WHAT IS KNOWN ON THE SUBJECT?: People with a diagnosis of personality disorder often experience stigma both outside of, and within, mental health services. The media contribute to people's understanding of mental health issues, and negative portrayals appear to lead to increased negative attitudes in readers. Relatively little is known about how the press represent personality disorder, and the types of messages that people with this disorder may be receiving, which may impact on their understanding of themselves and emotional well-being. WHAT THE PAPER ADDS TO EXISTING KNOWLEDGE?: The key findings indicate that in a 10-year period, the representation of personality disorder in the popular tabloid press in the UK was characterized by the frequent use of language of violence. The research approach enabled the study to identify significant patterns in the language used, rather than only using a checklist of words that the press are directed to avoid. This adds to our understanding about the images repeatedly presented that may affect how readers treat people with a diagnosis of personality disorder and affect the self-esteem of those with the diagnosis. WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE?: Mental health nurses are well placed to address issues of stigma both in terms of the general public's beliefs and the impact it has on those who use mental health services. A greater understanding of the messages in the press can help nurses to support service users who are vulnerable to believing that their lives will start to reflect the negative messages they have read. ABSTRACT: Introduction Many people with a diagnosis of personality disorder experience stigma, and the press' representations may contribute to those processes. To date, little is known about how the press write about people with personality disorder and analysis of language used is often limited to checklists of words to avoid. Aim The aim of the study was to explore the linguistic characteristics of press articles about personality disorder in popular tabloids in the UK and consider the implications for stigmatization. Method Corpus linguistics was used to examine a 50% sample of all articles published by the popular press in the UK, from 2008 to 2017, that referred to personality disorder (n = 260). Results The findings identified a range of words that constructed narratives of violence. Discussion The method enabled the findings to expand the current level of knowledge in the field, identifying patterns in the use of the language of violence, which may contribute to the processes of self-stigma. Implications for practice Greater understanding of the messages in the press can sensitize nurses to common misconceptions about the disorder, how these may have become internalised and the need for psycho-social interventions to address the impact of self-stigma on self-esteem.
Keywords: language; media and mental health; personality disorders; social exclusion; stigma.
© 2019 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.