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

@Former-Member - I wish it were more commonly reported on what to watch out for when MI treatment goes wrong. I can't drag out any news articles at the moment because my Internet's gone slow, but I can recall off the top of my head a psychiatrist who convinced his patient to have sex with him, and serial sex abuses at a mental health facility. I realise that it goes against the narrative of 'go get help', but is there a place for those kinds of stories in the media?

Absolutely @CannonSalt , sometimes the media is reffered to as the "fourth estate" this simply means it serves a purpose in our society for holding people in positions of authority to account, this also includes health professionals in some cases. We all know what happens when a blind eye is turned to abuse so it's important it gets media attention. However if it's done in a sensational way it can also have the bad effects you're talking about- detering people from seeking help.

I'd like to think though that people can determine between one criminal act and the wider health profession as a whole though.

I think it's one of the common misconceptions about mental illness treatment though- that one size fits all approach, as we all know, different treatments/methods of recovery and living suit different people.

One 'narrative' of MI in the media appears to be that if you get help you will be fixed. Someone else mentioned in the forum recently that this is not the experience of a lot of us, where our mental illness is really a chronic health issue. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

Fantastic question @CannonSalt. For me, it highlights that stories needs not only be about people with MI, but also confronting issues that people can encounter. To add to @Former-Member point about the fourth estate, I think the news media's role is to also inform citizens about public issues and concerns.

Hey @Former-Member, you mentioned Stigma Watch before. For those who might not be familar with it, can you tell us what it is?

@Mazarita I agree, I think it's another misconception

Sure @CherryBomb StigmaWatch was a program formed in 1999 to address the concerns of the community about the reporting and advertising portrayal of mental illness and suicide and it's been running ever since.

It has evolved from just a system of complaints to one of passing on constructive feedback to journalists and advertisers so that they can change the way they do things. We also introduced Good News reports to highlight where journalists and advertisers have made a contribution to the understanding of mental illness and suicide. You can make a StigmaWatch report online - https://www.sane.org/changing-attitudes/report-a-media-item-to-stigmawatch and it’s assessed by the guidelines on that page as well as the Mindframe guidelines for mental illness and suicide reporting. If a report requires action we then contact the journalist or advertiser and seek to change what they do in the future and in some cases they amend existing copy or issue an apology.

Whoa text size change! I'd encourage any Forums members who are interested in this or keen media watchers to become StigmaWatchers!

@Mazarita - this is an important point that you raise - is the main narrative in the media a realistic one? Does it accurately represent the lives of people with MI?

I think it's important to depict the reality of MI, that it can be chronic, and there are periods of wellness, and illness, but while also not feeding into a helpless narrative. I think this is a tricky task! What are your thoughts @Former-Member?

@CannonSalt if only journalists had all the answers, unfortunately what works for one person won't work for another so the general advice is to tell people to keep searching for treatment in a form that suits you. Unfortunately this is hard to work out!