18.05.2023
Our project workers know very well the struggles living with a mental illness presents for our service users. Many are underserved by organisations that should be customer facing.
One of our workers put it simply “Over the past year I have assisted a highly intelligent person with applications for benefits and with their correspondence. The individual can quote dates and times of events through history, however when it comes to the day-to-day activities such as cooking, washing dishes, or looking after their appearance, the cracks start to appear. People are quick judge and dismiss this person and when talking to people in customer service - e.g. to open a bank account - the person is turned away simply because of their appearance. Having a mental health condition can affect people’s self-confidence and they often don’t want to challenge those in authority. Prejudice and stereotyping should have no place in our society, especially in organisations designed to help people. We are all human and sometimes you have to look beneath the surface.”