Breaking the taboo: How do we navigate mental health in TV?

Mental ill-health in the TV sector is an unspoken reality for many working in the field. Finally, these issues are in the spotlight. The UK’s Film and TV Charity recently launched the industry-wide Looking Glass survey to get a snapshot of the well-being of TV workers. 

Ahead of findings being released next year, TBI can reveal that the proportion of people in the film and TV industries who have experienced mental ill-health is 86% compared to 66% in the general population. We gathered top mental health campaigners to discuss ideas for change. 

Why did you launch The Looking Glass survey, and what can you share about the results?

Alex Pumfrey, CEO, The Film and TV Charity: With the emergence of the Me Too movement, it triggered a need to understand what was going on and why we were creating these environments that seemed to do people real harm. We now have a responsibility to understand what people are saying and come up with impactful solutions. We ran the survey for three weeks and got nearly 9,000 responses

The proportion of people within the industry that have experienced mental ill-health is 86% compared to 66% in the general population. Around 9 out of 10 of everyone working in the industry has experienced mental ill-health, so this isn’t an issue at the margins – this is mainstream

More women responded than men, which is interesting because there tends to be more stigma around men talking about mental health. There is a divide between production versus sales, marketing, distribution and other elements, as well as differences within genres. For example, when you look at sports versus reality versus factual, you see differences there. However, the cultural trends that underpin it all are pretty consistent.

Emma Loach, Commissioner (Documentaries), BBC: It’s indicative of how, for decades, we’ve been told what a privilege it is to work in the industry. The idea that you would complain or have any issues was so tramped down. So, as soon as someone asks the question, there is a freedom of, ‘Actually, yes, I have loads to say’

Davey Shields, Freelance/Founder, MenTalkHealth: As freelancers, you come into a production company and you are very separate, because you’re not full-time, you don’t have that connection to HR, or access to the same rights and benefits. With this survey, there are 9,000 people who are basically saying, ‘Now we have somewhere we can say this without fear of not getting work or being reprimanded’

Kate Beal, CEO, Woodcut Media: Thirty years ago, there was more of a training ground, and jobs were sustainable. They were jobs for life, and I’m not saying that was necessarily right or wrong, but the economy of TV has changed into...


Full article - https://tbivision.com/2019/10/10/breaking-the-taboo-how-do-we-navigate-mental-health-in-tv/