We are going to talk about how to produce responsible journalistic works about mental health this week. Mental health has been an important issue in the United States. In fact, it can be even more serious than people realize. According to data provided by Mental Health First Aid, a national training program to teach the skills of deal with mental health problems, 46.4% of adults will experience a mental illness during their lifetime in the U.S. Thus, journalists need to know how to distinguish between successful reporting and poor reporting of mental health issues. Here are the basic guidelines that I summarize through research.
First of all, journalists need to avoid stigmatization of people with mental illness. Emma E. McGinty, the assistant professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, conducted research with her co-workers on news media coverage of mental illness in the U.S. The research shows that the most frequently mentioned topic in related news stories was violence, which accounted for 55% of all news stories of mental illness. Under this circumstance, people may have negative attitudes towards people with mental illness, blaming them for conducting violent behaviors. In fact, somebody with mental illness is much more likely to be a victim of violence instead of being a perpetrator of violence, according to studies conducted by Patricia Owen, professor at St. Mary's University.
The irresponsible reporting may lead to stereotypes and stigmatization of people with mental illness, worsening their psychological condition. Besides, we also need to pay attention to the language of covering mental health issues. We can refer to the guidelines produced by team members of Time to Change, a social movement working to end mental health discrimination.
Second, journalists need to avoid overgeneralization of people with mental illness. In other words, we need to be aware that every person with a specific psychological condition does not necessarily have the same symptoms. For instance, not all people with depression are suicidal. What’s more, people with a diagnosis of the same mental illness may need different treatment. It is inappropriate for journalists to oversimplify the condition of people with mental health problems.
Finally, journalists should show love and patience to people with mental illness when they cover stories about this group of people. I recently read a book called “The Soloist.” It features a story that a journalist interacted with a street musician with schizophrenia. Even though the journalist met a lot of difficulties when he tried to make a connection with the street musician, he did not give up. He showed enough patience to listen to the musician’s story. The story shows a well-rounded picture of the musician, presenting his personality in a vivid way. Through reading the story, we can have a better understating of the complexity of schizophrenia. With humanity and love delivered by the author in this book, the readers may be more willing to offer help to people in the same condition.
Reference:
https://www.verywellmind.com/mental-health-stigmas-in-mass-media-4153888
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