New MLA calls for conversations around ‘stigma’ of mental health

There needs to be more talking to dispel the “stigma” around mental health in Northern Ireland, a new DUP MLA has said.

Julie Middleton has replaced her husband Gary as the party’s representative for Foyle in the Stormont Assembly.

Mr Middleton announced earlier in April he is to step back from public life to deal with mental health challenges.

His wife Julie has previously served as an elected representative on Derry City and Strabane District Council.

Speaking to the media on her first day at Stormont, she said she had entered politics because she wanted to “make people’s lives better.”

She also said she had dealt with a “small number of comments” from people questioning why she was taking on the MLA role when her husband is ill.

Ms Middleton said: “Things have been difficult at home, but I am not just a wife, I am very much my own person.

“Through this whole journey our family has been through, it is clear there needs to be further talk about mental health, there is certainly a stigma that still exists.”

She added: “It has been an incredibly difficult time for our family and I certainly have learned so much about mental health.

“I do think the general public need to understand that mental health is more than just your situation, mental health is an illness within your body.

“Over the last 48 hours I have seen a small amount of comments regarding how could I possibly step in to this role if Gary is sick at home?

“Well Gary is very much sick at home, he is under the care of the NHS.

“He is not doing well, but he is focused on rest and recovery.

“I think what most people who don’t know me, maybe they are not aware that I have been in the public eye throughout this whole journey.”

The new DUP MLA said she is “very much her own person”.

She added: I am very excited to represent the area, but importantly, I am going to bring my own energy, my own enthusiasm.

“I am known to be a joyful person, I am known to be an open person and I am known to be a woman of integrity.”

Ms Middleton also said her husband’s illness was not caused by his political work.

She added: “He is stepping away to rest and recover, not because Stormont or politics has caused his illness.

“We have a stigma in Northern Ireland. Not among everybody but among a minority of people where they maybe don’t understand mental health.”