Media Portrayal Of Mental Health And Intellectual Disability - Introduction
Until very recently, the media portrayal of mental health and intellectual disability has been characterized by two main trends. First, people with mental health problems or intellectual disabilities have been virtually invisible in mainstream media and advertising. Second, when they are mentioned, they have been presented at best as less than equal, as objects of pity or ridicule, and at worst they have been outright demonized, as inherently violent and a threat to society. Such coverage has had a negative impact both on society in which these stereotypes persist, and on people with mental health problems or intellectual disabilities, and their families and friends.
In the past few years the situation has begun to change, owing largely to the activism of disability NGOs and organizations of people with disabilities. Steps have been taken on national and international (EU) levels to address the problem of inadequate media portrayal. For example, major broadcasters have started developing and applying media guidelines on representation of people with disabilities (BBC and Channel 4, among others, in the United Kingdom). Various initiatives have been developed to encourage and train journalists to present a more accurate and balanced picture (for instance, the National Center on Disability and Journalism (NCDJ) in the USA). Disability organizations have launched a few media outlets run by and for people with disabilities, such as TV-Glad in Denmark, Radio Independent Living in Sweden, and various online magazines. Several disability-related film festivals, such as Oska Bright and SUPERFEST, and Mental Health Media Awards are helping to raise visibility and improve public perception of people with mental and intellectual disabilities. Businesses are also gradually beginning to realize that people with disabilities are consumers like everyone else, and are beginning to target them in commercial advertising.
However, the overall improvement is small, and stereotypical and/or sensationalist representation of people with mental health problems and/or intellectual disabilities continues. Portrayal of positive role models, either in the news or in the entertainment media (cinema), is scarce. This means that more concerted efforts are needed to overcome the long-standing tradition of negative media coverage of people with mental and intellectual disabilities. Their active participation in both making and delivering the media content is key
In this section of the website, you will find information about portrayal of mental health and intellectual disability issues in various media, as well as relevant publications and reports, a list of other useful links, and some best practices.
Selected Sources
Mental Illness Portrayal Often Negative in Media (2007), a Daily Cardinal article by Michelle Turcotte, reviews the current, mostly negative, coverage of people with mental health problems in the media, and argues that they should not be defined by their illness.
Disabled People Still Under-represented on Television - Survey (2006), by the Broadcasting and Creative Industries Disability Network (BCIDN), is a result of the collective experience of the Network and its members. They have been working together to improve matters for disabled people in broadcasting, film, and advertising for the past decade.
Disability and the Media - the Role for Advertising (2005), a presentation by Dominic Lyle, President of The European Association of Communications Agencies (EACA), outlines the need for, and principles of, representation of people with disabilities in media advertising.
Psychiatry and Mental Illness: Are They Mass Media Targets? (1998), by Michael Jonathan Grinfeld, published in Psychiatric Times, considers the harm of stereotyped and stigmatizing portrayal of mental illness for those suffering from mental illnesses and the practitioners who treat them.
Mental Disability/Psychiatry in Film: A Bibliography, on the website of the University of California in Berkeley, California, USA, contains an extensive list of articles analyzing movies featuring mental and intellectual disability.