Patron

After forty years in the uniformed branch of Christianity, I am enjoying the freedom to be myself and do the things I want to. I had been Bishop of Edinburgh since 1986 and Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church since 1992 when I retired at Halloween 2000.

Alongside the day job in the ordained ministry, I always managed to find time for writing and voluntary work. Since my retirement from office I have published three books, the latest, Looking in the Distance: the Human Search for Meaning, has just appeared. In addition to writing, I do a fair bit of broadcasting, including Cover Stories, a programme about books which I present for BBC Radio Scotland. Some of my writings have lead to controversy, and one reason why I was honoured to become Patron of NSF (Scotland) is related to these controversies.

Prejudice exists because people rarely examine their attitudes to complex matters, preferring to sound off in the conventional way whenever they are invited to stretch their thinking. Unexamined attitudes lie behind much of the stigma that attaches to people with serious mental health problems.

This is bad enough when it comes from individuals, but when it comes from newspapers it is much worse and can do terrible damage. The way schizophrenia gets sensationalised in the media contributes to the enormous burdens that already press on people with serious mental health problems, their families and carers.

I am glad to be part of an organisation that fights against that sort of dangerous and sloppy thinking; and I am proud of the way the Fellowship is committed to the empowerment of valuable people who happen to have serious mental health problems.

Richard Holloway