h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A613324

Although there are some entries on specific mental health problems I have tried to write a general article on mental health problems to raise people's awareness of mental illnesses and to encourage people to look after their mental health. I've never written a guide entry before and would appreciate any construcive criticism.

one thing you might wish to mention is that 1 in ten of the population suffer from clinical depression at some time in their life. this means that everyone will definately know someone who has had depression.

ps if you search on google for "voicesforum" you will find some links that you might want to use.

Phew, ambitious entry. I'm by no means qualified to comment about most of it, but I picked up some things;

One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest- credit it to Kessey. (I love that book Can you find a relavent quote? If you keep it short it'll be fine)
Demon possession- should that be demonic?
Schizophrenia- perhaps mention the public perception that it's multiple personality? And when it starts to begin (usually about twenty?)
Discrimination- have there been any false dismissal etc cases where mental health history has played a part? If so an example would be good. Even if there isn't, what does the Human rights act have to say?
Classification- organic, delusional, etc.
Legal- voting, divorce,
From a personal point of view I'd have liked to see a little more on history of treatment, but that's just me.

It's a really big topic, so if you're writing about it you're going to have to leave things out, unless you start a uni project. Also, don't let me discourage you. I don't review very many entries, so I'm not practised in how much I should say. I also don't know much about mental health. I just hate it when articles sit in PR/WWS for with no replies, so I add my 2p. What you've got so far is good, I wouldn't have guessed it was a first entry.

Thanks for the encouragement Dastardly. It is a huge topic and could be much, much longer but I had to edit a lot out to try and keep it simple in order to keep to the point. I don't want to write an in depth account of mental illnesses but want to raise people's awareness of mental health issues. You're right, if I mentioned everything I wanted to, there would be enough material for a uni project.

-I will reference "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" but I'm not sure about quoting it.
-'demon possession' will be corrected to 'demonic possession'
-I have put in a reference to an already edited entry on the common misconception that schizophrenia and split personality are the same thing and I'm giving serious consideration to commenting on it. I am considering mentioning the age it often develops at.
-I'm not sure about false dismissal because sufferers are more likely to feel 'bullied' out of their jobs rather than sacked.
-Classification, in general is neurotic or psychotic, endogenous or reactive. The problem is that classification is difficult, illnesses display some or all of these aspects and I need to try and keep this simple. Many mental health workers feel classification is unuseful and individual cases are usually thought of in terms of symptoms displayed rather than broad labels.
-Legal. Again I have tried to keep this simple. The mental health act would form another entry altogether.

Again, thanks very much. You've given me a lot of help and encouragement as well as things to think about. I also think that I now have a long list of future entries just waiting to be written.

Xyroth - thanks for the link suggestion. I have included it at the bottom of the entry

I have got to say it, this is an excellent article and one (in my limited experience of the guide) that should at least be considered for Editing.

I understand that this may not be the main thrust of you entry, however you haven't mention the associated risk to life that mental illness brings. Suicides related to mental illness are a big killer (in the UK I have heard that they are edging car accidents into 4th place after cancer and heart disease) and a sentence emphasising just how dangerous mental illness can be wouldn't go amis.

I very much appreciated the paragraph on mental illness not being limited to the person who suffers from it. Families and friendships can be strained and destroyed and you are write to raise this point in the context of support.

Regarding work/unfair dismissal, I too am unsure of any definitive cases in this area, however I am sure that stress, bullying and the increasingly predominant work ethic result in mental illness in many thousands of cases that just go unreported or unnoticed. The stigma associated and the dogma of work, work, work tend to reinforce each other rather too well. I guess an article concerning this would be good in itself (I haven't checked to see if there is one)

Thanks for writing such a well-informed and clear article on the subject.

you might want to pop over to google and search for "zyra's mad links" page, which is full of usefull contacts and links.

Eristophanes - thank you for the positive comments. I considered writing about suicide and self harm (as you mentioned, the dept of health say that suicide is the 4th greatest cause of death in the UK) but, as I have mentioned before, I had to edit heavily in order for the entry not to become a major epic. I will probably start a univeristy project on mental health so that comprehensive entries on all the many aspects can be included. Suicide and para-suicide would fill their own guide entry.

I'll be grateful for any volunteers who'd like to write entries on mental health issues.

Please don't volunteer here though, leave a posting on my personal space, just so I have an idea of what interest there is in a project.

Editorial Note: This conversation has been moved from 'The Writing Workshop' to 'Mental Health'.