Hostage Situation at Discovery Shows Words Still Make a Difference

A scary afternoon in Washington, D.C. last week brought mental health back into the headlines. Earlier this year, I talked about the importance of using culturally and linguistically competent words, especially when talking about mental health. But in reviewing the coverage of the Discovery Channel hostage situation in Silver Spring, Maryland, it seems like reporters are still making disappointing word choices.

Following the incident, the American Psychological Association shared a great tip sheet for how to eliminate stigmatizing mental health language in news reporting. The tip sheet was developed by the University of Washington School of Social Work to help journalists improve reporting on mental health issues. One of its suggestions states:

As with any disparaging words related to race and ethnicity, some words should never be used in [mental health-related] reporting, commentary or headlines. Examples include: crazy/crazed, nuts, lunatic, deranged, psycho, and wacko.

Since some breaking news stories can be driven by comments and posts online, it’s not surprising that commonly used disparaging words are repeated in news stories about these incidents. But it is another reminder of how our word selection as communicators can have a powerful impact on the picture we paint of people and their challenges, especially when they are mental health-related.

Editors, producers, reporters and bloggers need to find ways to report the drama of the incident without using stereotypical words and phrases. “Crazy” is still making it into too many headlines and leads in reference to James Jay Lee.  That hinders the mental health community’s efforts to increase social inclusion for those dealing with mental illness and their loved ones.