Big Ideas Mental illness —Taking stigma out of media reporting
Mar 16, 2026
Tim Heffernan, lived-experience advocate who survived psychosis and promotes peer support. Gayle McNaught, StigmaWatch manager who engages journalists to reduce harmful reporting. Dr Anna Ross, researcher of media portrayals and stigma. They discuss how news links mental illness to violence, patterns of sensational headlines, newsroom pressures and wire content, and ways media practice can reduce retraumatization and social harm.
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Psychosis As Personal Meaning Not Just Disconnection
- Tim Heffernan reframed psychosis as deeply individual and often meaningful rather than simply a reality-contact problem.
- He recounted his 1983 psychosis tied to global events and a conviction he would 'save the world', later re-diagnosed as bipolar I.
Contact Journalists To Reduce Stigma
- Actively engage with journalists when reporting is harmful; Stigma Watch approaches media respectfully and achieves change.
- Gayle McNaught reports a ~60% response rate where stigmatising articles are revised after outreach.
Coverage Omits Full Personhood Of Those With Psychosis
- Stories about schizophrenia rarely present the person as a whole, reinforcing one-dimensional stereotypes.
- Gayle McNaught noted missing help-seeking info and absence of everyday details like family, work, hobbies in coverage.