Ban the use of slanderous terms for mental illness in the media now.

Rejected 12 signatures

What the petition asks

Unfortunately, there is still a lot of stigma surrounding mental health issues in this country. This stigma is propagated by the mass media's use of words such as 'lunatic', 'psycho' etc. in their stories. It is not acceptable to publish sexist or racist terms; make it the same for mental health.

The Sun newspaper, in particular, has published some dangerously misleading headlines. Most recently, perhaps, they chose 'Madman in cockpit' as a suitable summation of the tragic plane crash involving Andreas Lubitz last year. Others, again from the Sun, include 'psycho cabbie' and 'bonkers Bruno'. This language promotes the idea that people suffering with mental illness are either dangerous or are not deserving of respect. This misreporting endangers mental health patients. This has to change.

Why it was rejected

It asked for something that is not the responsibility of the UK Government or Parliament.

We can't accept your petition because the UK Government and Parliament aren't responsible for the issue you raise. This would be an editorial decision for individual media organisations.

You may wish to make a complaint to the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), which regulates the UK newspaper industry. You can find out more here:

https://www.ipso.co.uk/IPSO/makeacomplaint.html

Timeline

15 Mar 2016	Petition opened for signatures
24 Mar 2016	Rejected by the Petitions Committee

Key facts

Signatures 12

Status Rejected

Rejected 24 Mar 2016

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