Mental health supports - Explain plan to axe funding

ONE of the things we have done well is to change attitudes towards mental illness. Not so long ago, those who suffered a bout of mental illness were condemned to a twilight life where they were never free of the perception that they were weak and maybe unreliable.

It was an unjustified badge sometimes carried long after recovery. One of the things that we have not done well is to finance mental health services properly. Despite assurance after assurance it is a Cinderella service, one condemned to last place in the queue for funding.

The perception is that there are no votes in mental health and that it can be ignored without real political consequences.