Topic Tuesday// Shaping Perception: Addressing Stigma in the Media // Tuesday 27th February 2024 5:30-7PM AEDT

[TideisTurning]

Time for our next question for @Madeleine13- What is StigmaWatch?   

[amber22]

I definitely agree with you that some subjects can be really taboo and make it hard to communicate about. I wish this wasn't the case.

I'm sorry that your experience with talking about your suicidality has been negative, I strongly believe it needs to be more normalised. 

Glad to hear that the tagging is somewhat working now, let's see how we go with it @chibam 

[espressologic]

Hi @chibam - we're testing out the tagging in the background to see if we can replicate the issue.

Can I pick up on your comment about how you wanting to die was not acknowledged... why do you think this happens?  Are people afraid of saying the wrong thing?  Or just not sure what to say?  Is there something we could do to help people be more comfortable having these conversations?

[Madeleine13]

As mentioned in my introduction, we monitor and respond to reports of inaccurate or inappropriate stigmatising media portrayal of mental ill health and suicide. 

• Facilitating positive media stories is also a big part of the program. We work with journalists and our Peer Ambassadors to help highlight positive portrayals of mental health in the media. In addition, we send commendations to journalists who have produced well-reported and non-stigmatising articles that we believe contribute to the reduction of mental health stigma. 
  
• In partnership with Mindframe the program helps educate media and communication professionals about their role in responsible reporting. We assess all media against the Mindframe Guidelines to ensure safe and accurate portrayals of mental health in the media. 
  
  
• In addition, the program provides a nationally accessible platform for the ‘StigmaWatcher’ community to report stigmatising media content. We have an amazing and dedicated community of over 6000 people. Each week we receive reports from the community alerting us to pieces of media that are potentially harmful. In 2023 our StigmaWatchers helped us amend over 200 pieces of content.  

[RoseGeranium]

For me @TideisTurning , stigma has involved people denying that I had bipolar at all when I was first diagnosed.  I ended up trying to convince myself that I just had autism and ADHD because of this, then the diagnostic wheel turned again and I found that I do have bipolar, as well as autism and ADHD.  Stigma from others, and even a belief from some that it's 'just trauma,' turned me inward and made me go into a phase of denial about my bipolarity.

[KirSa_EnigmA]

Not sure how much of this is stigma and how much is my own personal experience surrounding 'treatment', but I find it very difficult to trust the mental health industry... or really any authority figure in general.  I think there's a growing stigma of mistrust and skepticism around many of our commonly accepted institutions, and I think that's a good thing.  It keeps people accountable and focussed on the individual, not the power, influence, or financial reward gained from helping others. 

But, it's got a long way to go if you ask me.  Quite frankly, it's rare to find someone who actually cares & knows wtf is going on.  I'm sick of scripted answers and checkboxes for diagnosis or treatment. We're humans ffs. 

~ K 

[chibam]

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@espressologic wrote:

Can I pick up on your comment about how you wanting to die was not acknowledged... why do you think this happens?  Are people afraid of saying the wrong thing?  Or just not sure what to say?  Is there something we could do to help people be more comfortable having these conversations?

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TBH, @espressologic , I think it goes much, much deeper then that - right down to the fundamental concepts upon which they've based their entire concept of reality upon. I think that they hold this deep fundamental principal that life is always better then death, no ifs, ands, or buts. And I think that trying to delve into a mindset where that principal doesn't exist is like tumbling down the rabbit hole into wonderland for them... nothing makes sense. They don't even know where to begin trying to make sense of it. So they just lock up, and try to pretend that what just happened didn't happen, and maybe they can just go back to living in their world that makes sense.

I guess I probably glitch out similarly myself when I get confronted with situations I can't make any sense of.

[TideisTurning]

I'm so sorry you've had that experience @RoseGeranium, though I feel like it can be unfortunately too common for stigma to be internalised after it's been continually perpetuated. From that, I would say you're not alone in your experiences.

[amber22]

It can be really hard to trust the system after being mistreated or feeling like you haven't been properly listened to it in the past. I'm sorry that has happened to you, it definitely is extremely unsettling.

Do you think it is improving in any way? @KirSa_EnigmA 

[espressologic]

Hi @KirSa_EnigmA , great points about fitting into checkboxes for diagnosis and treatment.  Sometimes it can be helpful to have a 'label' that gives meaning to the experiences you've been having, but sometimes equally I think we can end up being trapped by those labels and then be judged by others (including some health professionals) when we have those labels on file.

How could it be done better?