The document provides practical guidance for child and adolescent psychiatrists on effectively engaging with the media to promote mental health awareness. Key points include understanding the audience, preparing clear messages, using accessible language, and maintaining professionalism during interviews. The aim is to destigmatize mental health issues, advocate for patients, and facilitate public discussion on mental health topics.

1. In the Public Eye: practical advice
on working with the media to
promote Child and Adolescent
Mental Health
Dr Jon Goldin FRCPsych
Consultant Child and Adolescent
Psychiatrist
Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children

2. Overview
• Why do it?
• Getting the message across
• Preparation
• The Interview itself
• Social Media, particularly Twitter
• Conclusion

3. Why do it?

4. A Big Opportunity to…
• De-mystify; Educate
• Reduce stigma
• Make accessible
• Increase engagement in MH issues/raise profile
• Influence public debate on mental health issues
• Lobby for change/improvements
• Advocate for our patients/colleagues
• Promote psychiatry as a medical specialty
• Inform and provide accurate information
• Rewarding, diverse
• There is nothing wrong with enjoying it….

5. A (calculated) risk
• Exposure – wanted and unwanted
• Be aware of personal disclosures
• Making “errors”
• Fear of saying something stupid in front of large
audience
• Nothing ventured, nothing gained….
• Individual Psychiatrists have the
inclination/expertise/experience
• If we don’t, who will?

6. Who am I speaking on behalf of?
• Personal View, Trust statement, Royal College
• "Dr X, of RCPsych“
• My trust’s perspective
• Corporate caution
• Need to link in with media office
• Caution re being contacted directly by
journalists

7. Radio/Print experience
• Today programme R4. Evan Davies, DSH. John Humphries,
CSA. Sarah Montague, CAMHS funding.
• WATO, R4, Martha Kearney, whole programme on CAMHS
• PM programme, R4, Eddie Mair, Adolescent Suicide on an IP
unit
• LBC – Nick Ferrari
• You and Yours, Radio 4
• Print Journalism – The Times, Sunday Times, Guardian, The
Independent etc
• Online Journalism – Huffington Post

8. TV experience
• BBC TV news, Victoria Derbyshire Programme (with service user). CQC
Report on long waiting times, Oct 17, BBC1 News at One
• C4 News – lack of beds/travelling long distances
• The Wright Stuff, C5, Use of Psychiatric Medication in YP
• ITV News Use of Cannabis to treat medical conditions
• BBC1 News at One re Transition 5.18
• Victoria Derbyshire Programme BBC1 5.18 CAMHS re Transition with
service user and Luciana Berger, Labour MP
• C4 News 6.18 re Fortnite and Gaming Addiction
• BBC Breakfast News 8.18 DSH
• Sky News 8.18 Smartphones and Social Media
• Sky News 8.18 DSH
• Panorama on CAMHS 24.9.18

9. Getting the message across
Three key points for effective communication
1. Know your audience
2. What’s your message?
3. Mind your language

10. Know your Audience
• Age
• Demographic
• Knowledge
• Interest
• Opinion/Bias

11. Take your audience on a journey
Take them where
you want
them to be
Start from where
they are now

12. Take your audience on a journey
• Applies to
– Making a presentation
– Speaking to patients & carers
– Compiling a patient information leaflet
– Speaking to a journalist
• Why are they reading or listening?
• What do they know already?

13. Know your media
• Popular media are not there to provide free
information services
• Exist to
– inform
– entertain
– present particular views
– make a profit
– or justify public investment

14. Know your media
• Most publications & programmes have an
editorial line or particular style
• They may publish stories with a particular
angle or a point they want to make
• What content is usually featured?

15. Know your journalist
• Their job is to get the most interesting story
• What makes news?
– controversy & conflict
– heroes & villains
– winners & losers
– trends & changes
– what’s new, unusual or different
– personal stories
• Stories are “newsworthy” not “worthy”

16. Compiling a story
• Not necessarily to be responsible but to
provoke a response
– provoke, antagonise, annoy
• Creating a story
– Scientist: build-up evidence
– Journalist: posit story & seek evidence to see if it
“stands-up”, including interviews eg @sloumarsh,
The Guardian, children and antidepressants
• Which media should we engage with?

17. Keep taking the tabloids
1.7 million
1.5 million
900,000
700,000
500,000
450,000
160,000

18. Online
International readership
• Yahoo (175million/mth)
• Google (150 million/mth)
• Huffington Post (110 million/mth)
• CNN (95 million/mth)
• New York Times (70 million/mth)
• Mail Online (53million/mth)
• Guardian online (42 million/mth)

19. Local media
• Local media audiences/readers are growing
• Over 60% of UK adults read a local newspaper
• Local press more trusted than national
• Modify national news stories
• Local stories picked up by
national press
• Good place to gain experience
in your local area

20. What is your message?

21. Preparing your message
• What’s your key message?
• Think: “Why is this important?”
• Two or three main points
• Think in sound-bites
• Stick to your points and repeat them

22. Legal highs
• Article following collapse of 17-year old
• Dr Owen Bowden-Jones:
“…people using legal highs are acting as guinea
pigs for those making and distributing the
drugs.”

23. Depression in men
• Article in health pages
• Key messages
1) Depression is not a weakness of character
- many famous men, such as Winston Churchill, have
had depression
2) Don’t bottle it up or take
to the bottle
3) Seek help

24. Mind your language

25. Mind your language
• Avoid psychiatric terminology, acronyms & jargon
• Examples
– “positive symptoms”
– “suicidal ideation”
– “depot medication”
– “care programme approach”
– “history”
– “patients present with…”

26. Mind your language
• Use patient-centred language
• What would I prefer to be written about
myself or a family member?
“A schizophrenic” or “Someone with schizophrenia”?
“The patient complains of…” or “The patient reports…”
“Refused medication” or “Declined medication”
• More objective
• Less stigmatising

27. Mind your language
• Illustrate your answers
• Metaphors
– e.g. “Depression can feel like…”
• Use a thumbnail case history or anecdote,
making it more ‘personal’ to engage audience
– e.g. “A patient said to me once…”
– but ensure patients cannot be identified

28. Don’t comment on individuals
• Journalists may ask about celebrities or
individuals who have disclosed mental health
problems, or whose behaviour has caused
public concern
• We can share your expertise about
psychiatric issues in general
• But it is unethical to discuss or give
opinions about individuals

29. Preparation for the Interview
• Try not to get stuck in traffic and arrive late
• Have your data and key messages to hand
• Prepare, but it’s a conversation, don’t read things
out
• What are your 3 key points?
• Try to relax, noone else will manage your anxiety
• Focus on the person in front of you, not the
cameras, lights, microphones etc

30. The Interview Itself

31. Expect the Unexpected
“Isn’t it better just to bury it?” re CSA, John
Humphries, Today Programme, R4, Jan 2016
Consider topic carefully in advance
Stick with your areas of expertise and do your
research

32. Be Honest/Engaging
• The listener’s/viewer’s trust is essential
• Don’t hide behind Medical jargon
• Do not speak beyond your area of expertise
• Do not be afraid of stating that you don’t
know
• Speak from the heart ‘this is deeply upsetting
….. ‘It’s a National Scandal’ (if it is)

33. It’s acceptable to play for time…
• To give yourself time to think
• “I think that’s a very important question…”
• “There are many different aspects to this
issue”
• “That seems to strike at the core of the
subject”

34. • ANSWER THE QUESTION (usually)
• Try not to sound too much like a politician
• Interviewers’ style hopefully different to when
they are grilling a cabinet minister
• Balance between getting key messages across
and answering the question

35. Retain control, but not dominating
• Shape the interview:
– “Before I answer that….”
– “The first thing to say is that…”
– “That leads us on to an equally important issue”
• Feel able to correct the facts presented to you or
disagree:
– “That is not my understanding of the situation”
– “From my clinical experience, that isn’t the case”

36. Always include some positives
• “Staff working in MH are the most dedicated
and compassionate of healthcare
workers…working in challenging
circumstances”
• “Despite these findings, we are making great
progress…”
• “This is a start / step in the right direction”
• “I have no doubt that, with continued
investment…”

37. If you are speaking on a prepared topic,
have a SINGLE WORD to emphasise
immediately
• It’s EXCITING
• It’s INTERESTING
• It’s POSITIVE
• It’s ENCOURAGING
• It’s PROGRESS
• It’s SHOCKING
• It’s WORRYING
• It’s SAD
• It’s UNACCEPTABLE
• It’s TRAGIC

38. How do you hope to come across?
(brainstorm)

39. How do you hope to come across?
(brainstorm)
Confident
Non-judgmental
Calm
Knowledgeable
Empathic
Responsive
Reflective
Warm
Thoughtful
Unflappable
Personable

40. Considerations
Clothing
Body Posture (eg sitting,
standing, don’t slouch)
Hand gestures
Speed
Facial expressions

41. Twitter
• Good way of accessing/sharing information
• Can focus on specific areas depending who
you follow/who you want to follow you
• Can become an ‘influencer’
• Can be time-consuming
• Avoid getting into polarised debates but you
also want to express your view
• Be diplomatic, consider your role

42. GMC Guidance (2013) – ‘Doctors’ use
of social media’
Doctors’ use of social media can benefit patient
care by:
• engaging people in public health and policy
discussions
• establishing national and international
professional networks
• facilitating patients’ access to information
about health and services.

43. GMC Guidance (2013)
• Privacy – boundaries blurred between private
and public life
• Need to maintain a professional boundary
between yourself and your patients
• Maintain confidentiality
• Respect colleagues
• Anonymity ‘If you identify yourself as a doctor in publicly accessible
social media, you should also identify yourself by name.’

44. Getting the message across
• Public engagement, including media work, can
be an important role of a psychiatrist
• We are all experts in our specialty
• We have many of the skills required
• These can be enhanced with a few simple
strategies
• Important factor in the destigmatisation of
mental illness

45. Scenario
• A BBC Panorama documentary has suggested that antidepressants may
have been the reason a young man committed mass murder in a cinema in
the US. The programme and media coverage points the finger at
antidepressants linking them to 28 murder cases over the last thirty years.
There have been accusations that prescriptions for antidepressants have
increased to 40 million a year.
• It is important you get over the following messages
• There is an increase in the number of prescriptions but we believe this is a
good thing as more people realise that they need help and are seeking it.
• There’s no evidence that antidepressants are dangerous or lead to murder
and in the documentary the young man had come off his medication
• Antidepressants do carry side effects, just as medication for cancer, but
you can change it with the help of your doctor. Coming off alone and
suddenly is not recommended.

46. Elephant Traps
• The keen eyed will notice that interviewers don’t
always know the full facts. Spot the inaccuracy
over statistics in the story
• There is a political question too – how do you get
around that?
• Sometimes the most unassuming ‘softly spoken’
presenter can ask a killer question and in local
radio they can adopt a very chatty intimate style.
How might you cover the question that crosses
over into the personal, or even asks to talk about
some of your clients?

47. Pre-recorded Interview
• What you should and can do.
• - Get your key message in early, in one sentence preferably
• - Expand on that point with an illustration
• - Repeat it
• - Don’t be afraid to give an emotive answer
• “What is worrying about these unfounded claims around antidepressants is that it
could encourage some people to stop taking their medication, and if this is done
suddenly it could affect their welfare.”
• “40 million prescriptions don’t equate to 40 million people taking antidepressants
in the UK each year, yes there is a rise. This is a good thing, as more people are
discussing their mental health needs with their GP.”
• Don’t like the answer you’re giving, spike it early and start again
• Asked something that isn’t in your remit. That’s a good question, but one I’m not
qualified to give an answer to, what I can say is……

48. Thanks for listening
@DrJonGoldin