(Liz Wiener/ Wisewomen Canada) — How often do the words crazy, insane or psycho pop up in your everyday vocabulary?
Last week, Lisa and I had the opportunity to reflect on the language of mental illness when we participated in a panel discussion for Bell Let’s Talk. The topic was the evolution of mental health stigma in the media. Has there been progress in terms of how mental illness is reported? Based on a study led by Dr. Robert Whitley from the Douglas Institute in Montreal, in conjunction with The Mental Health Commission of Canada, he and his team collected, read, coded and analyzed stories in the top newspapers and television news shows in Canada from 2005 until 2010.
The results indicated that there was a high number of negative stories about mental illness during those 5 years. As Dr. Whitley pointed out, negative reporting about mental illness in the media can have detrimental effects on public policy, public opinion and perhaps most significantly, on those who struggle personally with their mental health.
Armed with this information, Dr.Whitley and his team, along with André Picard, award-winning health reporter and columnist for the Globe and Mail, traveled to several journalism schools across Canada, conducted workshops, created a brochure and online education – all with the goal of training journalists and altering the negative skew with which mental illness is reported. (…)