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Around a quarter of the population will experience a mental health problem in the course of a year and it's estimated that approximately 450 million people are affected around the world.

Chances are you know someone who is currently living with, or has had to cope with mental distress.

From Monday, 8 October, 2007 - the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio Norfolk breakfast show featured a week of reports in a series called Head First - which explored what life is like for people affected by the issues related to a mental health condition.

It's an affliction that doesn't discriminate: people of all ages and social backgrounds are vulnerable and the problems manifest themselves in a number of ways.

The term 'mental health problem' is used to describe a range of difficulties. From stress and bereavement, phobias and anxiety disorders, to the more acute forms of depression and illnesses such as dementia.

Personal experiences

Richard has bipolar disorder and schizophrenia and has been recording his thoughts about the impact on his life.

"It varies from week to week, month to month," said Richard.

"Sometimes you get really down...you just curl up in your bed and try and sleep it off for a few days and just ignore the rest of the world.

"You're either up at the top or down at the bottom and it can change literally overnight. That's just how it is. It's getting worse, but over the years I've learnt to cope with it."

They thought they knew me better

Chris is a resident at OMNIA, a rehabilitation centre in Norwich for people living with mental health problems.ÌýHe became involved with the programme after being diagnosed with drug-induced psychosis last year.

"I found it quite offensive the way that everybody was telling me that the way I behaved was inappropriate... the way they thought they knew me better than I did, they way they forced their opinions on me and I didn't have a choice about it," said Chris.

"Right now I've just got to live with what they put me through and start afresh, and that's what I'm trying to do really. I'm trying to turn over a new leaf."

Self harm

Andrew is a former resident at OMNIA who is now living back at home and returns for occasional respite.

"I used to self harm every day... my head was really messed up and I thought 'there's no way I'm ever going to get out of this'," said Andrew.

[There was] "a lot of anger, a lot of pressure, people not understanding your problems.

"You find it very difficult to explain to someone 'I've got a mental health problem' because you're labelled as a nutter, which I wasn't," he added.

Head First was a week-long series of special reports on ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio Norfolk's Breakfast With Bumfrey. Use the links on this page to listen to some of the series highlights.