newspaper coverage of mental illness in the uk, 1992-2008报纸的报道精神疾病在英国,1992 - 2008.pdfVIP

Goulden et al. BMC Public Health 2011, 11:796 /1471-2458/11/796 CORRESPONDENCE Open Access Newspaper coverage of mental illness in the UK, 1992-2008 * Robert Goulden , Elizabeth Corker, Sara Evans-Lacko, Diana Rose, Graham Thornicroft and Claire Henderson Abstract Background: Recent years have seen a number of attempts to reduce the stigma related to mental illness; the media can play a significant role in perpetuating this stigma. This paper analyses trends in newspaper coverage of mental illness in the UK between 1992-2008 across a range of psychiatric diagnoses. Methods: A content analysis was performed on a sample of articles (n = 1361) about mental illness in a range of UK newspapers in 1992, 2000, and 2008. Results: There was a significant proportional reduction in negative articles about mental illness between 1992 and 2008, and a significant increase in articles explaining psychiatric disorders. Coverage improved for depression but remained largely negative for schizophrenia. Conclusions: Newspaper coverage of mental illness became less stigmatising overall in the 1990s and 2000s, but this was not true for all diagnoses. Background improvement in attitudes towards mental illness between The mass media are strongly implicated in the stigmatis- 1994 and 2003 [18], although there was an improvement ing views held by the public towards people with mental in attitudes towards depression between 1991 and 1997 illness. The precise nature of mental illness stigma is sub- [19]. UK and international surveys find more generally ject to various definitions, though it is generally held to that depression and anxiety disorders are less stigmatised connote the tainting of affected indivi