The Covid-19 pandemic appears to have positively impacted people’s willingness to talk openly about mental health, a new survey suggests.

According to the findings of the annual Attitudes to Mental Health and Stigma survey, which was undertaken on behalf of St Patrick’s Mental Health Services, six in 10 people said that they are now more comfortable talking openly about their mental health than they were before the pandemic.

Eight in 10 also believe that Irish society is more open to talking about mental health difficulties since the onset of the pandemic, while almost half of those surveyed said they have introduced new ways to manage their wellbeing since the pandemic.

However, the survey also found that while people appeared to be more accepting of mental health difficulties at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, these positive attitudes may be regressing since then.

An analysis of previous surveys found that in 2020, there was less stigma associated with experiencing mental health difficulties, with just 8% of people stating that they would not tell anyone if they were experiencing a difficulty that year compared to 17% in 2018.

However, this figure has begun to rise again since 2020 and is now at 11%.

Just 13% of people surveyed in 2020 would tell no one if they felt they had an issue with alcohol, drugs or prescription medicines compared to 26% in 2018. However, this figure has also started to creep back up again and was 17% in 2022.

 In 2020, 8% of people said they would have told no one if their son or daughter was being treated  for depression compared to 18% in 2018. In 2022, this figure was 13%.

Meanwhile, in 2020, 81% of people said they would tell someone if they were experiencing suicidal thoughts, an increase from 72% in 2018. In 2022, this figure was 77%.

However, according to St Patrick’s Mental Health Services, a comparative review of results from the last five years shows a “steady improvement in people’s willingness to disclose mental health difficulties or suicidal thoughts to friends, family and colleagues, and improvements in their willingness to seek help for a mental health difficulty”.

For example, in 2018, 27% of people said they would not tell anyone if they had previously been treated as an inpatient for a mental health difficulty, but by 2022, this had fallen to 18%. In 2018, 20% of people would not tell anyone if they were using anti-depressants, but this figure fell to 12% in 2022.

The findings also reveal that more people are now seeking support for their mental health, which may indicate that stigma is not as much of a barrier as it used to be. The number of people who have been treated for a mental health difficulty over the last five years has risen from 26% in 2018 to 39% in 2022. There has also been an increase in the number of parents seeking mental health supports for their children, with 17% seeking help in 2019 compared to 24% in 2022.

According to St Patrick’s CEO, Paul Gilligan, “there is no doubt that in many cases we are seeing improvements in Irish society’s attitudes towards mental health”. However, he insisted that there is still a lot to do to eradicate mental health stigma.

“Despite the significant challenges it presented, the Covid-19 pandemic was a catalyst for positive change in attitudes towards mental health, with findings showing that more people are open to talking about their mental health difficulties than they were pre-pandemic, and more people having introduced positive practices to manage their wellbeing.

“While the pandemic may be in the rear-view mirror for many, we must not lose the momentum generated and we must continue to prioritise our mental health, to challenge stigma and discrimination and to implement positive mental health practices,” he said.

The survey also noted that 58% of people are afraid of experiencing mental health difficulties in the future, while 68% believe that being treated for a mental health difficulty is still seen as a sign of personal failure.

Interestingly,  22% of people would consider it a sign of weakness if they had to seek help for a mental health difficulty themselves, however only 6% would consider it a sign of weakness if a friend had to seek help for the same.

“Self-stigma is a challenge and we know that by reducing stigma we can positively impact people’s openness to seek support when required. A reduction in stigma enables more people to feel empowered to reach out at an appropriate time in their mental health journey, which is the first step towards recovery,” Mr Gilligan noted.

The survey was carried out between May and July of this year by Amarách Research and involved a national representative sample of more than 500 adults aged 18 and over. The findings can be viewed here.