NEWS RELEASE Tuesday 14 September 1999 MEDIA DISCRIMINATES AGAINST 'UNHEARD VOICES' OF MENTAL HEALTH PATIENTS, CLAIMS CHARITY media awards highlight programmes which redress imbalance 'It was as if this was the last place I would ever be and if I didn't get out of here it would be the last place - I couldn't see a way out. For a lot of people this place was hell on earth. Think of your worst nightmare, make it real, multiply it a thousand times and you don't even come close to what some people went through in here.' Joe, a former patient of Friern Barnet Asylum, North London, speaking on Asylum, part of the Cutting Edge series, Channel 4, short-listed for this year's TV documentary award. The mental health media awards 1999, organised by mental health media, a national charity that challenges perceptions of people with mental health problems, have attracted over sixty entries from national and local broadcasters. The awards will be given for strong, well-made programmes which increase our understanding of mental health, explains Karen Mattison, director, mental health media: 'One very common omission in the media is the absence of the real expert on mental distress - the people who have experienced it themselves. People who have been through the mental health system continue to experience a form of discrimination in the media and in society as their voices go unheard. 'The way the media covers mental health issues often manufactures an atmosphere of ignorance and unfairly stigmatises those who have mental health problems. And this in itself can be highly damaging to a person's recovery.' Many of this year's entries are particularly compelling because they include first-hand accounts of mental illness and distress, opening a window to a world that many people do not really understand or fully appreciate. The five categories for this year's awards are: TV news and current affairs, TV documentary, TV drama, factual radio and radio drama. The short-list for each category was drawn up by groups of between four and six people that included survivors of mental health distress as well as mental health media staff. Asylum is typical of the high standard of entries received this year. Another programme that has made the short-list stage is the Archers, entered by BBC Radio 4 Drama. It was nominated for its gripping and realistic portrayal of Pat Archer's depression and mental distress following the accidental death of her son and reveals how she coped and made a recovery. The mental health media awards 1999 will take place on Wednesday 6 October 1999 at the Commonwealth Institute, Kensington, London and are supported by the Co-operative Bank, VET video and audio production, RAP Printing. Individual categories are sponsored by the Health Education Authority's World Mental Health Day Campaign, National Schizophrenia Fellowship, The Manic Depression Fellowship, King's Fund and The Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health. ENDS MEDIA ENQUIRIES: Ardi Kolah Maverick Tel: 0181 542 8110 (24 hours) Mobile: 04100 77941 Fax: 0181 543 3602 e-mail: info@maverick-uk.com PHOTOGRAPHS 1. The photograph is of a still taken from Asylum, a short-listed entry for best television documentary. It can be obtained from the PR Newswire folder of the PA Bulletin Board of PA Pictures. 2. In addition, a photograph of Patricia Gallimore, who plays Pat Archer is available from: BBC Picture Publicity, Room 199, BBC Pebble Mill, Birmingham B5 7QQ Tel: 0121 432 8570 Fax: 0121 432 8847 Notes to editors 3. The photograph (attached) is a still taken from Asylum, a short-listed entry for best television documentary. 4. Programmes had to have been transmitted between 1 August 1998 - 31 July 1999 in order to qualify for an award. 5. The Co-operative Bank is the overall sponsor of the event. The Co-operative Bank sponsorship of this year's MHM Awards is the beginning of a campaign to challenge the stigma of mental health in the media and the workplace. This is at the direct request of the Bank's customers through the 'Customers who Care' initiative. This was set up in 1994 as a vehicle through which Customers of the Co-operative Bank could further their commitment to the social and environmental concerns as expressed in the ethical policy of the Bank. 6. The final judging panel: * Roger Graef, Films of Record * Trevor Phillips, Journalist and Broadcaster * James Boyle, Controller, BBC Radio 4 * Jane Drabble, Director of Education, BBC * Janice Galloway, Writer * Jeremy Gibson, Head of Features, BBC Bristol * David Lloyd, Head of News, Current Affairs and Business, Channel 4 * Jenni Murray, Presenter, and Broadcaster * Tessa Ross, Head of Drama, Independent Commissioning Group, BBC * Dr Philip Thomas, Consultant Psychiatrist and Senior Research Fellow, University of Bradford 5. The Shortlist in full: TV News and Current Affairs, sponsored by National Schizophrenia Fellowship * Baby Blues, Here and Now, BBC1 * Get Up and Give, GMTV * St Bernard's, BBC Newsroom South East * Personality Disorder, From the Edge, BBC2 * Boys Don't Cry, Panorama, BBC1 TV Documentary, sponsored by The Manic Depression Fellowship * Drinking for England, Modern Times, BBC2 * Episode 3, The Disabled Century, BBC2 * Shell Shock Part 1, The Minds the Dead have Ravished, Channel 4 * Asylum, Cutting Edge, Channel 4 * Perfect, Part one of New Britain on the Couch, Channel 4 TV Drama, sponsored by Health Education Authority * Psychos, part 2, Channel 4 * Lost for Words, Yorkshire TV (ITV) * A Life for a Life; the true story of Stefan Kiszko, ITV * Before the Lights Go Out, Peak Practice Factual Radio, sponsored by King's Fund * Woman's Hour article on mixed sex wards and follow-up, BBC Radio 4 * Bill Buckley show, BBC Southern Counties * Home Truths, BBC Radio 4 * Nottingham Mental Health Awareness Week Campaign, 96 Trent FM Careline * The Moral Maze, BBC Radio 4 Radio Drama, sponsored by The Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health * Room of Leaves, BBC Radio 4 * Air Swimming, BBC Radio 4 * The Archers, BBC Radio 4 * People Come Here to Cry, BBC Radio 4 * Hearing Sense, BBC Radio 4