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Media portrayals of mental illness and mental health can have a significant impact on community perceptions of mental illness and can assist in breaking down the stigma that can be associated with mental illness.
This page provides information for media and communications organisations reporting on mental illness.
For media enquiries regarding the Transcultural Mental Health Centre please contact the Western Sydney Local Health District Corporate Communications Team on (02) 8890 4564.
The Mindframe National Media Initiative provides evidence-based information to support the reporting, portrayal and communication about suicide and mental illness. Resources are available from the Mindframe website.
Mindframe - Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Communties
Mindframe reminder for responsible reporting on the Christchurch shooting (PDF 653KB)
The risks of linking extremist behaviour and mental illness - Joint Statement Mindframe & StigmaWatch (PDF 368KB)
Developed by Life in Mind, the Charter is a document designed to guide the way organisations talk about mental health and suicide prevention, with each other and with the community. The Charter aims to help everyone better understand the power that words and the way we use language can have when talking about mental illness and suicide. The Charter sets out broad and strategic communication principles and key messages about mental health and wellbeing, social and emotional wellbeing, mental ill-health and suicide prevention. Find out more about the Charter here.
Articles of interest The role of language in suicide reporting: Investigating the influence of problematic suicide referents By Florian Arendt & Sebastian Scherr et al; Social Science and Medicine. 3 May 2018
Why reporting on refugee crises requires empathy for mental health issues By Marc Herman, Columbia Journalism Review. July 6, 2016