David Baxter PhD
Late Founder
Anti-stigma campaigns undermined by media focus on violence
By Joanna Lyford, MedWire News
18 March 2009
Br J Psychiatry 2009; 194: 278?284
Initiatives to improve public attitudes toward people with mental illness can be effective but are also undermined by press coverage focusing on violence, UK researchers believe.
Their conclusions are based on an analysis of trends in public attitudes toward people with mental illness in England and Scotland. The data were derived from the Attitudes to Mental Illness Surveys, which were conducted by the Department of Health annually between 1994 and 1997, in 2000, and in 2003.
Graham Thornicroft (King?s College London, UK) and team used quota sampling methods to select 2000 respondents from each year of the survey. They then compared responses to 25 statements such as: ?People with mental illness don?t deserve our sympathy;? ?Virtually anyone can become mentally ill;? and ?Increased spending on mental health services is a waste of money.?
Writing in the British Journal of Psychiatry, Thornicroft et al reveal that there was a significant deterioration in responses to 17 items in England between 2000 and 2003, indicating an overall increase in prejudice and discrimination.
This may be related to the effect of adverse media reporting, the researchers believe. Between 2000 and 2003, changes to the Mental Health Act were being widely debated and were often reported in relation to the risk of violence posed by people with mental illness.
In Scotland, by contrast, there was a significant deterioration in just four of the 25 items over the same time period. This may reflect an early positive effect of the ?see me? anti-stigma campaign that was launched in Scotland in 2000, which may have slowed the rate of worsening public attitudes in its first 3 years.
?Our analysis reveals a less optimistic picture than that of recent Department of Health reports, especially in England,? Thornicroft and co-authors remark.
?Further research is needed to clarify the relationship between attitudinal change and the effect of the potentially active ingredients of national anti-stigma campaigns, to allow future interventions to be more targeted, evidence-based, and cost-effective.?
Abstract
By Joanna Lyford, MedWire News
18 March 2009
Br J Psychiatry 2009; 194: 278?284
Initiatives to improve public attitudes toward people with mental illness can be effective but are also undermined by press coverage focusing on violence, UK researchers believe.
Their conclusions are based on an analysis of trends in public attitudes toward people with mental illness in England and Scotland. The data were derived from the Attitudes to Mental Illness Surveys, which were conducted by the Department of Health annually between 1994 and 1997, in 2000, and in 2003.
Graham Thornicroft (King?s College London, UK) and team used quota sampling methods to select 2000 respondents from each year of the survey. They then compared responses to 25 statements such as: ?People with mental illness don?t deserve our sympathy;? ?Virtually anyone can become mentally ill;? and ?Increased spending on mental health services is a waste of money.?
Writing in the British Journal of Psychiatry, Thornicroft et al reveal that there was a significant deterioration in responses to 17 items in England between 2000 and 2003, indicating an overall increase in prejudice and discrimination.
This may be related to the effect of adverse media reporting, the researchers believe. Between 2000 and 2003, changes to the Mental Health Act were being widely debated and were often reported in relation to the risk of violence posed by people with mental illness.
In Scotland, by contrast, there was a significant deterioration in just four of the 25 items over the same time period. This may reflect an early positive effect of the ?see me? anti-stigma campaign that was launched in Scotland in 2000, which may have slowed the rate of worsening public attitudes in its first 3 years.
?Our analysis reveals a less optimistic picture than that of recent Department of Health reports, especially in England,? Thornicroft and co-authors remark.
?Further research is needed to clarify the relationship between attitudinal change and the effect of the potentially active ingredients of national anti-stigma campaigns, to allow future interventions to be more targeted, evidence-based, and cost-effective.?
Abstract
