Trends In News Media Coverage Of Mental Illness In The United States: 1995-2014.
The United States is engaged in ongoing dialogue around mental illness. To assess trends in this national discourse, we studied the volume and content of a random sample of 400 news stories about mental illness from the period 1995-2014. Compared to news stories in the first decade of the study period, those in the second decade were more likely to mention mass shootings by people with mental illnesses. The most frequently mentioned topic across the study period was violence (55 percent overall) divided into categories of interpersonal violence or self-directed (suicide) violence, followed by stories about any type of treatment for mental illness (47 percent). Fewer news stories, only 14 percent, described successful treatment for or recovery from mental illness. The news media's continued emphasis on interpersonal violence is highly disproportionate to actual rates of violence among those with mental illnesses. Research suggests that this focus may exacerbate social stigma and decrease support for public policies that benefit people with mental illnesses.
Emma E. McGinty (bmcginty@jhu.edu) is an assistant professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and co-deputy director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Mental Health and Addiction Policy Research, in Baltimore, Maryland.
Emma E
EE
McGinty
Alene Kennedy-Hendricks is an assistant scientist in the Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Alene
A
Kennedy-Hendricks
Seema Choksy is a senior research program coordinator in the Department of Internal Medicine at Johns Hopkins University.
Seema
S
Choksy
Colleen L. Barry is a professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management, with a joint appointment in the Department of Mental Health, both at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and is codirector of the Johns Hopkins Center for Mental Health and Addiction Policy Research.
Colleen L
CL
Barry
D003142:Communication; D005389:Firearms; D006801:Humans; D054527:Mass Casualty Incidents / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008402:Mass Media / Q000639:trends*; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D028642:Persons with Psychiatric Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013405:Suicide / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014481:United States; D014754:Violence / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
Media; Mental Health/Substance Abuse