Charity encourages people to talk about mental illness

Time to Change, the mental illness charity organisation, is launching a new campaign to encourage people to talk about the issue of mental health.

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The “It’s time to talk. It’s time to change” campaign aims to “remove the fear and awkwardness” around mental health by encouraging people to talk openly about it.

The TV, press, radio and digital campaign was created by Dare, and includes a series of cartoon strips showing common misunderstandings around mental health, drawn by Stephen Collins, who has previously created cartoons for the Times and Spectator.

Olivia Colman, who played Sophie in Channel 4 TV programme Peep show, will voice one of the characters in the radio ads.

The charity is also inviting people to make a pledge towards ending the silence around mental illness through an online portal that offers help on how to start a conversation on the subject or send e-cards to let someone know they are thinking of them.

Time to Change director Sue Baker says: “The aim of our social marketing campaign is to use creative, innovative methods to reach our target audience. It’s time to talk. It’s time to change, encourages the public to talk and open up about something that affects one in four people in our communities. Through the use of subtle humour in our advertising, we hope we can remove the awkwardness and fear that stops many people talking about mental health.”

The Time to Change campaign is jointly run by charities Mind and Rethink Mental Illness, and recently received new funding from the Department of Health and Comic Relief.

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