Chances are, if you’ve read a piece about mental health, you’ve seen the standard head-in-hands stock image.
Now mental health charities want to change the imagery used for articles discussing mental illness for the better. Time to Change recently launched their Get the Picture campaign, urging media organisations to use alternative images to the “headclutcher” stereotype.
The charity says they believe this standard image is stigmatising and asked 2,000 people for their views on the images used to illustrate mental health. Their survey reported the following findings:
- Eight in 10 people told us headclutchers don’t show how it feels to have a mental health problem.
- Images of suicide may trigger suicidal feelings – one in three reported these.
- People with mental health problems don’t look depressed all the time.
As a result, Time to Change has created a wide range of images, many featuring people who have had personal experience with mental health issues, to kick start their Get the Picture campaign. They’ve also encouraged people to tweet their own “headclutcher” image with the hashtag #GoodbyeHeadclutcher to raise awareness.
Stephen Fry says #goodbyeheadclutcher and hello #getthepicture. Join him and send us your alternatives! pic.twitter.com/M1jzs6f07o
— Time to Change (@TimetoChange) March 17, 2015
For many, this is a positive start to improving the way mental health is illustrated in the media. So, we would like to ask you how you would take it further: how would you illustrate mental health? Would you draw something? Would you take a photograph?
Send us your pictures via GuardianWitness and we’ll feature the best in our coverage. You can also send us submissions via tumblr, by tagging Let’s Talk Mental Health in your post.
- GuardianWitness is the home of user-generated content on the Guardian. Contribute your video, pictures and stories, and browse news, reviews and creations submitted by others. Posts will be reviewed prior to publication on GuardianWitness, and the best pieces will feature on the Guardian site.
