Excuse Our Ignorance

Twitter has come to the forefront for journalist's and for many it is their first point of call at the beginning of their days. Other social networks have also been praised for aiding journalistic work but what about Pinterest? Many news companies will create boards on Pinterest that highlight relatable images to content they have recently published. It also helps to direct more traffic to the online article as the images can be linked with the appropriate URL's. Some of the most popular topic to write and pin about are food, fashion and weddings. However, what about mental health?

By Pinterest (http://pinterest.com/about/goodies/) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

As of September it was reported that Pinterest has 100 million active users with 176 million signed up. Like Tumblr Pinterest now has a community of users dedicating their time and pins to discuss mental health. A recently published study in the Public Relations Review Journal titled, 'Portrayals of depression on Pinterest and why public relation practitioners should care', analysed hundreds of images pinned that used mental health key words.

They found that one in ten of the images mentioned suicide or suicidal thoughts, 7% mentioned self-harm and any actually helpful advice about coping with these feelings was widely scarce. Pinterest has become a platform for users to openly discuss their feelings, like Tumblr has been known to do so previously. But what difference does this make to mental health journalism?

It gives news the chance to reach out to this community, by creatively transferring published content onto Pinterest news reporters are able to share their content with a targeted community who will benefit from reading it. As well as being able to spread the word and messages of their writing further. Users are also able to comment on images and a discussion can easily be sparked.

The study also found that there was a strong air of negativity about the coping mechanisms people were using to combat their mental health, that dysfunctional coping methods were often pinned and discussed and there was little support that was proactive and positive. Perhaps the news can play an important role in spreading more positivity by producing and pinning positive and optimistic content relating to mental health such as ground breaking research reports, NHS services becoming available in 2016 and local charities to support those suffering. Maybe a journalist's role can be beneficial with the aid of Pinterest.

It is important to study, report and understand how social media plays a role in mental health to improve change and to see honest and truthful accounts, as difficult and 'taboo' such subjects might be. The strength of feelings expressed by people is an aspect missing in hard news reporting and once again social media provides a realistic account. Perhaps Pinterest is a platform that mental health experts can reach out to those suffering and help to #ChangeTheConversation.

Celebrities often use their fame and social status to raise awareness for certain causes whether that is Comic Relief, Children in Need, Cancer Research or Mental Health. These are topics that the public can relate to and deal with everyday however, personal mental health stories is something that many celebrities have openly and bravely discussed with the public to raise awareness.

All Rights Reserved to: DontCallMeEve Original link: http://fav.me/d69uz5o Under the Creative Commons license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/

They have used their large social media followings to publicise charity events raising awareness and funds for mental health. Demi Lovato, pop singer, has vocalised her journey and battle with eating disorders and depression. During the National Alliance on Mental Illness Annual National Convention, Demi spoke powerfully about her experience, “It’s my mission to share this with the world and to let them know that there is life on the other side of those dark times that seem so hopeless and helpless. I want to show the world that there is life - surprising, wonderful and unexpected life after diagnosis.”

A Screen shot: Demi Lovato advocates mental health changes via her Instagram account. This particular post received 347.3 thousand likes, its impression to her worldwide followers was particularly powerful.

Oliver Sykes, lead singer of Bring Me The Horizon, also used the bands latest album, That's The Spirit, to express his battle with ADHD. In the deluxe album he provides a commentary to each song and the meaning behind the lyrics, quite openly discussing his battle with mental health within the commentary as well as creatively expressing himself within the songs. He also opens up greatly in interviews, you can see one here. 

Stephen Fry, English comedian, writer, actor and all round legend has had a deep and dark battle with depression and has bravely opened up about his experience to benefit others. He also uses his large twitter following of 11.9 million to spread awareness of mental health. 

It's pronounced 'men-tl il-niss' not 'kray-zee'. #SwitchOnTheLight to #mentalhealth with @_SelfEsteemTeam http://t.co/FmdCZdl4fz

— Stephen Fry (@stephenfry) May 14, 2015

Mental health and creativity - brilliant article here from @JRhodesPianist http://t.co/a0TnTH0O9O

— Stephen Fry (@stephenfry) September 19, 2015

All of these celebrities have discussed their most difficult times with the world and have used social media as a platform to do so, as well as speaking with journalists. It seems, in my opinion, that news by itself is not enough to raise sufficient awareness and create change about mental health. By using social media platforms to spread awareness to their followings on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram the news stories about the large numbers of people suffering from mental health are reinforced by celebrity involvement. A celebrities social media, used as their voice, reaches an extremely large portion of the public.

Social media reaches out to audiences that might not be as involved in the news but still enables the subject to be spread and spoken about especially with celebrities sharing their personal experiences. It changes the conversation from numbers of unknown people in formal news reporting and gives mental health a voice, it is what makes a key difference and sparks conversation amongst people. Professor Green's recent documentary, - you can read more here - Suicide and Me, saw a powerful reaction from his fans and following on Twitter.

BuzzFeed is an online news and entertainment website with editions worldwide. The website publishes daily content including breaking news, current topical affairs as well as trending discussions and specific category and community stories. In 2013, the website gave users the ability to submit their own content. This happens to have been very popular for individuals to openly share content relatable to mental health.

By BuzzFeed [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

BuzzFeed is a prominent news site shared across many social media platforms, particularly Facebook. With the ability for users to submit to the community section of the site many personal insights can be shared about mental health. It also establishes a platform for important content to be shared virally. BuzzFeed also reports on some of the more challenging subjects of mental health that mainstream media might not be so quick to publish.

From a question I asked on Twitter it appears that Facebook, primarily where Buzzfeeed links are circulated, is a popular social media platform to use to open up about and discuss mental health.

A Screenshot form my twitter feed @BreakThe_Mould

Whilst mental health has been a prominent topic of 2015 the news is also continuously reporting on other events and important stories happening locally and globally. It can therefore, be easy for mental health stories to be pushed aside and quickly forgotten about. However, with the internet as a tremendous part of our daily lives, allowing individuals to self-publish material either via microblogging or submitting content through websites such as BuzzFeed; topics such as mental health can be kept prominent by the public with the help of these online aids.

BuzzFeed can help to keep subjects the public find important within the news sphere due to the ability to share content across their social media platforms. Our increased user-time on sites such as BuzzFeed, Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr only increase the positive exposure to important topics, particularly mental health.

Take a look at this Storify highlighting more of the benefits of BuzzFees and The Huffington Post.

As social media has become a huge part of our everyday lives and the majority of us have accounts on sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Tumblr. Each of these sites has gained millions of users worldwide.

By User:ZyMOS [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

The uses of social media vary greatly, businesses have accounts to connect with their consumers and potential consumers, individuals may use the sites to update friends and family about their day to day lives, others might share news articles and other content they find interesting. Many of these people are involved in communities outside of social media however, social media platforms allows these communities to connect online as well as offline. They are an expression of people's identity, Tumblr especially.

There are many microbloggers on Tumblr who identify themselves as having mental health disorders and are more often than not on a varied scale of severity, they are an online community nonetheless.

Tumblr has become a place for those who are suffering with mental illness to reach out to one another, share content relatable to their lives and seek ways to improve their feelings and take steps for proactive change. It provides a support in addition to what the NHS can currently offer and eradicates some of the lonely feelings that many suffers of mental health feel.

Microblogging on Tumblr is also an excellent way for communities to get involved in current topics featured within mainstream news. Individuals involved in the community can develop the topic, discuss and progress the conversation adding insight and opinion. Platforms such as Twitter allow users to reply to the original user posting the content and consequently spark discussions as well as reaching out further into a community of people interested in adding to the conversation. I have previously discussed the benefits that Twitter can have. I personally found it very cathartic to share my story and battle with depression and anxiety through microblogging.

Have you shared your own personal experience via microblogging? How did you find it? Do you think that using social media platforms benefits discussing mental health issues in our society?

Created by: Samantha Clayson.

As the public we gain information about the events and affairs happening outside of our immediate world from the news. We can use the news as a reliable source to learn about problems, issues and current topics. The media also have a hefty job of setting the news agenda, what topics are important? What needs to be brought to the attention of the public and politician's?

However, journalism is relied upon to be objective and must also follow rules and regulations of ethical practices. The media, no matter how objective, has a huge impact on informing the publics understanding and their attitudes towards topics such as mental health.

Time To Change's media guidelines write, "when done well, news stories can be a tremendous tool. Well written news stories about mental health can raise awareness, challenge attitudes and help to dispel myths."

They continue to write, "however sensationalist journalism and over playing a risk of violence can promote fear and mistrust. It also widens the gap of understanding about mental health issues."

The use of language is especially important, using stereotypical phrases to describe those suffering with mental illness is inaccurate and also continues to reinforce stigma's attached to mental health issues. A really interesting post discusses why we should be so concerned about the way the media reports on mental health in more detail.

Journalists also face many ethical regulations, for example correctly dealing with sensitivity when reporting on mental illness and topics such as suicide. An interesting case study from the USA in 2010 sees an analysis of the way news outlets reported this particular case of suicide. The review of this particular situation, and like so many others in the UK, sees headlines and reporting increasing sensationalism about suicide cases. Speculation about the cause of suicide is often what becomes sensationalised.

Between 2007 and 2009 a town in Wales, Bridgend, saw 25 people commit suicide. News reporters tried to create a link between the deaths and social media cults. This was a case of extreme sensationalisation and ignited fear in many and leading them to believe the use of social media caused teens and young adults to commit suicide. In this instance the news, in most cases, did not successfully report with objectivity but increased fear amongst many and the story even made it in to vanity fair, amongst other global websites.

Where journalists breach ethical practices there become implications involving the law. The reporting of the Bridgend suicides saw the police critiquing the way the media reported the incidents. It is also concerning to think of Robin Williams suicide in 2014 and the sensationalised way his death was reported in the media. Hannah Osbourne for the International Business Times looked at the reporting of William's suicide in further detail. She also queries the lack of legal support for the families of those who committed suicide in Bridgend.

We should be concerned about the way the media has reported suicide over the years and the lack of changes that have been made to-date. Why are complaints not upheld? Why is suicide reporting so sensationalised and treated with little to no uphold by the law? How is this going to bring about positive change and diminish stereotypes? What is being done to make positive change? It seems the answer to this last question is, unfortunately, very little.

It's no secret that mental health awareness has become a recurring topic in UK news headlines. We as a society are learning that so many of those in our immediate community suffer from mental illness at some point in their life for various periods of time.

The World Health Organisation, in 2001, reported that mental illness affects one in four, 14 years on where are we now? Many reports and stories, from around the world are claiming that one in four are still affected and more needs to be done to help those suffering.

Photo credit: Rights - © 2011 Andrew Ostrovsky under CC license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/