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Are there potentially positive impacts of media reporting about forensic mental health issues?

There is a lack of understanding about the forensic mental health system and why the criminal justice system in Queensland treats defendants with a mental illness differently to others.  Accurate and informed reporting of these issues can contribute to increased community understanding and acceptance.

Are there potentially negative impacts of media reporting about forensic mental health issues?

Graphic reporting of specific details of crimes, can distress victims and re-activate their fears and memories.  It can also have a negative impact on family members of both the victim and the patient, as well as other people associated with the case.  This situation may traumatise people and disrupt their process of recovery.¹

Reporting that is inaccurate, sensationalist or reinforces stereotypes about mental illness can be very distressing for people living with a mental illness and their families.  People can experience further social exclusion and subsequently be reluctant to seek treatment and help.²

Negative reporting of mental illness generally appears to influence community attitudes.  Participants in many of the studies surveyed by Mindframe considered the media to have an impact on their attitudes towards mental health and illness.  Those who cited the media as the most important source of their information and beliefs tended to have more negative attitudes towards mental illness.

How important is language?

The use of negative or outdated terms related to mental illness can perpetuate ongoing myths and stereotypes.   For example

• American terms like 'psychopath' and others such as 'the criminally insane' can reinforce the misconception that all people with a mental illness are violent and dangerous.

• Negative terms such as 'mad', 'psycho', 'deranged' and 'lunatic' also stigmatise people living with a mental illness and can contribute to discrimination.

Find out more:

For more information on reporting mental illness, go to the Mindframe  website.

• Research: Media & Mental Illness  
• Mental Illness: Issues to consider when reporting 
• Codes of practice  
• Reporting on mental illness as well as specific considerations for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
• Reporting on people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds is available from the Mindframe website.
  

References:

1. Butler, B (2006) Promoting balance in the forensic mental health system - Final Report - Review of the Queensland Mental Health Act 2000, The State of Queensland (Queensland Health), p132
2. R Coombes (2006), Negative reports of mental health deter people from seeking help' 332 (7535) British Medical Journal 194

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