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Research: Media and Mental Illness

For a summary of new research findings about mental illness, 2002 - 2006 click here.

According to international research, mental illness tends to be portrayed negatively in the mass media in both news and entertainment media. This is supported by Australian studies. However recent Australian research suggests reporting may be improving.

  • Negative reporting of mental illness appears to influence community attitudes. Participants in many of the studies surveyed 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.
  • The presentation of negative images of mental illness in both fiction and non-fiction media results in the development of more negative beliefs about mental illness. 
  • The presentation of positive images does not appear to balance negative media portrayals.
  • There is some evidence that mental health promotional campaigns impact positively on community attitudes.

Francis, C. et al. (2001)1, investigated literature on the portrayal of mental health and illness in the media, the impact of portrayal on community attitudes towards mental illness, and the impact of mental health promotion in the media. Download the report in pdf format ~515kb

Attitudes

  • An Australian study shows that while 90% of respondents believe mental health is a significant issue in Australia, Australians do not have a clear understanding of mental illness2.
  • 51% of respondents in a national study in the US felt that depictions of people with mental illness in the entertainment industry were negative, and 43% believed coverage of mental illness in the news media was mostly negative3.
  • 75% of consumers of mental health services in a UK study felt that media coverage was 'unfair, unbalanced or very negative', while 50% believed media portrayal of mental health issues had 'a negative effect on their mental health'4.
  • Several studies show that greater use of electronic media is associated with less tolerant attitudes towards people with a mental illness5.
  • A major German survey showed that the media were the most important source of information about mental illness, and that negative media reports were more commonly recalled than positive reports. Further German studies have found a trend towards avoidance of people with schizophrenia by those with a high level of television consumption. In addition, negative newspaper articles adversely affect attitudes towards those experiencing schizophrenia6.
  • Studies showed that when participants were exposed to fictional or news items which portrayed mental illness negatively, they developed less positive attitudes towards mental illness. Positive items did not alter attitudes7.

References

1 Francis, C., Pirkis, J., Dunt. D. &Blood R. W. (2001) Mental Health and Illness in the Media: A Review of the Literature. Canberra, ACT: Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing.
2 Wirthlin Worldwide Australia. (2001). National Mental Health Benchmark Study. WWA: North Sydney; Highet, N. J., Luscombe, G. M., Davenport, T. A., Burns, J. M. & Hickie, I. B. (2006). Positive relationships between public awareness activity and recognition of the impacts of depression in Australia. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 40, 55-58.
3 National Mental Health Association. (2000). Stigma Matters: Assessing the media's impact on public perception of mental illness. Chicago, IL: National Mental Health Association.
4 Ferriman, A. (2000) The stigma of schizophrenia. British Medical Journal, 320, 522.
5 Granello, D., Pauley, P. & Carmichael, A. (1999). Relationship of the media to attitudes towards people with mental illness. Journal of Humanistic Counseling Education and Development, 38, 98-103.
6 Cited in Francis, C. et al. (2001). op cit;  Angermeyer, M. C., Dietrich, S., Pott, D. & Matschinger, H. (2005). Media consumption and desire for social distance towards people with schizophrenia. European Psychiatry, 20, 46-250; Dietrich, S., Heider, D., Matschinger, H., & Angermeyer, M. C. (2006). Influence of newspaper reporting on adolescents’ attitudes toward people with mental illness. Social Psychology and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 41, 318-322.
7 Domino, G. (1983). Impact of the film 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest', on attitudes towards mental illness. Psychological Reports, 53, 179-182; Wahl, O. F. and Lefkowits J. Y. (1989). Impact of a television film on attitudes toward mental illness. American Journal of Community Psychology, 17, 521-28; Thornton, J. A. & Wahl, O. F. (1996). Impact of a newspaper article on attitudes towards mental illness. Journal of Community Psychology, 24, 17-25.