One in five people does not see any difference between a mental illness and a mental handicap, according to a survey published today.
However, attitudes towards mental illness in Ireland are generally very positive according to the survey carried out on behalf of Mental Health Ireland.
The survey states that although there is no benchmark survey against which to compare the survey findings, the impression is that attitudes have improved over the past number of years and are "perhaps contrary to previous perceptions and attitudes held towards mental illness".
"The overwhelmingly positive public attitudes have their foundations in the progressive perception of people with mental illness, a willingness to accept them into the community, a belief that there is room for more responsibility to be given to people with a mental illness, a welcome for contact with sufferers and, finally, an agreement that greater investment in services is required by the Government," stated the survey carried out by Millward Brown IMS.
The survey found that while a positive attitude prevails, there are still some negative attitudes towards mental illness. These negative attitudes are more prevalent among males than females, among older people (aged 65 or more) and younger people (aged under 25), and among the farming sector rather than among those from white collar backgrounds.
The public is in near universal agreement (96 per cent) that society needs to adopt a more tolerant attitude towards people with mental illness, and that people with mental illness have for too long been the subject of riducule (88 per cent agree). An even higher level of agreement (98 per cent) is registered for society having a responsibility to provide the best possible care for people with mental illness.
Another finding of the survey was that one in ten adults considered that a person would be foolish to marry someone with a mental illness even though they seem fully recovered and one in ten believed there may be something to fear from people coming in to their neighborhood to avail of mental health services.
These negative attitudes towards contact are more predominant among young single males and among those who have no experience of people with mental illness.
The survey's most worryingly finding was that nearly one in five (18 per cent) does not see any difference between a mental illness and a mental handicap. The most negative attitudes are again consistently held by young males.