The 'mind out for mental health' campaign will be targeted at key opinion-forming groups. The youth element has been backed by the National Union of Students and the National Schizophrenia Fellowship. The initial research into the extent of public opinion towards mental health revealed that eight out of 10 young people believed that having a mental health problem would lead to discrimination. Many admitted that they themselves used derogatory language with only one third considering the use of terms like 'psycho' and schizo' as unacceptable. The research also showed that many people are ignorant about what constitutes mental health.
Many people discriminate and perpetuate negative stereotypes.
Young people's attitudes, in particular, clearly need to change as they are the opinion formers of the future.