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Ways of describing someone who is mentally ill and types of mental illness
Ways of describing someone who is mentally ill
Respondents were presented with a list of descriptions and were asked to indicate which they felt usually describes a person who is mentally ill.
The format of this question has changed since it was first asked in 1997, so comparisons are only possible from the 2003 survey onwards (see Figure 13)
The description most likely to be selected was ‘someone who is suffering from schizophrenia’ – 58% in 2011.
The next most often selected were ‘someone who has serious bouts of depression’ and ‘someone who has to be kept in a psychiatric hospital’, both of which were selected by 54%.
The descriptions least likely to be selected were ‘someone who is prone to violence’ at 33% and ‘someone who is incapable of making simple decisions about his or her own life’ at 34%.
There was a significant increase from 2003 to 2011 in the percentage of respondents who chose the following two measures:
• ‘Someone who has to be kept in a psychiatric or mental hospital’ – from 46% to 54%
• ‘Someone prone to violence’ – from 29% to 33%.
There was a significant decrease from 2010 to 2011 in the percentage of respondents who chose the following measures:
• ‘Someone who has serious bouts of depression’ – from 58% to 54% (reversing an increase seen between 2009 and 2010)
• ‘Someone with a split personality’ – from 57% to 51%
• ‘Someone who is incapable of making simple decisions about his or her own life’ – from 38% to 34% (back towards the 2009 level).
Types of mental illness
Respondents were asked to say to what extent they agreed or disagreed that each of the following conditions is a type of mental illness:
• Depression
• Stress
• Schizophrenia
• Bipolar disorder (manic depression)
• Drug addiction
• Grief
These questions, which form part of the Mental Health Knowledge Schedule (MAKS), were asked for the first time in 2009
Respondents were most likely to agree that schizophrenia was a type of mental illness –
71% agreed strongly, with nearly nine out of ten agreeing in total. The pattern was similar for
bipolar disorder, with 62% agreeing strongly and 83% agreeing overall (Figure 21).
The percentage agreeing that depression was a type of mental illness was 81%, however
the percentage strongly agreeing was lower (45%) and slightly agree higher (36%) than for
bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
The lowest percentage was for drug addiction, although more than two out of five
respondents (43%) agreed that this was a type of mental illness.
There were no significant differences between 2010 and 2011 in responses to these
questions.
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