Reposted from BBC Media Centre
Mental health is fast becoming one of the great issues of our time with growing numbers of people in the UK seeking help. BBC One will dedicate two weeks of the schedule to explore this important subject in closer detail across a range of programming from news and drama to documentaries and features.
Starting on Monday 15 February, the season will include stories of life and death, hope, scientific discovery and much more to help raise public awareness and understanding of issues relating to mental health.
James Harding, Director of BBC News, says: “This is a moment when we stop and reflect on one of the big issues of our time, one that touches all of us. We will report and examine – with all the BBC’s expertise, insight and understanding – on what’s really happening in mental health.”
Charlotte Moore, Controller BBC TV Channels and iPlayer, says: “Ten years on since Stephen Fry's Emmy-award-winning film about manic depression, it now feels like the right time to bring this important subject to a mainstream audience on BBC One. To find out what has changed, what progress has been made and what the future holds for people living with mental health conditions in the UK. Over the last decade, we've broken down taboos, and medical advances mean we have a greater understanding of the brain than ever before, but we're not there yet. There is still so much more that needs to be done.”
BBC One’s In The Mind season will include the following content:
- BBC News at Six and News at Ten will broadcast a series of special reports on subjects including neuroscience, the NHS, ECT, lifesaving charities, changing social attitudes and mental health in the black community. More details listed below and at bbc.co.uk/inthemind from 14 February.
- Two intimate, powerful BBC One documentaries will give insight to living with two extreme forms of mental illness. Ten years since Stephen Fry’s The Secret Life Of The Manic Depressive started a national conversation about mental health, The Not So Secret Life Of The Manic Depressive: 10 Years On looks at the experiences of Stephen and others living with bipolar now, on Monday 15 February at 9pm. My Baby, Psychosis And Me is an intimate documentary that tells the real life stories of two mums, for whom childbirth triggers ‘Postpartum Psychosis’, one of the most severe forms of mental illness. Supported by Stacey's storyline in EastEnders, the documentary reveals the frightening rollercoaster journey of both women as they embark on treatment hoping it might bring about a full recovery, Tuesday 16 February at 10.45pm. BBC One will also be repeating the documentary Life After Suicide on Wednesday 17 February at 10.45pm and Professor Green: Suicide And Me on Thursday 18 February at 11.45pm.
- EastEnders’ compelling postpartum psychosis storyline featuring Stacey Branning takes a dramatic turn across BBC One's In The Mind season. Stacey Branning (Lacey Turner) was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2009, and although postpartum psychosis can affect a woman without pre-existing mental health issues, it is more likely to affect a mother who has bipolar disorder. In recent weeks, Martin, Stacey’s boyfriend, managed to get Stacey to hospital, where she was eventually sectioned. Now with Stacey in hospital, Martin struggles as he desperately tries to find space in an MBU so Stacey can be reunited with her son, Arthur, while carrying on with the treatment she desperately needs. However, over the course of this week, Stacey's story intensifies and viewers will see her make a life-changing decision that hugely concerns Martin. EastEnders has been working alongside Mind and Bipolar UK and other experts in the field to highlight postpartum psychosis, an illness that can affect women just after giving birth.
- The One Show on Monday 15 February, Lacey Turner and Dominic Treadwell-Collins (Executive Producer of EastEnders) will be guests on the sofa discussing the role popular dramas like EastEnders can play in raising awareness around mental health issues, and what work and research they do behind the camera with organisations like Mind to ensure accurate portrayals.
- Inside Out on Monday 15 February – the ‘Inside Out’ regions will cover mental health issues with their own individual films as part of the season. Covering a range of subjects, including how vulnerable teenagers suffering from mental health problems are falling through the cracks between childhood and adulthood mental health services; investigating how A&E has become the new front line in dealing with people in mental health crisis; suicide rates, mental health support for transgender people; carers looking after family members in poor mental health; police and mental health services.
To find out more, click here.
