Mum tells MPs: It's Time to Change
Dawn Willis, 43, is an active campaigner for Time to Change, which aims to end the discrimination people with mental health problems often face.
The campaign, which features celebrities such as Stephen Fry and Ruby Wax, includes TV and press adverts.
Dawn, an ex-police officer and mum of three, has bipolar disorder, which she manages well.
Yesterday, she met MPs, including her local MP Anthony Steen, and asked them to pledge support to the campaign.
She said for a long time, she didn't know why she experienced such massive highs and lows in mood, until finally she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, also known as manic depression.
It is always difficult being diagnosed with a mental health problem, but what can be harder is the reaction of others, she said.
Dawn explained: "The one who has struggled the most is my mother, she just can't accept it, can't believe it. My extended family just will not acknowledge that I have a mental health problem.
"It's the shame and embarrassment that's the problem. Luckily, my husband and kids are more accepting, they just take me for who I am."
She added: "When I moved into my street I got chatting to one of the neighbours.
"I did mention that I get depression from time to time, I didn't think that much of it."
Then, when Dawn went along to join the local neighbourhood association they said she couldn't join.
She said: "Rumours about me being a 'nutter' and 'a bit mental', had passed all around the street and they'd decided I couldn't join, because I wouldn't have much to contribute.
"It just shows what old-fashioned ideas people have about mental health problems. It's about time that changed."
The Time to Change advert was broadcast during ITV's Coronation Street last night.
One of the campaign's celebrity supporters, Stephen Fry, said: "One in four people, like me, have a mental health problem.
"Many more people have a problem with that.
"I want to speak out, to fight the public stigma and to give a clearer picture of mental illness most people know little about.
"Once the under- standing is there, we can all stand up and not be ashamed of ourselves, then it makes the rest of the population realise we are just like them but with something extra."
Sue Baker, Time to Change director, added: "Mental health problems are one of our last great taboos. Even though one in four people will experience a mental health problem at some stage, the stigma and discrimination they face deny people relationships, work, education, hope, and the chance to live an ordinary life that others take for granted. The time for change is now."
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