Mental health problems in India impact a significant proportion of the population but only a minority receives timely and adequate treatment. Journalists and media more broadly have remarkable potential for influencing public understanding of mental illness — potentially in positive ways, but also negative ones. This paper tries to analyze the manner in which Indian media, both print and digital (including television) at present reports on mental health, identifying emergent trends along with glaring deficiencies and some of the burning issues pertaining to ethics. Failure to follow standard ethical standards in reporting is a frequent occurrence. In many cases, journalist may miss hotlines or use boulevard language and sometimes infringe on patient’s right to confidentiality. The results of our work indicate that many media reports associate mental illness with crime and violence, reinforcing stereotypes. Global Guidelines Since recovery is the goal, even when death occurs it should be used as an opportunity to highlight what has been learned so that more people will have a better chance at survival in the future. The media with guidelines Be encouraged by international standards to focus on messages which are positive and arouse hope Use of person-first language Provide available resources for support. The recent case underscores the need for Indian journalism to embrace such principles, from training reporters and developing dedicated guidelines on mental health reporting to advancing accurate, empathetic storytelling.
Dr Manjula Goel (Thu,) studied this question.