We Are Rethink Mental Illness.

There are over 3 million people in this country affected by mental illness - people who urgently need support and information, hope and understanding. We are here for everyone with mental illness, as well as family, carers and friends. But people have told us it sometimes takes years to find us. Years of feeling isolated, confused and frustrated. That simply must change.

Since 2011 we have been Rethink Mental Illness – the name makes it very clear what we do and who we are for. We also have the strap-line ‘Challenging Attitudes, Changing Lives’ – it sums us up nicely.

Our name – Before September 2011 officially, we were ‘Rethink Severe Mental Illness’, although we’ve been known simply as ‘Rethink’ for a long time. Neither of these names was helping us explain what we really do, to achieve our mission, or reach the people who need us. We asked people with mental illness, their family and carers what they thought. They told us that they really didn’t like the term ‘severe’ and that saying just ‘Rethink’ on its own didn’t mean very much. That’s why now, we are Rethink Mental Illness.

Our strap-line – now it is ‘Challenging Attitudes, Changing Lives’. It sums up what we do. We challenge the stigma and discrimination that too often accompanies mental illness and campaign to change policy, nationally and locally so that things improve for people with mental illness. We also change lives, by providing almost 300 services and nearly 150 support groups all over England, a national advice and information help line and hundreds of free resources and guides. In fact, we help over 4000 people every single day.  

Our look – our logo and colours changed. They’re brighter and bolder, friendly and positive. They send a message about what we do and the way we do things. We want to make it clear what’s different about us: we care, we are bold and optimistic, we’re welcoming, we provide understanding and hope and we are for everyone affected by mental illness, including family, carers and friends.

Our mission is as clear as ever: Leading the way to a better quality of life for everyone affected by severe mental illness. We'd like you to join us in making that possible.