Resources

The question of whether media portrayals of suicide can lead to imitation has been debated for over two centuries, but it is only in the last 50 years or so that scientific studies have been conducted on this subject. This recent review considers studies of news and information media, both traditional (newspapers, television, books) and newer media (the Internet). It also considers mixed media. The current review constitutes an update of an earlier review of the news and information media (Pirkis & Blood, 2001). This review is available for download

NEW: The Media Monitoring Project: Changes in media reporting of suicide and mental illness in Australia: 2000/01 – 2006/07.

This major Australian project, comprising two studies, set out to address some of the gaps in knowledge about the way that media report and portray suicide and mental health and illness. This is a replication of a baseline study completed in 2001. The project involved a systematic investigation of whether there have been changes in the extent, nature and quality of reporting of suicide and mental health/illness during the life of the Mindframe resource Reporting suicide and mental illness. The study had two components, one quantitative component and one qualitative component. Both the executive summary and the full report are available for download. 

Curriculum Resources for Australian Universities - The Response Ability Project

The aim of the Response Ability project is to provide journalism students with an introduction to issues associated with reporting on suicide and mental illness. The project is an initiative of the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing, under the National Mental Health Strategy and the National Suicide Prevention Strategy.

The Response Ability resource kit is a multi-media package which includes case study material, hypothetical video scenarios and examples of recent news reports on suicide and mental illness. The package was developed in consultation with journalism educators and is designed to be easily integrated into subjects such as news writing, broadcast journalism and ethics. Copies of the resource kit have been provided to each university in Australia. Further information is available on the Response Ability website http://www.responseability.org/.

The Media Monitoring Project: A Baseline Description of how the Australian Media Report and Portray Suicide and Mental Health and Illness.

This report has been produced by Jane Pirkis, R. Warwick Blood, Catherine Francis, Peter Putnis, Philip Burgess, Belinda Morley, Andrew Stewart and Trish Payne of the Centre for Health Program Evaluation, University of Melbourne, and the School of Professional Communication, University of Canberra. This major Australian project, comprising two studies, set out to address some of the gaps in knowledge about the way that med ia report and portray suicide and mental health and illness. A number of studies have considered the impact of media reports of suicide and mental health and illness, and suggested that reporting of suicide can lead to imitation, and that reporting of mental health and illness can contribute to negative beliefs, stigma and discrimination. Much less work has looked at the extent and nature of media reporting of suicide and mental health and illness, but it has suggested that the media tend to report suicide in a sensationalist fashion and portray mental illness negatively. Few of these studies have been conducted in Australia. Both the full report and an executive summary (649 KB) are available for download as PDF files.

Suicide and the Media - a Critical Review is an up to date review of the world literature on the complex issue of whether media reporting of a suicide can influence others to suicide and the manner in which this influence may occur. The report was produced by Jane Pirkis of the University of Melbourne and Warwick Blood of the Australian National University for the Media Reference Group, a subcommittee of the National Advisory Council to the National Suicide Prevention Strategy - Life (Living is for everyone).
 

Both the full report and an executive summary [~949Kb] are available for download as PDF files.

 

There is a common perception that the media's depiction of mental health and illness is overwhelmingly negative and inaccurate. Media portrayal is also viewed as an important element in forming and influencing community attitudes towards mental health issues. A significant amount has been written on this topic in recent years, and this review seeks to identify, evaluate and interpret the available research relating to the portrayal of mental health and illness in the media.  This report has been produced by Catherine Francis, Jane Pirkis, David Dunt and R. Warwick Blood.

 

This report produced by Jane Pirkis, R. Warwick Blood, Catherine Francis and Kerry McCallum (2005), reviews the portrayal of mental illness in film and television mediums, with results indicating that the portrayal of mental illness in film and television is extensive and consistently perpetuates myths and stereotypes about mental illness. People with mental illness were most commonly shown as being violent and aggressive, and frequently depicted as eccentric, seductive, or self-obsessive. Evidence indicates that pervasive negative portrayals of people with mental illness can have harmful effects, perpetuating the stigma associated with mental illness and reducing the likelihood that those with mental illness will seek appropriate help. There is also a smaller body of literature regarding potential positive effects of fictional films and television programs, including its use in mass media campaigns to improve community mental health literacy, or as an educational resource for training mental health professionals. This report is available to download.

 

The aim of this consultation project was to assess the impact of film and television drama portrayals of mental illness on the lives of people affected by mental illness. SANE Australia canvassed the views of an Australian sample, comprising mental health consumers, carers and community members. Consultations were undertaken from March to May 2005, via 131 online surveys and 6 focus groups. This report is available to download.

 

This consultation was conducted for the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing as part of the Mindframe Media and Mental Health Project. The aim of the consultation was to gather information from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across Australia to investigate their opinions about possible negative and positive effects of media coverage about suicide, mental health and mental illness. The consultation attempted to include opinions from Indigenous Australians living in both metropolitan and rural areas. This report is available to download.

 

This paper, wrtten by Jaelea Skehan, Sonia Greenhalgh, Trevor Hazell (Hunter Institute of Mental Health) and Jane Pirkis (School of Population Health, University of Melbourne) was published in the November 2006 issue of the International Journal of Mental Health Promotion. It examines the effectiveness of the active dissemination strategy developed and implemented by the Mindframe Media and Mental Health project, highlighting both quantitative and qualitative evaluation data that indicates substantial reach, awareness of, support for and uptake of these resources by media professionals in Australia. This report is available to download.

 

This paper, written by Jaelea Skehan, Sonia Greenhalgh and Trevor Hazell was published in the Australian Journalism Review in December 2006. It examines the role of face-to-face briefings with print and broadcast media organisations to engage journalists in a discussion about key complexities and challenges in covering suicide and mental illness related issues and to promote available resources. This paper uses evaluation data to examine the effectiveness of this strategy, highlighting quantitative and qualitative data that indicate awareness of, support for and uptake of the resources by media professionals in Australia. This report is available to download.

 

This website provides information for the general community, Indigenous communities and media professionals about Queensland's forensic mental health system.  For more information visit www.health.qld.gov.au/forensicmentalhealth/