Mental health and the news media in Aotearoa New Zealand: Key informant perspectives

INTRODUCTION: Without personal experience or specific background knowledge of an issue, individuals exposed to news media are limited in their ability to gauge the accuracy of media content. The perception of people with mental illness as dangerous or incompetent allows for discrimination to occur, often resulting from inaccurate portrayals in the media.METHOD: A small, qualitative study was undertaken to explore key informant perspectives on the representation of mental health issues in the current Aotearoa New Zealand media context. Eight semi-structured interviews were carried out with key informants; each participant provided at least one of the following perspectives: mental health professional, mental health advocate, mental health consumer and/or media personnel.FINDINGS: The participants in this research found that news media strongly influence how the public views mental health, but believe media representation has improved in recent years. However, participants described an absence of stories illustrating successful interventions and felt that the portrayal of mental illnesses are still misrepresented and stigmatised by the media. Mental health services and mental health professionals were seen as poorly represented by the news media, which was thought to deter help-seeking and hinder trust.CONCLUSION: Public attitudes towards mental health have a significant impact on the lives of those experiencing mental distress. The news media have the ability to change public perceptions; however, this influence can be either harmful or helpful. Mental health stories need to be consistently contextualised and use inclusive language in order to a make a positive large- scale change in public attitudes.

Neural and clinical changes of cognitive behavioural therapy versus talking control in patients with major depression: a study protocol for a randomised clinical trial

IntroductionWhile major depression causes substantial distress and impairment for affected individuals and society, the effectiveness of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) in treating the condition has been established. However, the therapeutic mechanism underlying the efficacy of CBT remains unknown. This study aimed to describe a protocol for a randomised controlled trial that will measure the CBT-induced clinical and neural changes in patients with non-psychotic major depression.Methods and analysisThe current study is a 16-week assessor-blinded, randomised, parallel-group trial with a 12-month follow-up as part of usual depression care at an outpatient clinic. Patients aged 20–69 years with major depressive disorder will be randomly assigned to receive either CBT in addition to their usual treatment or talking control in addition to their usual treatment for 16 weeks. The primary outcome is the functional changes in the brain areas that have been associated with future-oriented thinking at 16 weeks; secondary outcomes include changes in functional brain connectivity, severity and changes in the scores of objective and subjective clinical depression symptoms, proportion of responders and remitters and quality of life. The intention-to-treat analysis will be used.Ethics and disseminationAll protocols and the informed consent form are compliant with the Ethics Guideline for Clinical Research (Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare). Ethical Review Committees at the Keio University School of Medicine have approved the study protocol (version 3, 11 September 2017). We will disseminate research findings to scientific and general audiences through national and international conference presentations as well as lay summaries to the general public, including mental health consumer and publications in international peer-reviewed psychiatry and brain imaging journals.Trial registration numberUMIN Clinical Trials Registry (UMIN000018155); Pre-results.

Care Navigators and Peers for Mental Health: What is the State of Practice?

Many people with serious mental illnesses continue to experience premature mortality and complex physical health problems. Navigation and guided care methods have been expanded to reach many different populations – all of whom face varying barriers to health care and social services. A navigator guides consumer/patients around health system obstacles with ultimate goals of achieving access to care. Navigator and peer programs have had the most positive effect in helping mental health consumer/patients link to primary care. The voices of consumer/patients, peers, and other navigators are integral to the science and art of navigation for mental health. Effective navigation models, trained navigator and peer professionals have enormous potential to help consumer/patients achieve optimal physical and mental health outcomes.