Email sent my myself to Newswatch re. news item today 4/2/16 on the 6 O'clock News:
I take a keen interest in all mental health related news and welcome the mention of the shockingly high statistics of suicide being a major killer for men under 50, but an emphasis in the interview with a bereaved wife was on whether or not she thought the act of suicide was “selfish”. I’ve since watched a more balanced clip of the same interview on the BBC Health news feed and that question was not included.
This was all used as an introduction to a story about Mersyside Mental Health Services investing in an “app” which can predict suicidal behaviour. There was an opportunity here to ask if people who ask for help are getting adequate mental health support, medication or counselling. Risk assessments of suicidal patients on wards is a very different problem to suicide in the community. Fortunately, helplines were mentioned, but the whole article was painfully clumsy, alienating to mental health sufferers and seemed to ignore anti-stigma advice given by charities in recent years.
Regards
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