Is World Mental Health Day just tokenist rubbish?

What is the point of a Minister for Suicide Prevention? That Jackie Doyle-Price is taking on the role as part of her portfolio as a health minister is one of the big government announcements on World Mental Health Day, but it’s tempting to ask why on earth Theresa May is making such appointments. Some might wonder whether government can really stop suicides, while others might question the difference that giving a minister an additional job title will really make.

It’s the sort of question that you might reasonably ask about World Mental Health Day itself, as it happens. A fair number of people who have mental illnesses find the rather trite ‘it’s OK to talk’ messages not just dispiriting, but also inaccurate, as they suggest firstly that there’s just one day of the year when it’s OK to talk, and secondly, that talking will sort you out when, in reality, what you need is medication that’s had proper research poured into it, access to therapies rather than a year-long-waiting list, and – in the case of some conditions like bipolar disorder – the acknowledgement that while cure currently isn’t possible, living well with an illness really is.