What we talk about when we talk about mental health – a workshop about covering mental health in the media.
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 System, 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.
