Mental health literacy is low in our society. Stigma, fear and myth surround the general public's perceptions of mental health issues.

Myths are often the basis of stigma. Myths are inaccurate ideas that spread because of people's fear of the unknown. Knowledge is the best way to eliminate this kind of fear.

Read on to check out the myths and find out the facts.

Myths

Click on each myth and find out the truth.

Myth: Only people who are weak or have a flawed personality experience mental ill health.

It is often assumed that only certain types of people experience mental health problems. Read on for the truth ....

Myth: When a person begins to feel less depressed the danger of suicide is over.

When a person appears to be feeling better the risk may in fact be greater. Read on ...

Myth: If somebody wants to end their life, they will, and there is nothing anybody can do about it.

A person's desire to end their life is often a temporary state of mind brought on by severe distress or depression. Read on ...

Myth: Talking about suicide or asking someone if they feel suicidal will encourage suicide attempts.

It is often thought that bringing up the subject of suicde might give a distressed person the idea and therefore make them more likely to attempt suicide. Read on to find out the truth

Myth: Agoraphobia is a fear of open spaces.

Most people think that agoraphobia is a fear of open spaces and that sufferers cannot go outside at all.

Myth: Once you have a diagnosis of a mental illness you have it for life.

It is a common misunderstanding to think that a person with a long term mental health problem is always unwell.

Myth: Learning problems are a form of mental illness.

People with learning difficulties are sometimes thought to have a mental illness that needs treatment.

Myth: You can tell if someone has a mental illness by the way they look or act.

It is often assumed that a mental illness changes the way a person acts, looks or moves.

Myth: Mental illness is strange and unusual.

The stigma attached to mental illness has caused many people to think that it is unusual and that sufferers are in hospital away from the public eye

Myth: People with severe mental illnesses are violent.

People often fear that a person with a severe mental illness might be violent..

Myth: People with schizophrenia never get better.

Getting a diagnosis of schizophrenia is very distressing and many people think that this means the person will be ill for the rest of their lives.

Myth: Self harm is failed suicide.

Self harm is behaviour that is dangerous to the individual and puts them at risk of death or serious injury, however, it is not usually an attempt at suicide. Read on ...

Myth: Self harm is attention seeking behaviour.

It is often assumed that people who self harm are attention seekers who enjoy the satisfaction of other people's sympathy or shock. Read on ...

Myth: People who talk about suicide never attempt or complete suicide.

Sometimes people are thought to be seeking attention inappropriately when they talk about feeling suicide or fail to complete suicide. This belief is false and can be dangerous. Read on ...