Health: Taboos surrounding mental illness are slowly evaporating

In recent years it has become increasingly easier for people to admit they are finding it hard to cope with life and it is becoming more socially acceptable to suffer from mental illness.

A string of famous names have helped erode society's taboos by talking about their problems and in Hollywood you're not anybody if you don't have a shrink.

Since 1994 the Oxfordshire Mental Health Resource Centre which has changed its name as from today to Oxfordshire Health Matters (OHM) has played an instrumental role in tackling the issue in this county. The centre, based in Paradise Street, was set up in 1994. It provides a vital lifeline for people with mental health problems and is a practical focal point where people can turn up and get information about where to go to get help.

The centre has a vast database and volunteers, many of whom have previously suffered from mental illness. The database is used to provide important information for people who turn up at the centre.

OHM is concentrating on recruiting volunteers from a wide range of cultures and backgrounds from minority ethnic communities to gay and lesbian people.

The organisation has been awarded an annual cash grant of 50,000 from the National Lottery to help fund the volunteer project and employ two volunteer co-ordinators.

By gaining work experience and becoming a vital member of the volunteer team, sufferers can improve their confidence. However, it also helps sufferers who use the service to talk to people who understand exactly what they are going through and may have even experienced a similar sort of illness.

Centre manager Jenny Tricker says: "We feel our service-users benefit from the wealth of understanding offered by many of our volunteers. They are able to talk to people in very real terms and offer empathy because many of them have been there themselves. "In addition, providing real work for people who have suffered from a mental illness is of great benefit to them. This is a buzzy place for people to work in, especially for people who may have been out of the workplace for a while. We ask people to do as much or as little as they can cope with."

The volunteers are holding a conference today to mark World Mental Health Week, at Rose Hill Community Centre. Speakers will be looking at ways of widening the volunteer programme and talking about the importance of the service.

Ms Tricker says: "People come to us for all sorts of reasons. It is quite a big step to be able to come here.

"I think we are seen as perhaps less threatening than social services. We are a sign-posting organisation and can give information on pretty much anything it could be a number for an eating disorder helpline or possibly details about a local help group. "We never take any action that people do not want us to take."

Not only does the organisation run the advice centre but it also helps patients at psychiatric hospitals across the area.

Highly trained volunteers hold weekly surgeries on different wards to run the centre's advocacy project, which gives patients a chance to voice any concerns or worries they may have.

These can range from worries about the problems they may face in finding accommodation when they leave hospital to concerns about the relationship they have with their community nurse. The volunteers then speak to the authorities on their behalf and attempt to help fund a solution to the problem.

University students also regularly drop in to the centre to research dissertations and increase their understanding of mental health problems.

The OHM is open Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays between 9.30am and 4.30pm and on Thursdays between 1pm and 6.30pm.

Anyone who would like to join the team of volunteers should call 01865 728981.