Sinéad O’Connor has spoken out about the death of Robin Williams to highlight that there is still a long way to go in breaking down the stigma of mental illness.

The acclaimed singer-songwriter, who has battled with mental health issues herself in the past, said that women are treated as comic figures when they suffer with depression or breakdowns. Compassion, she says, is the first step to breaking down those barriers and getting people the help they need when they need it.

Sinéad told Sky News: “Coverage of well-known females who have mental illness or suffer from depression is notoriously abusive… Female celebrities get lynched in the street, they get mocked and buffooned.”

“When males in the public eye are dealing with the same thing, coverage is much more compassionate as it should be. I’ve been through that myself and it’s really appalling.”

She then told the reporter that fear plays a huge part in why people are driven to suicide, adding that the stigma of mental illness often means people are too afraid to speak out.

“It would be better if people learnt out of this why a man like that would be driven to that,” she said.

“Stigma is the most enormous reason why people go that far. When you admit that you are anything that may be mistakenly or otherwise perceived as mentally ill, you know you’ll get treated like dirt so you don’t tell anybody and that’s why people die.”

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