British PSA Razes Perception About Mental Disorders

Steve Hall

Aug. 25, 2009
1 min read

“Schizophrenic Man Terrifies Kids at Party” is a YouTube piece released by English mental health charities Mind and Rethink under their “Time to Change” campaign. We like how it plays on our expectation of crass amateur video fare to illustrate two important messages:

o That people with mental disorders can function in society
o That retaining the stereotype of the off-the-hinge crazy person is counterproductive for everyone involved

It also reminded us that as kids, we were always screamy-scared about stuff we couldn’t see, however facile or harmless said “stuff” actually was. And then, lightbulb moment, it was like hey, tripping out about schizophrenia is kind of like that.

The campaign broke this month and will include TV ads featuring testimonials and celebrity personages. Random fact from Time to Change: one in four people will have a mental health problem at some stage in life. And sure, being a sociopath sounds sexy now, but sadly, disorders are a grab-bag and you don’t get to pick.

Agency: MCBD. The campaign was also funded by the Big Lottery Fund, which donated 16 million pounds, and Comic Relief, which gave 2 million.

Steve Hall

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