Foreword
Welcome to ‘see me’s media information section for Stigma Stop Watchers. You can play a vital role in helping to stop poor media reporting of mental health.
1 in 4 of us will experience a mental health problem at some time in our lives and three quarters say we know someone who has been diagnosed with a mental health problem. So mental ill-health affects, or has the potential to affect, nearly all of us.
The press and other media may say that the way that they report mental ill-health just reflects society’s attitudes, and it’s true that there have been some positive shifts in media reporting; even in the five years since the ‘see me’ campaign was launched. There is certainly a lot more written about mental health and well-being in general, and coverage of mental health problems such as depression, anxiety and stress is much more positive. That does reflect the positive shifts in society’s attitudes, and can create a virtuous circle where the normalisation of common mental health problems in the press and in TV programmes and so on, combined perhaps with celebrity coverage, leads to most of feeling that it’s okay to be more open about our own problems and that it’s right to be supportive of people who experience mental ill-health.
However, despite progress, and the keenness of most journalists to report accurately and fairly, there is a gap between the above and the way that more ‘severe’ mental health problems are covered and portrayed. Even where articles are ‘accurate’ they can be let down by poor and lazy usage of stock shots and photos, and led with negative and sensationalist headlines.
Poor media coverage and headlines do more than cause offence to the few, they impact on anyone with a mental health problem by reinforcing outdated myths about mental ill-health and can allow people with negative attitudes to feel somehow ‘licensed’ to voice them. After all, if it’s in the papers then it must be true!
That means that anyone with a mental health problem can feel less secure about opening up and asking for help when they need it and in some serious cases can lead to the person with the mental health problem coming to believe the myths must be true about themselves:
“I would love to go out more places such as the local pub and library but am too frightened to in case I am dangerous. I have never been dangerous but you read about schizophrenics being dangerous all the time in the paper, so I thought that because I have schizophrenia that I would be dangerous if I went out” Danny, Ayr.
Given that we have been told more than once that the press and media will follow public attitudes, this means that they will carry on doing this until they realise that public attitudes just don’t accept this type of journalism any more. And this is where you come in.
Sign up to support ‘see me’ and make sure you tick the box asking to be kept informed about taking action as part of Stigma Stop Watch.
This guide will give you lots of background information so that you can get into the habit of raising your voice and stopping stigma wherever you come across it. We have focused mostly on the media here, but most of the facts and tips can be used to challenge stigma and discrimination in any field.
Thanks to Shift, in England, who drafted this guidance and allowed us to change it so that it’s suitable for use by people in Scotland.
Take me to the Scottish media list so I can see who I need to complain to.
Take me to some sample letters and emails so I can start challenging stigma and discrimination now.
Overview
People with mental health problems can be confronted by stigma and discrimination just about anywhere; on public transport, in employment, out shopping, at home, at the doctor or in the community. Stigma, like other kinds of prejudice, arises out of misinformed attitudes, ignorance and fear. It can affect employment opportunities as well as intimate and personal relationships and result in many people becoming socially excluded and isolated. High levels of stigma still prevail in Scotland, meaning many people with mental health problems continue to experience abuse, harassment and bullying.
“Stigma hurts. I’ve had to experience it and I’ve managed to move on. There’s no need for stigma. People need to think how they would like it if they were stigmatised for something that’s not their fault.” Jen, Arbroath
Eliminating the stigma and discrimination that surrounds mental ill health is an essential part of improving the quality of life and social inclusion of people who experience mental health problems. The media often perpetuates the ignorance and fear surrounding mental health problems through embellished and incorrect reporting of mental health issues.
At worst, headlines sometimes carry derogatory language, for example ‘nutter’, ‘manic’ or ‘schizo,’ which would be unthinkable in relation to race or physical disability. The link between violence and mental illness is also exaggerated. Millions of people have mental health problems – very few are violent. This type of media reporting often has a negative affect on people with mental health problems.
“It pains me to see the media portray people with mental health issues in such a negative and derogatory way. I notice it more when I’m unwell and it makes me feel worse. I’ve met many people who feel the same.” Eleanor, Arbroath.
“The media is highly to blame for mental health stigma. They talk about psychiatric reports of criminals leading people to believe that if you are a schizophrenic then you must be a rapist and if you are a manic depressive then you must be a murderer. This is getting slightly better as they are being less harsh and categorising people less but it really has to stop.” Lucy, Stonehaven.
Challenging these stereotypes will help to break down the barriers surrounding mental illness and encourage people to feel more open to discuss the issue. This will impact positively on the lives of people affected by mental health problems and will encourage others to come forward to get the treatment they need.
Did you know?
• 1 in 4 Scots will experience a mental health problem in any one year
• If it doesn’t happen to you, it will happen to someone you know
• Recovery rates for mental health problems are between 70 and 80%
• 28% of Scots have experienced a mental health problem
• Two thirds of Scots know someone with a mental health problem
• Good mental health is just as important as good physical health
• Stigma and discrimination against people with mental health problems is unjustified, unfair and can even be illegal
• Stigma, like other kinds of prejudice, arises out of misinformed attitudes, ignorance and fear
• For some people, stigma can be more distressing than the symptoms of their mental health problems
• Other people’s uninformed attitudes can make people with mental health problems feel as if they are to blame
• People’s attitudes towards mental health problems can discourage people from seeking help at an early stage
• Contrary to popular belief, the overwhelming majority of people with mental health problems are neither violent nor dangerous
• Mental ill-health is the leading cause of workplace absence
• Fear of stigma leads a third of employees off work with mental ill health to record a different reason for their absence
• 62% of people who've been off work with mental health problems feel they were treated differently from when they were off with physical problems
• 37% of employers said they would take on people with mental ill-health compared to 62% who would take on physically disabled people
• Two thirds of people off work with mental health problems feel like not going back, because of the attitudes they might face
• People with mental health problems are often treated unfairly – they are entitled to the same rights as everybody else
• More than 80% of people have experienced stigma or discrimination as a result of their mental health problem
• Friends and family is the most likely context for people to experience stigma
Stigma Stop Watch
The media has a central role in shaping the general public’s opinions on major social issues. Since its launch the ‘see me’ Stigma Stop Watch has been challenging stigma head on. Stigma Stop Watch aims to make sure that the media portrayal of people with mental health problems is balanced, accurate and fair. Stigma Stop Watch aims to make media professionals think carefully about how they deal with issues related to mental ill-health and covers all kinds of media, from newspapers and television news to documentaries, dramas, films and advertising.
Since its inception, Stigma Stop Watch has had a significant impact on the UK media. For example in 2003 The Sun ran a controversial, inflammatory front page headline regarding the boxer Frank Bruno’s mental health problems: ‘Bonkers Bruno locked up’. Following an unprecedented number of calls to the Stigma Stop Watch and a formal complaint to the editor, the tone of The Sun’s reporting the following day changed completely giving a more balanced and supportive viewpoint. Furthermore the front page headline of later editions of The Sun dropped the ‘Bonkers Bruno’ headline. In addition, in 2006 Coca-Cola axed a major advertising campaign for Coke Zero following complaints to the Stigma Stop Watch about the use of the word ‘psychos’. This resulted in widespread media coverage and a public apology from Coca-Cola.
There are also many incidences of balanced media coverage which tackle the subject of mental health problems in an insightful and supportive manner. The Stigma Stop Watch endeavours to praise these examples to encourage best practice in the industry.
The ‘see me’ campaign and the Stigma Stop Watch are starting to make a real difference to people in Scotland with mental health problems. The ‘see me’, Hear Me (2007) survey revealed:
• Over one in three people (38%) felt that their own direct personal experience of stigma had improved
• Some two-thirds of respondents (66%) believed that stigma and discrimination in society generally in Scotland had improved either a lot or a little
• The majority of respondents (85%) felt able to be more open and talk about their mental health problems
• Over half of people (52%) claimed that ‘see me’ had been very important in confronting the stigma of mental ill-health
The active use of the Stigma Stop Watch to report incidences of good and bad reporting will continue to help stamp out stigma and make a real difference to people’s lives.
Mind your language
The Press Complaints Commission’s code of practice on presenting mental health issues state that:
‘The press should avoid prejudicial or pejorative reference to a person’s race, colour, religion, sex or sexual orientation, or to any physical or mental illness or disability.’
Stigma Stop Watch encourages adherence to this code. This is as much about praising good reporting, as it is about highlighting poor media practice. Here are a few key issues to look out for with regards to media reporting on mental health problems:
• Offensive expressions like ‘psycho’, ‘schizo’ and ‘nutter’ perpetuate stereotypical ideas associating people with mental health problems with violence and unpredictability
• The word ‘psychotic’ should never be used as a general description of someone with mental health problems. Its only correct use is as a specific description of the symptoms of psychosis
• The term ‘split personality’ is a common myth associated with the symptoms of schizophrenia that people swing between being ‘normal’ and dangerous. This is rarely the case, although they may be experiencing very unpleasant or frightening thoughts
• Defining people by a diagnosis – ‘a schizophrenic’ or a ‘depressive’ can cause offense. People are more than their mental health problem
• Rather than ‘the mentally ill’, ‘mental health patients’ or ‘people with mental health problems’ are preferred terms
• ‘A person with’ is clear, accurate and preferable to a ‘person suffering from’
• Secure psychiatric hospitals are not prisons – residents are patients, not prisoners or inmates. When they leave, they are discharged, not released
Reporting on mental health and violence
“If someone is stabbed in the street then it’s automatically one of us! They think we get off lightly with a shorter jail sentence. I really find this disheartening; it makes you go into your shell, which makes things worse. Then you get a fear of going out in case you get insulted, and the violence which may accompany – oh my god!” Gregor, Western Isles
There is a common misconception that links mental health problems with violence. However the facts do not add up. People with mental health problems are overwhelmingly more likely to harm themselves than others. For example, people diagnosed with schizophrenia are 100 times more dangerous to themselves than to others. In addition people with mental health problems are more likely to be victims than perpetrators of violent crime.
Fear of mental illness is often based on the misconceived notion that people with mental health problems are likely to attack a member of the public at random. You are thirteen times more likely to be killed by a stranger without mental health problems than by someone who has mental health problems. Research has shown that that the majority (63%) believed that mental-ill health was associated with violence. Worryingly, two thirds of them quoted the media as the source of their beliefs.
The media will always cover sensational murders or violent crimes, irrespective of whether they are perpetrated by people with mental health problems or not. However it is important that when reports highlight mental illness as being a factor in a violent crime that it is seen in context. For example it is important that the media reports contextualising facts or third party comments.
Reporting on mental health and suicide
Every day two people in Scotland die from suicide. Scotland has traditionally had a higher suicide rate than the rest of the UK, however over recent years rates are starting to come down. Around three out of four suicides are by men. Suicide is the leading cause of death in those under 35 years of age. The risk of suicide in the most deprived areas of Scotland is almost double the Scottish average.
Suicide is often newsworthy and is a legitimate subject for reporting. However media coverage on suicide requires sensitivity and compassion as it can potentially save lives. Evidence shows that copycat suicides can result from detailed descriptions of method. The most vulnerable appear to be young people and the risk seems to be greater when there is a feeling of identification, such as in the case of celebrity death by suicide.
It is important that the language used to report suicide does not glamorise or sensationalise it, or present suicide as a solution to problems. Suicide has been decriminalised so it is inaccurate to use the word ‘committed’. Completed suicide should not be described as ‘successful’ or ‘unsuccessful’ if it doesn’t result in death.
Most members of the media follow a code, written or unwritten, that the method and location of suicide is not described, displayed or photographed. A step-by-step description can prompt some people to act. In addition some evidence suggests a link between prominent placement of suicide stories in newspapers and copycat suicide.
Many people who die by suicide have a mental illness or a drug-related illness. Reporting the underlying causes of suicide can help dispel myths that suicide is not related to a person’s mental state.
Codes of practice
This section provides an overview of the relevant professional codes of practice and in-house guidelines.
The Press Complaints Commission’s Code of Practice
Clause 12 about discrimination states that the press must avoid prejudicial or pejorative reference to a person’s race, colour, religion, sex or sexual orientation, or to any physical or mental illness or disability. Details of an individual’s race, colour, religion, sexual orientation, physical or mental illness or disability must be avoided unless genuinely relevant to the story. Clause 5 states that when reporting suicide, care should be taken to avoid excessive detail about the method used.
In a Guidance note, the PCC gives more detailed advice, making clear that people detained under the Mental Health Act are ‘patients’, not ‘prisoners’, so language like ‘caged’ or ‘jailed’ is inaccurate. It warns against the use of terms such as ‘basket case’ or ‘nutter’, which may breach clause 12. It states: “Not only can such language cause distress to patients and their families, by interfering detrimentally with their care and treatment, it can also create a climate of public fear or rejection.”
The note can be found in full at the PCC website at www.pcc.org.uk/advice
The National Union of Journalists’ Code of Conduct
The code requires members to: produce no material likely to lead to hatred or discrimination on the grounds of a person’s age, gender, race, colour, creed, legal status, disability, marital status, or sexual orientation.
For the full code go to www.nuj.org.uk/
OFCOM Broadcasting Code
The code warns against the use of discriminatory language and says that methods of suicide or self-harm must not be portrayed or described in programmes except where editorially justified.
For the full code go to www.ofcom.org.uk/
Useful contacts
‘see me’
1/3 Great Michael House
14 Links Place
Edinburgh
EH6 7EZ
Tel:0131 554 0218
Fax: 0131 553 3217
Website: www.seemescotland.org/
Penumbra
Norton Park
57 Albion Road
Edinburgh
EH7 5QY Tel: 0131 475 2380
Fax: 0131 475 2391
Website: www.penumbra.org.uk/
The Scottish Association for Mental Health (SAMH)
Brunswick House
51 Wilson Street
Glasgow
G1 1UZ
Tel: 0141 530 1000
Website: www.samh.org.uk/
HUG
Highland House
20 Longman Road
INVERNESS
Scotland
IV1 1RY
Telephone: (01463) 723 560
Website: www.hug.uk.net/
Bipolar Fellowship Scotland
Studio 1016,
Mile End Mill,
Abbeymill Business Centre,
Seedhill Road,
PAISLEY
PA 1 1TJ
Tel: 0141-560.2050
Fax: 0141-560.2170
Website: www.bipolarscotland.org.uk/
Support in Mind Scotland
6 Newington Business Centre
Dalkeith Road Mews
Edinburgh
EH16 5GA
Website: www.supportinmindscotland.org.uk
Royal College of Psychiatrists (Scotland)
12 Queen Street
Edinburgh
EH2 1JE
Tel: 0131 220 2910
Fax: 0131 220 2915
Website: www.rcpsych.ac.uk/college/division/scot.asp
Action on Depression
11 Alva Street
Edinburgh
EH2 4PH
Tel: 0808 802 2020
Website: www.actionondepression.org
Saneline (national telephone line)
Tel: 08457 67 80 00
Samaritans
The Upper Mill
Kingston Road
Surrey
KT17 2AF
Tel: 020 8394 8300
Fax: 020 8394 8301
Website: http://www.samaritans.org/
National telephone line: 08457 90 90 90