Friends, Family & Carers Forum

[suzanne]

We've been having lots of discussions here at SANE about our future strategy. One of the most interesting aspects of that has been working out how to describe what we do. Should be simple, right? Well, no. Turns out it's not. As we've discussed many times here in the Forums, language is a very powerful thing.

We're focusing our work, both in the Help Centre and throughout the wider organisation, towards the more serious end of the mental health/illness continuum. Where anxiety and depression become chronic and undermine our quality of life. Where a diagnosis of bipolar, a personality disorder, schizophrenia and more can quite radically change the course of our lives.

Now we're working on a elevator pitch of sorts where we need to be able to quite succinctly describe the organisation, it's aims and services. We'd love to get a feel for how Forum members react to the following terms:

• Severe mental illness
• Complex mental illness
• Serious mental illness

Do you, or does your loved, relate any of these terms? Does it describe your/their situation? Or do you react negatively to any of them? And importantly, would this description, of helping people with severe/complex or serious mental illness, encourage or deter you or your loved one from accessing services?

We’d love to get your feedback to add to the broader consultation we’re doing within the MH sector, with carers and others with lived experience.

Thank you

[Appleblossom]

YEP

ALL of the above

[NoviceCarer]

The terms give me a sense of recognized categories not just a broad over-arching lumped together generalised description. Mental illness is complex, is severe and is serious and a lot of the times all of the above.

[suzanne]

Thank you for your responses @Appleblossom and @NoviceCarer.  It seems like you're saying that you relate to all of the terms.  Does that mean that you would be neither encouraged nor detered from accessing services if any of these descriptions were used?

[NoviceCarer]

Yes, correct. It wouldn't deter me. I would say for me, more likely to seek out the service and what it can offer.

[Former-Member]

Ok then
I would go with 'complex' as it is an umbrella term that makes me want to learn more.