Stage 7
16:15 - 17:15
English
Workshop
Everyone
MEDIA CONVENTION Berlin
What we talk about when we talk about mental health (in the media)

Kurzthese

As country after country declares a public mental health crisis, the media has a unique responsibility to inform and educate, but also create empathy and understanding around mental health issues. But what’s the right way to do that?

Beschreibung

Huge progress has been made in how we talk about mental health. At the same time, the topic remains both stigmatised and difficult to communicate. Often we still struggle with basic concepts such as shame, pathologisation and narratives of victimhood, both in our personal lives and in media portrayals of mental illness.
 
Two magazines launched in 2017, Anxy Magazine and Torchlight, are aiming to stimulate new conversations around mental health. At the same time, they’ve invited criticism of turning mental health issues into just another hip topic.
 
The session will be a collaborative discussion on ways of talking about about mental health, how we can inscribe a better lexicon of recovery, how publishing can help people to speak openly about these difficult topics – as well as about the pitfalls of various types of media coverage.