Mental Health, Trauma, and Substance Use

Child sexual abuse material is any content that depicts sexual activity with an individual under the legal age of consent. It is also called child pornography, online child abuse material, or child exploitation material. The US Department of Justice uses the term child pornography in legal proceedings. Some activists recommend against this term, saying the word “pornography” can conflate it with adult sexual material rather than keeping the focus on the harm done to the child. Child sexual abuse material inherently involves the exploitation and traumatization of its participants, and consumers promote and fund crimes against children, so a sensitivity to the victims/survivors is paramount in news coverage.

Collective trauma refers to society’s interpretation of and reaction to a calamity that affects an entire community. Commonly used examples of events that caused collective trauma include the Great Depression, 9/11, the enslavement of Black people, and the Covid-19 pandemic. Exploration of the ways collective trauma can manifest in individuals and communities adds essential context to news coverage.

Complementary and alternative medicine is a form of treatment that is not part of mainstream medical care. That said, making blanket statements about CAM being “pseudoscience” can create a false dichotomy, with modern, Western, “evidence-based” medicine on one side and traditional, Eastern, “alternative” medicine on the other.

Consent is a mutual limited agreement between two or more people of the age of legal majority. It can be revoked at any time, and it refers to the explicit permission for a given person to take an action. Consent can refer to sexual acts and, in the context of journalism, to the act of contacting someone, using someone’s name, or otherwise disclosing information about them, either to another party or in a published piece of media. It’s important for journalists to ensure informed consent is obtained from sources, and for news coverage to make clear when consent was not obtained or when a situation makes it impossible for consent to be given. Being precise with language (e.g., referring to nonconsensual sex as rape rather than as sex) is also important for clarity and accuracy.

Content, advisory, and trigger warnings are notices that a piece of content may contain material that people find offensive, graphic, or inappropriate for certain audiences, and/or that may set off mental health symptoms. It’s helpful to be as specific as possible about what content relates to a warning. For example, telling readers a piece contains a transphobic slur is more informative than “slur” alone.

A condition for which there is a “cure” is no longer present in an individual’s life. Claims that a certain treatment method can cure psychiatric disorders or addiction can give people unrealistic expectations of treatment or convince them that they no longer need to take necessary medication. Using a frame of curing can be especially misleading and ableist with respect to developmental disorders or disabilities.

Dependence refers to physiological reliance on a drug or substance for continued functioning. Dependence is not the same thing as addiction or tolerance, nor is it a measure of a person’s willpower or character. Being specific about the degree of reliance and avoiding language that may blame or stigmatize an individual for dependence on a substance helps ensure accurate coverage.

Depression is a mood disorder causing persistent negative affect. It cannot be overcome through willpower or positive thinking. Using the term casually or colloquially in your reporting can trivialize the experience of living with depression as a clinical condition. While depression is a serious mental and public health issue, reporting on effective treatment and stories of recovery is also key to comprehensive coverage. Using specifics and person-first language (for example, “X lives with depression,” “experiences depression,” “is being treated for depression”) frames the condition as just one aspect of someone’s identity that doesn’t define them.

Domestic violence refers to abuse that takes place among people in a household or family unit. Physical, emotional, psychological, and financial abuse are all types of domestic violence. Domestic violence can overlap with other types of harm, such as child neglect or elder abuse. A term like “battered women’s shelters” can be upsetting for women who have undergone physical abuse, and it may deter those who have undergone other kinds of abuse (sexual, financial, etc.) from seeking help. If relevant to your content, it may be helpful to include helpline numbers or links to resources (such as thehotline.org).