Stanford Initiative Engages Media About Mental Health, Suicide

Throughout my professional life, in roles such as medical director of New York University’s student mental health services and chief medical officer of The Jed Foundation (JED), I have been profoundly aware that media can do much to shape how society and individuals understand mental illness and mental health care.

Our Media and Mental Health Initiative based at Stanford University’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences has the potential to improve media narratives around mental health and head off harmful storytelling. A notable concern is media coverage of suicides, which can raise or lower the risk of subsequent suicides in communities.

The initiative, led by Steven Adelsheim, M.D., a clinical professor and director of the Stanford Center for Youth Mental Health and Wellbeing, aims to promote public education about mental health and suicide through proactive, sustained engagement on best practices with content producers in the news media and entertainment industry and among social media platforms and users.

Working at NYU during the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan, I keenly appreciated the importance of effective communication. NYU had several thousand students displaced by the attack, and the campus was left in both physical and emotional turmoil for weeks after this tragedy. While in the first days after the attack, our phone and IT systems were not functional, we managed the practical/physical needs of the campus with written notes and messengers and successfully communicated clearly and regularly to contain the anxiety and confusion that ensued.

During NYU’s 2003-2004 academic year, I was confronted with the challenge of providing clinical and administrative guidance through a suicide cluster on campus. I realized that the reporting by the college newspaper and local media had a strong impact on the emotional tone on campus. Again, clear and balanced communication—enough information to allay fear, confusion, and gossip but not so much as to feel triggering or promote identification with the decedents—felt essential.

At that time, I began to learn about prior research regarding the impact of reporting on suicide contagion risk and had the opportunity to consult with and learn from leaders in this field including Madelyn Gould, Herb Hendin, and Mort Silverman.

At JED, a nonprofit devoted to suicide prevention and mental health promotion in teens and young adults, I had the opportunity to advise news organizations, social media platforms, films, and TV shows on best practices in mental health storytelling. I have had the honor to advise Sheila Nevins (formerly president of HBO Documentary Films and currently director of MTV Documentary Films) on her excellent recent film, “Each and Every Day,” focused on young people who have experienced suicide attempts or suicidal ideation. I also served as adviser to the recent Oprah/Prince Harry/Apple TV series, “The Me You Can’t See,” a wonderful series examining mental health around the world.

Another member of the Stanford initiative’s development team is Scott MacLeod, who is a longtime correspondent and bureau chief for TIME magazine. He and his wife, Susan Hack, also a journalist, founded The Sophie Fund, a nonprofit mental health advocacy organization in Ithaca, N.Y., after the suicide of their 23-year-old daughter Sophie in 2016.

MacLeod believes that the media must play a life-changing role in educating the public about mental health and mental health care and that improved understanding about mental health among journalists, as well as filmmakers, social media platforms, content producers, and other media practitioners, can preempt damaging narratives.

In addition to engaging media practitioners, the Stanford initiative also plans training programs for psychiatrists to improve their communications skills when talking to reporters and media outlets. It is essential that mental health professionals understand the role they too can and must play in guiding responsible media portrayals.

A 2014 paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) found experimental evidence that social media could profoundly change people’s mood and risk for suicide through “emotional contagion.” All forms of media have the power to make a transformational impact on our health, mental health, and well-being. Media narratives that align with evidence-informed guidelines break down prejudice and discrimination surrounding mental health challenges/suicide and encourage help-seeking behavior. Conversely, media narratives that do not adhere to evidence-informed guidelines often trigger negative reactions in people experiencing mental health disorders and may inspire dangerous imitative behaviors, potentially increase the risk of others dying by suicide, and perpetuate mental health discrimination.

While safe suicide reporting guidelines have been published by leading organizations to educate journalists in best practices, there has not been sustained outreach to provide education and real-time guidance to journalists and other media content producers. It is our hope that through the Stanford initiative, the mental health community can actively and constructively engage the media and make a difference in people’s lives. ■