Newspaper portrayal of mental illness in England, Canada, Portugal, Spain and Japan = Representación de las enfermedades mentales en periódicos de Inglaterra, Canadá, Portugal, España y Japón

Abstract

Research concerning media portrayals of mental illnesses and the effects such portrayals might have on the public has usually been carried out within one country as a geographical limit. Herein, we analyse the results of the research carried out through the analysis of newspapers in 5 different disperse countries around the world in the last decade; England, Canada, Portugal, Spain and Japan. Some of these countries have started national campaigns to reduce the stigmatisation of these conditions, including a focused awareness on Mental Health communication in media. Despite the heterogenicity of the societies studied and the different measures adopted, there is still a negative portrayal of mental illnesses in newspapers, which contributes to the ongoing mental illness stigmatisation. Other media also showed similar results. Moreover, this review intends to give a general vision on how research in this area is carried out and propose a reflection on how it should be pursued.

Mental Health Discourses on Twitter during Mental Health Awareness Week

“…In this respect, prior research has shown that media outlets (e.g. news, entertainment) contribute to perpetuate stereotypical portrayals of mental illnesses, associating these with dangerousness, violence and crime (Nawková et al, 2012;Stuart, 2006;Vengut Climent, 2018). The stigma discourse in our sample suggests that users' negative tweets are ideologically charged and revolve around socio-cultural practices (e.g.…”