey found, for example, there has been a drop in people who believe those with mental health problems should have the same right to a job as anyone else, In 2003 it was 68%, but this year it was 65%.

The survey also reported that over the last four years there has been a 17% increase in people saying those with mental health problems are "prone to violence". This year it was 34%. In 2003 it was 29%.

The department of health research suggests young people are those most prejudiced towards people with mental health problems. Younger people are less likely to agree that "we need to adopt a far more tolerant attitude towards people with mental illness in our society". Only 79% of 16-34 year olds agree with this statement, compared to 87% of 35-54 year olds and 86% of over 55s.

Comic Relief, if I remember correctly, is the organization they talked about in the UK version of the Office on that day that people wore their clothes inside-out for donations and put on red noses. Their fundraising drives seem to be popular office events.

I wish we had a program like that in the U.S. First of all, it's a really important message, one that absolutely needs a large campaign here in the states. Secondly, I'd like to see put-together looking office workers in funny hats.

Biggest ever campaign to combat mental illness stigma