Psychobabble: Faking It?
by endlesspsych
By Keir Liddle
I spent this Blue Monday at Glasgow Skeptics, where the excellent Michael Marsh (whose blog can be found here) was speaking on the subject of bad PR. This was not only an excellent talk, but it proved to be fortuitous when this story appeared on my twitter feed on the long trek back to Reekie , in both The Mirror and The Mail. While we may marvel briefly about the ability of this press release to unite both the right and left of the British press, we should also rightly be appalled at the stereotypes it reinforces: stereotypes that are of particular interest and relevance to me as they concern mental health issues.
The subject of the press release, produced by Yetis PR on behalf of mentaline.com, an online counselling service run by former Just-Eat CEO Jesper Buch, is a survey of 1,192 young people in the UK aged 12-17. Respondents to the study were asked questions surrounding mental illness, and their knowledge of the subject. The survey found, somewhat controversially, that 11% considered mental illness to be fashionable, and a third of these had pretended to have a problem in the past. This was reported as alarming in The Mirror and used as a stick by The Mail to batter the pinata of celebrity culture that coincidentally yields them greater readership.
The Mirror and The Mail have been rather alarmist in their use of the survey claiming that 34% of respondents (as opposed to 34% of 11% — or 3% of the total, a slightly less worrying 44 people rather than 405); although in fairness to the newspapers, the release itself seems to be,–strangely for a mental health service provider– drawing attention to this aspect of their survey, as the following quote from Buch himself indicates:
I think its hugely shocking that so many young people think mental health problems are fashionable. Its a very sensitive topic and one that should be taken seriously, so to see that many teenagers are quite blas about the whole thing isn’t good at all.
I think many young people are too quick to say Im depressed or try to gain attention from their friends and family by pretending to have some kind of personal issue. Your teenage years should be spent enjoying life, not convincing people that you have issues that should be taken extremely seriously.
For one thing, the survey doesn’t actually establish that many young people think mental health problems are fashionable, and it’s worth noting again that the ‘many’ this is based on in fact add up to 44. Without access to the methodology, we can’t be sure how valid any inferences or results drawn from the study are. I have emailed Buch and the Yetis PR agency, and shall update the readers on any replies I receive.
What motivated me to write about this was not the intricacies of survey design, but what struck me as a very stark use of a reasonably common stereotype and preconception about mental illness in order to advertise a service. Essentially, it appears to tap into the worrying cultural trope that mental illness isn’t real and that sufferers simply need to “get a grip”. This is a view that is perhaps understandable but not to my mind excusable — even less excusable is the seeming exploitation of the idea to sell, of all things, a mental health service!
It strikes me that the PR company have tapped into this long held stereotype in a cynical and despicable way, simply to get the company’s name into the papers. Of course it’s understandable (but again, not excusable) as it must be easier to sell something if it’s associated with an idea that is simple and already ingrained. Unfortunately, mental health issues are anything but simple, and to risk reinforcing the sort of stereotypes reputable mental health charities and organisations have fought for years to dispel is irresponsible.
The idea that teenagers are faking mental illness is also pernicious when you consider that the National Office of Statistics suggests that one in ten children between the ages of one and 15 has a mental health disorder and that rates of mental health problems among children increase as they reach adolescence:
Disorders affect 10.4% of boys aged 5-10, rising to 12.8% of boys aged 11-15, and 5.9% ofgirls aged 5-10, rising to 9.65% of girls aged 11-15.
While it might be nicer to think that children and teenagers mental health issues are some sort of play acting, copying the example of their favourite celebs, faking it with no problems more serious than trying to be popular and unique, the reality is that mental health issues can affect anyone regardless of age.
Thus while Mentaline may be an interesting, and potentially useful mode of delivering mental health treatment its advertising campaign makes me somewhat skeptical. It doesn’t strike me that their CEO, or their PR people, have the appropriate understanding or empathy with mental health issues to responsibly and effectively advertise such a service.
(Additional note: Mentaline aren’t the only mental health organisation or enterprise utilising PR in this manner – see this excellent blog about platform 51.)
and your electron microscope 
When i was a teen i fell foul(fowl?) of the “fashionable” mental illness label (i also was told my sexuality was a “fashionable phase” this may or may not be relevant) and for years ignored my difficulties with dealing with “normal” situations. I saw my then girlfriend self harm repeatedly to the extend she was hospitalised not only for her physical injuries but her mental health too, she has been subsequently diagnosed as schizophrenic and is in a good place these days thankfully. Years passed before i did anything about my own depression and when i did finally go i was given a prescription for Prozac and told it was due to exam stress (i was at uni by then). Prozac made me sick as a dog and left me with all the emotional range of a chicken mcnugget but at least i wasn’t a massive ball of anxiety having panic attacks that caused subway trains to grind to a halt. I hated that more than the unmedicated me so abandoned the pills when i graduated.
Last month i was rediagnosed as depressive, possibly due to post-partum but certainly i’m not feeling the way i should. the minefield out there for new mums is hefty enough without dealing with mental illness, thankfully i am well supported medically and socially (just need to make sure my workplace are good and then i tick all the boxes.)
I know my mental health issues aren’t as severe as some but they are issues and i’ve had them for an awfully large part of my life. They have cost me time, money, relationships friendships and potentially could’ve killed me at times. Now tell me why would any idiot think that was fashionable?
Great article, I have a friend who struggles with these issues, she is a fantastic person but often feels like she is worthless.
It would be very interesting as an example of confirmation bias if it weren’t so personal, because by any universal yardstick she is as far from worthless as it’s possible to be. Although maybe I’m bias as her friend, so I offer the following objective facts,
She plays several musical instruments, (but not as well as she should do).
She on her way to a 1st at university in a neurological science subject (but her marks are never high enough, she even reacts negatively to results over 80%)
She has also maintained a great relationship with her mother through very difficult circumstances involving among other issues a serious illness
I have found on many occasions that “the cultural trope that mental illness isn’t real and that sufferers simply need to “get a grip”” can be extremely hurtful and counterproductive to her. It adds to her feelings of worthlessness
She can’t just “get a grip” so she starts to feel that she is “making a fuss”, being an unnecessary burden, that the depression and its effects on others around her are her fault (that is to say something that, if she just tried a little harder or did more work, would go away.)
Adverts (or which this so called article is an unashamed example) reinforcing negative stereotypes like this one to sell services is despicable; I wonder if the selfish writers and PR officers have the slightest idea how upsetting a piece like this can be to someone struggling with depression.
I hope not; at least then they are only guilty of ignorance and stupidity and not malicious bullying as well.
It’s also worth noting that people – especially young people with limited experience – will sometimes identify themselves as having a fashionable mental illness because something else is wrong which they don’t have a label for. Anxiety disorders and ptsd, for instance, are often erroneously diagnosed as depression by sufferers. The fact that the diagnosis may be mistaken should not be assumed to mean that there is no real problem.