Newspapers “reinforce ignorance” with simplistic reporting about mental health, the comedian Jo Brand has said as she condemned the current system of press regulation as a “sham”.
The former mental health nurse spoke out on Tuesday about the reporting of suicide, in particular, after recent cases such as the death of actor Robin Williams and that of the 92-year-old woman said to have been “driven to kill herself” by charities bombarding her with requests for donations.
“I know tabloids are the opposite of complex, but I don’t think that should allow them to get away with making big sweeping statements which actually aren’t the reality,” she told the Guardian before giving a speech on the subject.
“It’s not one thing that batters you and makes you kill yourself. It’s a very subtle mix of events and what’s going on inside you, and trying to make it look like it’s one thing is a terrible thing to do. And for someone’s family too, it’s a terrible thing to do.
[For more of this story, written by Jane Martinson, go to http://www.theguardian.com/soc...lth-press-regulation]
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