Lunch Hour Lecture: Anti Stigma Campaigns in Mental Health-winning the battle but losing the war?

Mental illness is one of the most stigmatised areas of modern life. Recently there has been a sea-change in the public conversation around mental health including concerted anti-stigma campaigns. These include raising awareness, emphasising the ubiquity of mental health problems, changing the terminology and language of the discourse and challenging the disease status of psychiatric conditions. Is there evidence that these approaches are successful? Research reveals only modest shifts in attitudes and some authorities point to negative unintended consequences. I will discuss these issues and propose ways forward such as promoting proximity and integration and advocacy. Speaker: Anthony David, Director of the new Institute of Mental Health at UCL Date: Thursday 10 October 2019 UCL's popular public Lunch Hour Lecture series has been running at UCL since 1942, and showcases the exceptional research work being undertaken across UCL. Lectures are free and open to all.