Topic Tuesday **closed**: The media and mental health

I think that a good portrayal of mental illness would be one where someone is having a mental health problem, they come and have treatment and they get better. Where it gets treated like any other condition.

I definitely do @Sienna and I think I have been surprised by the amount of journos I talk to who also have very personal experience with mental illness or suicide. For example one journalist at The Age I was advising (he had written a story about suicide) had experience even in his own family of this. It can be extremely stressfull and upsetting for a journalist to learn that they've over-stepped the guidelines when they have personal experience. That's why I think it pays for us to remember that "the media" are made up of individuals who are all different and have varying experience like you or I.

@CherryBomb the table I posted is a handy guide that we give to journos on language. There is still a lot to debate though.

@CannonSalt pleasure to be here! Do you mean how we interpret articles? Or how the journalists/media themselves interpret their own articles/self reflect

@chookmojo come to think of it, I reckon there has been a change in advertising that type of 'mad' talk is a lot less these days, though there's still a bit.

@kato I'm not sure if there's been a rise - perhaps @Former-Member might know some facts and stats in regards to adds and news coverage? In my own perspective, I feel like I see the repition of same stories on certain news outlets - another day, another crime by some with MI or a D&A issue. But there are also news outlets that are making some great changes.

@kato @CherryBomb there hasn't been enough research on this to quantify it. Although research by a Melbourne academic Perkis showed that on the whole Australian media had become more responsible in their reporting over the years the study took into account.

Here is the link if you're interested @kato or @CherryBomb http://www.mindframe-media.info/for-media/reporting-suicide/evidence-and-research/media-monitoring-studies

Annecdotally @chookmojo @CherryBomb through StigmaWatch, over the years we tend to get less and less reports of advertising that stigmatises mental illness fortunately.

Some great responses about how mental illness should be reported - from what everyone wrote, it seems like it is not an easy job!

I guess one thing that comes to mind is that community expectations are always changing. As @chookmojo mentioned, it is improving, and it is changing. We have seen it with other social issues. I wonder how we will view today's media coverage of MI in 20 years or so...

@CannonSalt good question! I would look for the source of their information- how did they come to that conclusion? Would it be different if there was another source they were aware of? Who is being quoted in the article and what interests/information/bias might they have in relation to mental illness?

I find that puts the information displayed into perspective. You know everyone you can also contact journalists directly and give them feedback in a constructive way that changes the way they report.

There is a regular StigmaWatcher I know who sends polite and constructive emails to journos at The Age and the ABC with evidence attached to support what he is saying and always gets good responses!

I think that people can change if they are educated - the media can be a powerful ally in the fight against stigma.