🧵 8/8

When complex behaviours are reduced to mental illness, we risk reproducing simplistic explanations that carry very real social consequences: stigma, exclusion, & barriers to support.

#mentalhealth #mediadiscourse #bipolardisorder #bpd

🧵 7/8

Language matters.

Media representations don’t just reflect reality — they help construct it.

#mentalhealth #mediadiscourse #bipolardisorder #bpd

🧵 6/8

Over time, this contributes to what can feel like common-sense understandings even when they are empirically inaccurate.

#mentalhealth #mediadiscourse #bipolardisorder #bpd

🧵 5/8

The media plays a crucial role here.

Research has shown that news coverage disproportionately focuses on “adverse events” involving individuals with mental illness, reinforcing & normalising these associations.

#mentalhealth #mediadiscourse #bipolardisorder #bpd

🧵 4/8

In fact, people with mental illness are far more likely to be victims of violence than perpetrators.

#mentalhealth #mediadiscourse #bipolardisorder #bpd

🧵 3/8

Studies across different countries consistently find that conditions such as schizophrenia are widely associated with violence & threat, despite evidence showing that only a small minority of individuals exhibit violent behaviour.

#mentalhealth #mediadiscourse #bipolardisorder #bpd

🧵 2/8

Decades of research show how pervasive — & persistent — these beliefs are.

#mentalhealth #mediadiscourse #bipolardisorder #bpd

🧵 1/8

This kind of framing is not neutral. It draws on a long-standing & well-documented stereotype: that people with mental health conditions are dangerous, unpredictable & to be feared.

#mentalhealth #mediadiscourse #bipolardisorder #bpd

"Welcome to Western World News™. For the foreseeable future we only have 2 flavors: Would you like some United States authoritarianism, or would you prefer AI tech bubble?"
#how #it #feels #these #days #mediaanalysis #mediadiscourse #news #latestagecapitalism #petpeeves

Language in UK media shapes public views of immigrants' individuality Immigrants are more likely to be seen as unique individuals with their own thoughts and intentions, rather than assuming they all share the same group beliefs, when the media describes them with langu...

Research by Dr Bryony Payne and Dr @drccatmur.bsky.social shows the words used in UK news significantly shape how we see immigrants—not as a faceless group, but as unique individuals with their own thoughts & intentions.

🔗 tinyurl.com/ywdv57cy

#mediadiscourse #linguistics #langsky

Virginia Giuffre’s treatment in the media highlights the great consequences of accusing high profile men of abuse When powerful men are accused, the coverage largely revolves around those powerful men and the monetary or career consequences for them.

Through the lens of Virginia Giuffre’s treatment in the media, Dr @lindseyblumell.bsky.social exposes the enduring structural forces that discredit, vilify and silence victims — even when their stories are corroborated.

Read more: tinyurl.com/y5f8hf3b

#mediadiscourse #sexualabuse #sexualassault

What should journalists do when the facts don’t matter? Historical examples abound of American news consumers being presented with verified facts about controversial figures or events, only to have the excellent journalism have little to no effect.

What can journalists do when the truth doesn't have the same impact on audiences as misinformation?

Read more: tinyurl.com/2fmba4na

#MediaDiscourse #Misinformation