Prime Minister David Cameron pledges more money for mental health care
Prime Minister David Cameron will pledge more money for mental health services in England, in a speech in which he is expected to urge a "more mature" conversation on mental conditions.
Cameron will say people should be be frightened of mental illness. "As a country, we need to be far more mature about this. Less hushed tones, less whispering; more frank and open discussion," he will say.
Read more: The City needs to talk about mental health
"We need to take away that shame, that embarrassment, let people know that they're not in this alone, that when the clouds descend, they don't have to suffer silently," Cameron will add.
"I want us to be able to say to anyone who is struggling, 'talk to someone, ask your doctor for help and we will always be there to support you'."
Specifically, £290m will be made available to give 30,000 more women each year access to mental health care before and after childbirth. A further £247m will be used to make sure each hospital has mental health services in their accident and emergency departments.
Read more: How to tell if work stress is making you depressed
The speech by Cameron follows a commitment by chancellor George Osborne to extra spending on mental health in November.
The drive to tackle the stigma associated with mental illness also comes after recent research suggested workers would be worried about telling an employer if they had a mental health condition, for fear of getting a negative response.