Zambia Medical Association, working with Renaisense, and Walk With Me Foundation came together by VenYou to hold training for media journalists…
I don’t technically qualify, but I got to go regardless and dumbfounded is the word I choose to describe my experience.
I knew the suicide rate was feverishly high, but what I considered a fever they showed me a virus, and somewhere within that virus lay us, the media.
It’s so bad two countries, Australia and Canada don’t even report on mental health for fear of triggering someone to self-harm or suicidal thoughts. For every 1 suicide report, 25 other people consider it an option and indirectly it affects 60 people.
Oh, you think those are scary numbers? well, suicide is the second leading cause of death in the world, with 800,000 people dying by the act of suicide every year. 1 person dies every 40 seconds by at of suicide. 1 in 4 people is at risk of having a mental health disorder.
I looked at those numbers and I couldn’t have figured, that’s how bad it actually was. The stresses of the world are too much for a large number of us and as the world spins on, all we are left with is asking ourselves, why didn’t she/he say something? We should also be asking, What can I do to help?
The media have a huge responsibility when it comes to disseminating information. This isn’t a glory story, this should not be sensationalised but handled with a sense of deep sadness and regret a life lost as an obituary would get.
If you’re in the media or if you have a following and people generally listen to you, then how you speak will affect people and how we report on suicide could also send the wrong message.
Wrong, because the wrong words may potentially make others think it’s hopeless for them and copy the one who died by suicide. Instead of reporting it in such a manner that we acknowledge the death, it is terrible but you are not alone, people are willing to help, it is never a lost battle.
SOMETHINGS TO AVOID
1. Committing. This word creates stigma, rather use died by suicide.
2. Avoid giving details of how one died, we don’t want to be giving others ideas.
3. Avoid sensational HEADLINES. We get that its news but we shouldn’t disregard the fact that a person taking their own life is sad and that should be reflected in how we HEADLINE the story.
It really was a complete day of learning, that earned me a surprise certificate for my participation.
With mental health being such a big thing we should all take the time to read the mental health act. Because our mental state of health is just as important as our physical, some would argue more even.
10th October is World Mental Health Day, on the 11th there will be a march in support of mental health, when I get all the information I’ll make an update in case you’ll be interested in joining in the march for our mental health or in case you just want to show support on social media I’ll try figure all that out and get back to you.
Until the next post, take care of yourself and remember, you are not alone.
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