Blog yourself well – why mental health services should support citizen journalism

by | Mar 24, 2012 | mental health | 1 comment

Last week saw the launch of Leeds’ first blog about mental health and wellbeing in Leeds. It is called Leeds Wellbeing Web: your voice on keeping well in Leeds. The purpose of the blog is to provide a space where people can contribute information, stories, pictures or films about places and activities in Leeds which help maintain their wellbeing. The blog aims to encourage us to think more positively and proactively about mental health and wellbeing. It’s about giving people a voice to tell their own stories, and the story of their city, through their own eyes. It an open resource which anyone with mental health difficulties can contribute to. The idea for the blog was conceived by Katie Brown and then supported and developed by a number of individuals and organisations in Leeds who were committed to the idea of creating a space where people can share information and ideas about mental health and wellbeing in the city. The idea of citizen journalism isn’t a new one. Its principles include open participation and communal evaluation. A blog is just a starting point. Each post is refined and developed through subsequent comments. Knowledge is produced collectively and collaboratively. There is generally a social motivation rather than a commercial one. Alex Bruns in his book Blogs, Wikipedia. Second life, and Beyond: From Production to Produsage (2008) has an interesting chapter on citizen journalism that’s worth a read. He introduces the notion of produsage where the line between production and consumption is blurred. Bruns argues that citizen journalism represents a shift from mainstream commercial news journalism where the article tends to...

Are you crazy? two film projects challenging mass media stereotypes

by | Mar 13, 2012 | mental health | 0 comments

I was inspired to write this blog as a result of last week’s #nhssm chat about the role of film in NHS campaigns which aim to influence attitudes and/or behaviours. It got me reflecting on a few initiatives we have undertaken in Leeds which aim to offer an alternative to mass media representations of mental distress. A few words about the influence of mass media Mass media plays a significant role in filtering our background knowledge about mental health problems, as well defining what attitudes and behaviour we believe are socially acceptable.  My sense is that attitudes are shifting, but mass media still routinely depict people experiencing mental health problems as different, dangerous or laughable. What’s more, research indicates that mass media representations have a direct impact on our attitudes and behaviour (Thornicroft, 2006). In a previous blog I reflected on the evidence that direct contact is an effective method for shifting negative attitudes about mental health. I’m curious about the relative impact of the personal voice within film as opposed to that of journalists or mental health professionals.  Our film projects  The amateur art film – at Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust we have developed a film project, through our Arts and Minds Network, that has developed over the last three years. We bring together people with personal experience of mental health problems and provide training, equipment and peer-mentoring for people to develop their own short films. They are made without the mediation of professionals (other than technical experts). The starting point is people themselves, their experiences and their imagination. Professional voices are absent and irrelevant. The...