Mental Health Reporting

Promoting accurate and appropriate portrayals of mental illness: A collection of resources

The media plays a major role in shaping public perceptions and attitudes towards mental illness. Inaccurate reporting of mental health has serious consequences that often creates a negative focus on this topic, contributes to the stigma and discrimination of people with mental illness, and creates barriers to treatment and recovery. In light of these consequences, accurate reporting about mental health and illness is crucial. This website serves as an interactive guide and was developed to support students who engage with material about media and mental health from various perspectives. We have included a variety of documents regarding existing best practices for reporting on mental health, which are useful for both producers and consumers of media content about mental health topics. Our goal is to promote critical analysis of such content, and to raise awareness about the importance of accurate and appropriate reporting about mental health.