The Dangers of Preconceptions

It is almost 3 years since we started writing blogs and posting on LinkedIn about derivatives and pension schemes. 1 week ago I wrote a post that was less than 10% of my normal word count yet it received 3 times as many likes as even my best posts in the last 3 years.

I have been quite disciplined in my posting for the last 3 years. Yet that post was something different. It was off the back of my Mental Health First Aid training which was one of the best training courses I have ever been on.

I have spent the majority of my career training pension scheme trustees on derivatives. Training can often be about overcoming perceptions – “derivatives are complicated”, “derivatives are dangerous”, “derivatives are for other people”. Most of the time, once people understand the details, these preconceptions disappear and it allows trustees to properly consider derivatives.

There are lots of parallels with mental health but preconceptions of the latter have more significant and more far reaching consequences. In derivatives, this may mean some people don’t use them and portfolios are less efficient. With mental health problems, maintaining preconceptions means that people do not get the help they need.

A common one is that having a mental health problem is a sign of weakness - the implication being it only happens to weak people. This means when someone is not well they keep it to themselves through fear of being judged and do not get the treatment they need. As with any illness, not getting treatment can have debilitating consequences.

The preconception that mental health is a sign of weakness could not be further from the truth. Mental ill health is indiscriminate – it can affect anyone at any time as can be seen by looking at the list of successful people in the public eye who have suffered.

This is just one of many prejudices that add to the stigma of mental ill health and this needs to change. I knew it before but the training course has made me realise I need to contribute to the change.

So for those who are surprised by a detour from 3 years and 40 posts on derivatives I am not going to apologise for going off course. If people that read this spend even 5 minutes getting to understand more about mental health, then it will probably have more impact than all my previous blogs put together.