Background The press’ representation of mental illness often includes images of people as dangerous, and there is evidence that this contributes to stigmatising understandings about mental illness. Little is known about how newspapers portray mental health on their Twitter feeds. Aims To explore the representation of mental health in the UK national press’ Twitter feeds. Method Content analysis was used to code the Tweets produced by UK national press in two time periods, 2014 and 2017. Chi-square analysis was used to identify trends. Results The analysis identified a significant reduction in the proportion of tweets that were characterised as Bad News between 2014 and 2017 (χ2 = 14.476, d.f. = 1, p < .001) and a significant increase in the tweets characterised as Understanding (χ2 = 9.398, d.f. = 1, p = .002). However, in 2017, 24% of the tweets were still characterised as Bad News. Readers did not retweet Bad News stories significantly more frequently than they were produced. Conclusions There is a positive direction of travel in the representations of mental health in the Twitter feeds of the UK press, but the level of Bad News stories remains a concern.

It is not only women who experience shame and stigma because of their circumstances, it can affect midwives too. Shame and stigma can have a significant impact on both parents and midwife. Expectant parents who are experiencing difficulties with childbirth may become self absorbed. Critical ruminations are likely to ensue and this can lead to these parents failing to care for themselves appropriately. Meanwhile, midwives’ professional practice may also become compromised because of shameful ruminations.

For some vulnerable women, a major life event such as becoming pregnant can bring out a predisposition to mental illness. Receiving mental health care can invoke stigma and shame in varied and complex ways causing a sense of entrapment.

This book chapter discusses stigma in health care settings from the perspective of social constructivism.

There is evidence that people with personality disorder are stigmatised within healthcare settings; however, little is known about the role that the media has played in the wider processes of stigmatisation. This research examines the degree to which the popular press in the United Kingdom have established a link between personality disorder and homicide, and the impact this may have had on the processes of stigmatisation. Using a content analysis approach, it was identified that there were 552 articles in the popular press, between 2001 and 2012, that made reference to personality disorder and 42% of those articles established a link with homicide. Comparison between two time periods, 2001-2006 and 2007-2012, identified that there was a significant reduction in the proportion of homicide articles (Pearson (5, n=552) = 5.64, p > .05), however, the effect size of this change was only small. These findings suggest that the press may have contributed to the processes of stigmatisation, and may have encouraged the general public to hold prejudicial attitudes towards people with a diagnosis of personality disorder.

Aims. Media representations of mental health problems may influence readers’ understanding of, and attitude towards, people who have received psychiatric diagnoses. Negative beliefs and attitudes may then lead to discriminatory behaviour, which is understood as stigma. This study explored the language used in popular national newspapers when writing about schizophrenia and considered how this may have contributed to the processes of stigmatisation towards people with this diagnosis. Methods. Using corpus linguistic methods, a sample of newspaper articles over a 24 month period that mentioned the word ‘schizophrenia’ was compared with a similar sample of articles about diabetes. This enabled a theory-driven exploration of linguistic characteristics to explore stigmatising messages, whilst supported by statistical tests (Log-Likelihood) to compare the data sets and identify words with a high relative frequency. Results. Analysis of the ‘schizophrenia’ data set identified that overtly stigmatising language (e.g. “schizo”) was relatively infrequent, but that there was frequent use of linguistic signatures of violence. Articles frequently used graphic language referring to: acts of violence, descriptions of violent acts, implements used in violence, identity labels and exemplars of well-known individuals who had committed violent acts. The word ‘schizophrenic’ was used with a high frequency (n=108) and most commonly to name individuals who had committed acts of violence. Discussion. The study suggests that whilst the press have largely avoided the use of words that press guidance has steered them away from (e.g. “schizo” and “psycho”) that they still use a range of graphic language to present people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia as frighteningly ‘other’ and as prone to violence. This repetition of negative stereotypical messages may well contribute to the processes of stigmatisation many people who experience psychosis have to contend.

Introduction: Many people with a diagnosis of personality disorder experience stigma, and the press’ representations may contribute to those processes. To date little is known about how the press write about people with personality disorder and analysis of language used is often limited to checklists of words to avoid. Aim: The aim of the study was to explore the linguistic characteristics of press articles about personality disorder in popular tabloids in the UK and consider the implications for stigmatisation. Method: Corpus linguistics was used to examine a 50% sample of all articles published by the popular press in the UK, from 2008 to 2017, that referred to personality disorder (n=260). Results: The findings identified a range of words that constructed narratives of violence. Discussion: The method enabled the findings to expand the current level of knowledge in the field, identifying patterns in the use of the language of violence, which may contribute to the processes of self-stigma. Implications for Practice: Greater understanding of the messages in the press can sensitize nurses to common misconceptions about the disorder, how these may have become internalised and the need for psycho-social interventions to address the impact of self-stigma on self-esteem.

This book chapter offers suggestions for healthcare professionals working with people who may be stigmatised. It offers suggestions on how practice may be taken forward in the areas of education, reserch and development, and individual professional practice.

This book chapter discusses stigma and social exclusion within a historical context, focusing on the work of Durkheim, Goffman, Edward Jones, & Scambler.

This book chapter discusses the macro and micro levels of practical impact that theories relating to stigma can have on individuals and groups.