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Research
Shift regularly commissions research that looks at the stigma and discrimination directed towards people with experience of mental health problems.
Media Research
Making Drama out of a Crisis
Shift commissioned a study examining portrayals of mental illness in prime-time television drama.Researchers also spoke to programme makers and members of the public - both with and without personal experience of mental health problems - about protrayals of mental illness in TV drama.
The report finds that:
- 45% of peak-time programmes with mental illness
storylines portrayed people with mental health problems
as posing a threat to others.
- 63% of references to mental health were pejorative,
flippant or unsympathetic.
- 45% of programmes had sympathetic portrayals, but these often portrayed the characters as tragic victims.
Download the Making Drama out of a Crisis summary report
Download the Making Drama out of a Crisis full report
Find out more about Shift's work with the media
Mind Over Matter
Mind Over Matter 2 is Shift's second report analysing media reporting of mental illness, following on from the first report which looked at news coverage in 2005. It serves as a benchmark to show whether reporting is improving. This report, which looks at coverage from March and October 2006, shows there is a long way to go.Download Mind Over Matter 2 from the Shift Media Network.
Download Mind Over Matter 1 from the Shift Media Network.
Focus groups looking at the reporting of violence
In order to better understand how the media shapes public understanding of mental illness - and in particular fears about links with violence - Shift commissioned researchers to undertake fifteen focus groups with the general public and people with mental health problems and carers.This study also looked at what people thought of media coverage. Findings include evidence of confusion in the public mind about the relationship between mental illness and dangerousness, suggesting more context on these stories, putting the risks in perspective, would be welcomed.
Download the Executive Summary of the focus group research (Microsoft Word format)
Download the full report of the focus group research (Microsoft Word format)
Other media research
Shift has also commissioned two pieces of research that will examine reporting of mental health issues in the black and minority ethnic communites' (BME) media. Information about this work can be found on our BME page.Attitude survey
Shift commissions a survey of public attitudes towards mental health. This research will be repeated at the beginning of each year so we can track changes in attitudes towards mental health issues and people with experience of mental health problems. We aim to release the completed reports in the spring of each year.The results of the 2010 survey can be downloaded from the Department of Health website. You can also read the Department of Health's press release about the survey.
See also:
Viewpoint survey
Shift's Viewpoint Survey asks people with experience of mental health problems about the stigma and discrimination that they face.Masthead photo by Jon Newman from Flickr. Used under a Creative Commons licence.
