Health ministry, journalists discuss balanced mental health coverage

The health ministry said Tuesday it held a symposium with the Journalists Association of Korea and the National Center for Mental Health Welfare to discuss how the media portrays mental health and how reporters can be supported in their own work.

The symposium, titled "Media, Mindful Writing: Beyond Prejudice Toward Empathy," took place at 3 p.m. at Le Meridien Seoul Myeongdong in Jung-gu, Seoul, and was organized to address the mental health of journalists facing job stress and trauma, and to seek ways for the media to contribute to balanced mental health coverage.

In the first session, Shin Young-chul, director of Incheon Cham Sarang Hospital, gave a lecture on understanding the mental health of journalists working in disaster zones and high-pressure reporting environments, and on preventing burnout.

The second session was a panel discussion moderated by Kim Hye-min, a former producer at YTN Radio, with Kim Yu-na of Kukmin Ilbo, Paik Jong-woo of Kyung Hee University College of Medicine, Lee Young-ryeol of the National Forensic Hospital, Lee Jung-ha of the disability rights group Padason, Lim Jung-in of the Milal YouTube channel, and Choi Kwang-il of JTBC.

Participants shared an analysis of social media big data on changes in public awareness and discussed cooperation measures to guide public understanding of mental health toward empathy.

"No matter how tightly the government builds the mental health safety net, if the threshold of misunderstanding and prejudice remains, people who need help will not readily knock on the door," Lee Sun-young, the ministry's mental health policy director, said in her welcoming remarks. "The media and journalists are important policy partners connecting the public with mental health policy, and we will communicate and cooperate closely with them going forward."

Paik Jong-woo, head of the National Center for Mental Health Welfare, said, "Mental health is part of all our daily lives and a social task, and the media is the most important channel for leading those who are hurting not to be marginalized but to reach out to society."

The ministry, the Journalists Association of Korea and the center have been promoting the spread of mental health reporting recommendations since establishing them in November 2024. The full text is available on the association's and the center's websites.

The recommendations advise against language that promotes hatred or fear, using diagnoses as modifiers, mentioning mental illness in headlines, linking mental illness to criminal motives or causes, and negative photos, illustrations or statistics. They are based on the premises that mental illness can be treated, prevented and recovered from, and that one in four people in South Korea experiences mental difficulty at least once in their lifetime.