Abstract
Stigmatising opinions about mental illness are more common among young people than older people (Yarney, 1999). Whether the media should carry responsibility for this was the subject of the College's 13th Christmas Lecture for Young People. Over 300 school children gathered in central London to take part in a debate on the role of the media in the portrayal of mental illness. Alison Lowe introduced the debate by illustrating how common mental illness is. She invited everyone to look at the eight people sitting around them before adding, “In your lifetimes at least one of you will see a psychiatrist”.
Highlights
Stigmatising opinions about mental illness are more common among young people than older people (Yarney, 1999)
``This house believes that the media are responsible for the stigma, prejudice and ignorance which surrounds mental illness.'' The four speakers who accepted the challenge of the debate were all practising psychiatrists, as well as having personal experience of working with the media
The first speaker, Mark Salter, described how he had become disillusioned with a media career. ``Television is smaller than life,'' he suggested, and is unable to cope with the complexity and variety of mental health problems
Summary
Stigmatising opinions about mental illness are more common among young people than older people (Yarney, 1999). Whether the media should carry responsibility for this was the subject of the College's 13th Christmas Lecture for Young People. Over 300 school children gathered in central London to take part in a debate on the role of the media in the portrayal of mental illness. Alison Lowe introduced the debate by illustrating how common mental illness is. She invited everyone to look at the eight people sitting around them before adding, ``In your lifetimes at least one of you will see a psychiatrist''. ``This house believes that the media are responsible for the stigma, prejudice and ignorance which surrounds mental illness.'' The four speakers who accepted the challenge of the debate were all practising psychiatrists, as well as having personal experience of working with the media
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