Are we using mass media to raise awareness about psychiatric disorders?

Abstract

Introduction

The global burden of mental disorders is large and continues to grow. Depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide. Every 40 seconds somebody dies from suicide. People with mental disorders are amongst the most marginalized in society. The stigma they experience puts them at an increased risk of poverty, discrimination and human right violations.

Objectives

To study the presence of psychiatric disorders in the media.

Methods

We selected and analyzed the top media Twitter accounts of general news outlets, based on their number of followers. Our research strategy focused on the search of several psychiatric terms of interest (ex: “insomnia”) on each Twitter account. The search includes tweets from the beginnings of Twitter in 2007 up to May 2016, and yielded a database of more than 10,000 news.

Results

The terms with the highest impact in mass media referred to suicide, depression, addictions and gender dysphoria. Disorders related to anxiety (Generalized anxiety, phobias, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder), dysthymia and bipolar disorder were the psychiatric disorders with the lowest impact. We noticed that the presence of psychiatric disorders in the media is increasing. However, it does not accurately reflect the actual impact it has on society.

Conclusions

The media can be a useful tool for the implementation of strategies for the promotion and prevention of mental disorders. However, we are not fully taking advantage of the benefits that mass media has to offer in order to educate and raise awareness about said disorders.

Disclosure of interest

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.