On Friday, 12th February, in the shadow of Big Ben, I released a #StampOutStigma balloon into the skies of Westminster, to show my support for the campaign to reduce the stigma around mental health issues and the prejudice some sufferers of mental illness experience.
Only now is mental health beginning to be properly addressed by society, and raising awareness is only now becoming mainstream as we discover significantly more and more people are living with a mental illness condition.
I am pleased that breakthroughs are finally being made to tackle these problems through science and public awareness. Prime Minister David Cameron recently gave the first speech on this subject by a Prime Minister for twenty years, and naturally the announcement from the Prime Minister earlier this year that this government is committing £1 billion towards initiatives tackling mental health problems is very welcome.
It is important as a society that we work to help people with mental illness adapt to challenges such conditions bring. We can help achieve this through challenging the stigma that someone with mental illness may suffer. I was happy to support this campaign against this stigma.