Taking on the last great taboo

Debbie Gordon
Thursday 27 April 1995 23:02 BST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

There's nothing appealing about mental illness - no easy-to-relate- to aspect that makes it a popular subject for debate - which is why it has gone unchampioned, under-funded and little discussed for so long.

BBC2's "States of Mind" season is therefore very welcome and long-overdue, tackling as it does mental health issues from every perspective.

Programmes in this extensive series have already included studies of historic attitudes and developments in the field (The Asylum War), real- life experiences (Minders), celebrity mental health debate with celebrity analyst Dr Anthony Clare, and Mike McShane's Screen Two version of his life.

Tonight, schizophrenia is up for discussion, from a youth point of view. Go Back Out (9.30pm BBC2) is the first drama to be produced by BBC North's youth department, and centres on the experiences of Ian (Andrew Lancel).

The fact that its half-hour format doesn't suceed in challenging "the fear, prejudice and misunderstanding" surrounding the illness is not crucial. (Soap fans gain a few "where are they now?" answers, as it stars both Anita Dobson and Nicola Stephenson - Margaret from Brookside, who should have helped Anita on the accent front.) This is a rare case in which the subject is more important than the end result, and BBC2's concerted effort to raise the profile of mental health issues bravely confronts one of the last great taboos.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in