There is only one thing in the world worse
than a psychiatrist appearing on television at the drop of a hat to
talk about subjects way outside his or her areas of expertise,
and that’s an empty chair. Wild accusations can be made,
unchallenged, and our work and our patients are misrepresented by a
‘cynical media’.
Oh, but there’s something worse even than
that. A member of a vested interest group (insert your straw tiger
here) will speak for us and our patients.
We can transpose that same empty chair into
other settings: other media also have a deficit of
properly-prepared psychiatric contributors. It takes relatively
little to reverse this. If more members signed up to public
education we could spread enquiries to colleagues who know most and
can communicate best.
It’s not hard work and requires a modest time
commitment. This ranges from a simple press enquiry, 5 minutes to
give a journalist some background, to briefing an editor of a
popular website and radio programme makers or advice given to a
television soap story editor.
We need more experts who are willing to go on
and off the record. Don’t leave it to colleagues to describe the
complexities of the subjects closest to your heart. If you do
nothing, mental health representations in the media will continue
to include the sensational and stigmatising, as well as the
‘adequate’ coverage that would have benefited from another, better
source of expertise.
We already have a strong list of spokespeople. Contact us to
make it even better.
Dr Peter Byrne
Chair of the Public Education Committee