As you have probably seen in the news, a plane carrying 150 crashed last week, tragically killing everyone on board. I would like to send my love to those who lost their loved ones on that day. The co-pilot was in control at the time the plane went down. It is truly a tragic accident, yet some newspapers are claiming something unthinkable.
"Why On Earth Was He Allowed To Fly" - Daily Mail
"Killer Pilot Suffered From Depression" - The Mirror
These headlines made me so so angry, they have clearly never heard of responsible journalism. The biggest issue I have - they do not understand depression at all.
Depression does not make you want to kill other people, Many people with depression and other mental health conditions do have jobs and go about their daily life just like everyone else. The way the papers have reported on this, they would have the uneducated believe that everyone with a mental health condition are all mass murderers!
I guarantee you could walk into a hospital and at least one doctor, nurse and surgeon will be living with a mental health condition. Does this make them unable to carry out their job correctly? No. You will find them to be more understanding and caring actually. With regards to their view on people with depression having thoughts of harming others, you will actually find that people who suffer from depression are actually more likely to be victims of violence, not the ones being violent.
I know many people with depression and they are employed, still live their lives like everyone else and are really nice, caring people.
Something needs to be done to stop these tabloids from printing headlines like these and the journalists educated on mental health. The media created the stigma, it is time they were stopped from creating further problems.
These headlines have annoyed me so much - partly because they all appeared with no confirmation that he suffered from depression, and partly because they're just sensationalist stories that continue to stigmatise mental health issues. After all the hard work that campaigns like Time To Talk etc have done, it's horrible to see that mental health is still treated in such a way by the media!!
ReplyDeleteIt angered and upset me. They get away with so much and don't get punished. I have actually stopped buying tabloids, they are just nasty
DeleteSpot on with every single word Angela. Thank you for writing and thank you for being someone I can continuously relate to.
ReplyDeleteThank you so so much for the kind words. If you ever need someone to talk to you can always email me x
DeleteThank you. I appreciate that.
Deleteno problem :)
ReplyDelete