Rethink Mental Illness

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Rethink Mental Illness
Founded1972 (1972)
Type Charity
Registration no.271028
Focus Mental illness
HeadquartersThe Dumont; 28 Albert Embankment; London; SE1 7GR
Area served
UK
Key people
 Chief Executive Mark Winstanley
Website https://www.rethink.org
RemarksNo matter how bad things are, we can help people severely affected by mental illness improve their lives.
Formerly called
National Schizophrenia Fellowship; Rethink

Rethink Mental Illness is an English charity that seeks to improve the lives of people severely affected by mental illness.

Contents

The organisation was founded in 1972 by John Pringle whose son was diagnosed with schizophrenia. The operating name of 'Rethink' was adopted in 2002, and expanded to 'Rethink' Mental Illness' (to be more self-explanatory) in 2011, but the charity registered as the National Schizophrenia Fellowship, although no longer focusing only on schizophrenia. [1] It is now registered as Rethink Mental Illness.

Rethink Mental Illness is for carers as well as for people living with a mental illness. It now has approximately 1,300 members, who receive a regular magazine called Your Voice. In 2023/24, the charity helped 24,000 people in their services, 31,000 people called their helpline and 825,000 people followed them on social media. It provides services (including supported housing projects, advocacy and crisis support), peer support groups, and information through an advice helpline and publications. The Rethink Mental Illness website receives almost 5 million visitors every year. Rethink Mental Illness carries out some survey research which informs both their own and national mental health policy, and it actively campaigns against stigma and for change through greater awareness and understanding. It is a member organisation of EUFAMI, the European Federation of Families of People with Mental Illness.

History

John Pringle published an anonymous article in The Times on 9 May 1970, describing the ways that his son's schizophrenia diagnosis had affected his family, and what his experience caring for his son was like. [2] This article and the support it gathered was the starting point for the National Schizophrenia Fellowship, which was founded by Pringle in 1972. [3]

In its early days, the National Schizophrenia Fellowship acted as a support group and charity for individuals caring for loved ones diagnosed with schizophrenia. The organization was more robust than previous charities and support organizations, because of its emphasis on helping its constituents understand more about mental health, seek out community for people affected by schizophrenia, and look after their own mental health while caring for loved ones affected by mental illness. [4]

The National Schizophrenia Fellowship was instrumental in promoting the new early psychosis paradigm in 1995 when it linked with an early psychosis network in the West Midlands, called IRIS (Initiative to reduce impact of schizophrenia). [5] [6] This then led to the Early Psychosis Declaration by the World Health Organization [7] and the subsequent formation of early psychosis services as part of mainstream health policy. [8] [9]

In 2002, the organisation rebranded itself as Rethink to reflect its expanded focus on mental health, before later rebranding to Rethink Mental Illness in 2011. [1] Keeping the name Rethink Mental Illness, it refreshed its brand in Jan 2025.

Rethink commissioned a controversial statue of Sir Winston Churchill in a straitjacket, which was unveiled in The Forum building in Norwich on 11 March 2006, to a mixture of praise and criticism. [10] This was part of Rethink's first anti-stigma regional campaign. The statue was intended to show how people in today's society are stigmatised by mental illness, based on claims that Churchill lived with depression and perhaps bipolar disorder. However, the statue was condemned by Churchill's family, and described by Sir Patrick Cormack as an insult both to the former prime minister and to people living with mental health problems. [11] Although straitjackets have not been used in UK psychiatric hospitals for decades, someone living with bipolar disorder identified with "the straitjacket of mental illness" and commended the image. Nevertheless, in response to the complaints, the statue was removed.

Mark Winstanley succeeded Paul Jenkins as chief executive of Rethink Mental Illness in March 2014. [12] [13] The charity's former staff include Judy Weleminsky, who was chief executive of the National Schizophrenia Fellowship from 1985 to 1990.

Campaigns

Amongst its campaigns Rethink has urged the government to look at the mental health risks of cannabis, rather than "fiddle with its legal status". Cannabis was downgraded from a Class B to a Class C drug in 2004, making most cases of possession non-arrestable. However, Rethink wants government support for new research into the relationship between severe mental illness and cannabis. [14] They have publicly stated, in response to George Michael's advocacy of the drug, that cannabis is the drug "most likely to cause mental illness".

In 2009, Rethink launched Time to Change , a campaign to reduce mental health discrimination in England, in collaboration with MIND . [15] and aims to empower people to challenge stigma and speak openly about their own mental health experiences, as well as changing the attitudes and behaviour of the public towards those of us with mental health problems.

In January 2014, Rethink Mental Illness launched a campaign to “Find Mike”, a stranger who talked a 20-year-old man, Jonny Benjamin, out of taking his life in 2008. [16] The campaign aimed to reunite the two men, with Benjamin seeking to “thank the man who saved my life” after talking him down from Waterloo Bridge, and raise awareness of mental health issues. The campaign spread quickly on social media, and within two days, the stranger’s fiancée spotted it on Facebook and knew instantly that “Mike” was her partner Neil Laybourn. The two arranged to meet, with the moment captured on Channel 4 documentary The Stranger on the Bridge , which explored the issues of the campaign. In March 2016, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge hosted a screening of The Stranger on the Bridge at Kensington Palace, and a discussion alongside Jonny Benjamin.

Rethink Mental Illness, represented by its Chief Executive Mark Winstanley, was a member of the independent Mental Health Taskforce[4] and is currently the chair of NHS England’s Independent Advisory and Oversight Group on Mental Health which advises NHS England on the strategic direction of its mental health programme.

Rethink Mental Illness provides part of the secretariat for the All Party Parliamentary Group on Mental Health.

Mental Health UK

Rethink Mental Illness works with partner charities Change Mental Health (in Scotland), MindWise (in Northern Ireland) and Adferiad Recovery (in Wales) as Mental Health UK, [17] a charity registered in 2016, which "brings together the heritage and experience of four charities from across the country who have been supporting people with their mental health for nearly 50 years". [18] [19]

Funding

Rethink Mental Illness sets out annually its financial situation in its trustees' annual report. The trustees have reported as follows:

YearTotal income (£ million)
202340.9 [20]
202237.5 [21]
202133.1 [22]
202031.7 [23]
201932.7 [24]
201832.2 [25]
201733.7 [26]
201637.0 [27]
201539.0 [26]
201448.5 [28]
201350.9 [26]
201252.9 [26]
201154.3 [29]

Rethink Mental Illness has an annual income of approximately £37.5 million, according to its Directors, Trustees and Consolidated Financial Statements report for the year ended 31 March 2022.

The vast majority of this income comes from contracts to provide a wide range of mental health services commissioned by statutory sources including local governmental health and social care bodies. Currently around £1.5 million of its income derives from individual donations, membership and corporate relationships.

Rethink Mental Illness notes it protects its independent voice by making clear with funders that no donation can challenge its independence in any way, and its corporate partners sign up to a written agreement stating this position. The organisation accepts funding from pharmaceutical companies on the basis that, as with its other funders, these gifts can support its work without compromising it. It states that its discussions with pharmaceutical companies about medication and treatments will always be unrelated to any funds received from them, and that it does not endorse particular drugs or treatments. Recent contributions from pharmaceutical companies account for less than 0.1% of the charity’s overall funding. [30]

See also

General:

Related Research Articles

Psychosis is a condition of the mind or psyche that results in difficulties determining what is real and what is not real. Symptoms may include delusions and hallucinations, among other features. Additional symptoms are disorganized thinking and incoherent speech and behavior that is inappropriate for a given situation. There may also be sleep problems, social withdrawal, lack of motivation, and difficulties carrying out daily activities. Psychosis can have serious adverse outcomes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Schizophrenia</span> Mental disorder with psychotic symptoms

Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized variously by hallucinations, delusions, disorganized thinking and behavior, and flat or inappropriate affect. Symptoms develop gradually and typically begin during young adulthood and are never resolved. There is no objective diagnostic test; diagnosis is based on observed behavior, a psychiatric history that includes the person's reported experiences, and reports of others familiar with the person. For a diagnosis of schizophrenia, the described symptoms need to have been present for at least six months or one month. Many people with schizophrenia have other mental disorders, especially mood, anxiety, and substance use disorders, as well as obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD).

Schizoaffective disorder is a mental disorder characterized by symptoms of both schizophrenia (psychosis) and a mood disorder, either bipolar disorder or depression. The main diagnostic criterion is the presence of psychotic symptoms for at least two weeks without prominent mood symptoms. Common symptoms include psychosis, as well as mood episodes. Schizoaffective disorder can often be misdiagnosed when the correct diagnosis may be psychotic depression, bipolar I disorder, schizophreniform disorder, or schizophrenia. This is a problem as treatment and prognosis differ greatly for most of these diagnoses. Many people with schizoaffective disorder have other mental disorders including anxiety disorders.

The Hearing Voices Movement (HVM) is the name used by organizations and individuals advocating the "hearing voices approach", an alternative way of understanding the experience of those people who "hear voices". In the medical professional literature, ‘voices’ are most often referred to as auditory verbal hallucinations. The movement uses the term ‘hearing voices’, which it feels is a more accurate and 'user-friendly' term.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robin Murray</span> British psychiatrist and professor (born 1944)

Sir Robin MacGregor Murray FRS is a British psychiatrist, Professor of Psychiatric Research at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London. He has treated patients with schizophrenia and bipolar illness referred to the National Psychosis Unit of the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust because they fail to respond to treatment, or cannot get appropriate treatment, locally; he sees patients privately if they are unable to obtain an NHS referral.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mind (charity)</span> British mental health charity

Mind is a mental health charity in England and Wales. It was founded in 1946 as the National Association for Mental Health (NAMH).

SANE is a UK mental health charity working to improve quality of life for people affected by mental illness.

People with schizophrenia are at a higher than average risk of physical ill health, and earlier death than the general population. The fatal conditions include cardiovascular, respiratory and metabolic disorders.

Loren Richard Mosher was an American psychiatrist, clinical professor of psychiatry, expert on schizophrenia and the chief of the Center for Studies of Schizophrenia in the National Institute of Mental Health (1968–1980). Mosher spent his professional career advocating for humane and effective treatment for people diagnosed as having schizophrenia and was instrumental in developing an innovative, residential, home-like, non-hospital, non-drug treatment model for newly identified acutely psychotic persons.

Dual diagnosis is the condition of having a mental illness and a comorbid substance use disorder. There is considerable debate surrounding the appropriateness of using a single category for a heterogeneous group of individuals with complex needs and a varied range of problems. The concept can be used broadly, for example depression and alcohol use disorder, or it can be restricted to specify severe mental illness and substance use disorder, or a person who has a milder mental illness and a drug dependency, such as panic disorder or generalized anxiety disorder and is dependent on opioids. Diagnosing a primary psychiatric illness in people who use substances is challenging as substance use disorder itself often induces psychiatric symptoms, thus making it necessary to differentiate between substance induced and pre-existing mental illness.

Together for Mental Wellbeing is a UK charity working in mental health. Until 2005 it was known as the Mental After Care Association (Maca).

Early intervention in psychosis is a clinical approach to those experiencing symptoms of psychosis for the first time. It forms part of a new prevention paradigm for psychiatry and is leading to reform of mental health services, especially in the United Kingdom and Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Long-term effects of cannabis</span>

The long-term effects of cannabis have been the subject of ongoing debate. Given that the use of cannabis is illegal in most countries, clinical research presents a challenge and there is limited evidence from which to draw conclusions. In 2017, the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine issued a report summarizing much of the published literature on health effects of cannabis, into categories regarded as conclusive, substantial, moderate, limited and of no or insufficient evidence to support an association with a particular outcome.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patrick McGorry</span> Australian psychiatrist

Patrick Dennistoun McGorry is an Irish-born Australian psychiatrist known for his development of the early intervention services for emerging mental disorders in young people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Psychosis Unit</span> Hospital in England

The National Psychosis Unit is a national treatment centre for patients with schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, in the United Kingdom. The unit is a tertiary referral centre in the National Health Service. It is located at the Bethlem Royal Hospital, part of the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. It is closely affiliated to the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, and forms part of the Psychosis Clinical Academic Group of King's Health Partners.

Revolving Doors is a charitable organisation in the United Kingdom which works across England and Wales. Through research, policy and campaigning work, the organisation aims to improve services for people with multiple needs who are in repeat contact with the criminal justice system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Cannon</span> Irish psychiatrist and research scientist

Mary Cannon is an Irish psychiatrist, research scientist, public figure, and former member of the Cannabis Risk Alliance. She has received the Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland's "Doctors Award" for psychiatry and is among the most highly cited scientists in the world. Cannon is known for her views on cannabis, being described as 'anti-cannabis'. She is best known in the field of psychiatry for her study of the risk factors for mental illness in young people.

Mental Health Research UK is the UK's first charity dedicated to funding research into the causes of mental illness in order to develop better treatments with fewer side-effects.

Prevention of mental disorders are measures that try to decrease the chances of a mental disorder occurring. A 2004 WHO report stated that "prevention of these disorders is obviously one of the most effective ways to reduce the disease burden." The 2011 European Psychiatric Association (EPA) guidance on prevention of mental disorders states "There is considerable evidence that various psychiatric conditions can be prevented through the implementation of effective evidence-based interventions." A 2011 UK Department of Health report on the economic case for mental health promotion and mental illness prevention found that "many interventions are outstandingly good value for money, low in cost and often become self-financing over time, saving public expenditure". In 2016, the National Institute of Mental Health re-affirmed prevention as a research priority area.

Dawnette Ethilda Edge is a British medical researcher who is a Professor of Mental Health and Inclusivity at the University of Manchester. Her research investigates racial inequalities in mental health, including the origins of the overdiagnosis of schizophrenia in British African-Caribbean people.

References

  1. 1 2 Gareth Jones, Rethink rebrands to clarify its role, 19 September 2011. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
  2. ↑ "John Pringle's Letter". John Pringle's Letter. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  3. ↑ Burrows, Graham D.; Norman, Trevor R.; Rubinstein, Gertrude (1986). Handbook of Studies on Schizophrenia: Management and research. Elsevier. ISBN   978-0-444-80726-7.
  4. ↑ Brumby, Alice (2020), Taylor, Steven J.; Brumby, Alice (eds.), "The National Schizophrenia Fellowship: Charity, Caregiving and Strategies of Coping, 1960–1980", Healthy Minds in the Twentieth Century: In and Beyond the Asylum, Mental Health in Historical Perspective, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 189–209, doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-27275-3_9 , ISBN   978-3-030-27275-3
  5. ↑ Bertolote J, McGorry P (August 2005). "Early intervention and recovery for young people with early psychosis: consensus statement" (PDF). Br J Psychiatry Suppl. 48 (48): s116–9. doi: 10.1192/bjp.187.48.s116 . PMID   16055800 . Retrieved 23 September 2011.
  6. ↑ History of the Early Psychosis Declaration, IRIS-initiative.org.uk. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
  7. ↑ Early Psychosis Declaration, IRIS. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
  8. ↑ Early Intervention development programme, IRIS. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
  9. ↑ IRIS Initiative in the UK [usurped] , California Council of Community Mental Health Agencies. (registration required) Retrieved 23 September 2011.
  10. ↑ Andrew Laughlin (19 July 2012). "C4 puts Churchill in a straitjacket". Digital Spy. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  11. ↑ "Churchill sculpture sparks uproar". 11 March 2006. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  12. ↑ http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/paul-jenkins/9/501/4bb [ self-published source ]
  13. ↑ "Jonathan Trott 'not depressed' – response from Rethink Mental Illness". Rethink Mental Illness. Archived from the original on 24 March 2014. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  14. ↑ "Charity urges rethink on cannabis". BBC News. 4 January 2006. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
  15. ↑ Henderson, Claire; Corker, Elizabeth; Lewis-Holmes, Elanor; Hamilton, Sarah (1 May 2012). "England's Time to Change Antistigma Campaign: One-Year Outcomes of Service User-Rated Experiences of Discrimination". Psychiatric Services. 63 (5). American Psychiatric Association: 451–457. doi:10.1176/appi.ps.201100422. PMID   22549532 . Retrieved 13 November 2013.
  16. ↑ Wallop, Harry (30 January 2014). "'I finally got to thank the man who saved my life'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  17. ↑ "Our founding charities". Mental Health UK. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
  18. ↑ "About us". Mental Health UK. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
  19. ↑ "MENTAL HEALTH UK - Charity 1170815". register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
  20. ↑ "Directors' report, Trustees' strategic report and consolidated financial statements. For the year ended 31 March 2023" (PDF). Rethink Mental Illness. 23 November 2023. Retrieved 12 September 2024.
  21. ↑ "2021-2022_annual_report_and_accounts.pdf" (PDF). Rethink Mental Illness - Accounts, funding and impact page. 31 March 2022. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
  22. ↑ "Directors' report [...] for the year ended 31 March 2021" (PDF). Rethink Mental Illness official website. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
  23. ↑ "Directors' report [...] for the year ended 31 March 2020" (PDF). Rethink Mental Illness official website. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  24. ↑ "Rethink Trustees Report 2018-19" (PDF). Rethink Mental Illness official public website.
  25. ↑ "Rethink Trustees Report 2017-18" (PDF). Rethink Mental Illness official public website.
  26. 1 2 3 4 https://www.rethink.org/media/5979/2021-2022_annual_report_and_accounts.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  27. ↑ https://www.rethink.org/media/2402325/rethink2015-16-tracfs.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  28. ↑ http://www.rethink.org/media/816007/rethink_1314_tracfs_final.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  29. ↑ Trustees' annual report and consolidated financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2012 (PDF) (Report). Rethink. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 March 2014.
  30. ↑ "Rethink Funding Statement". Archived from the original on 1 April 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
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