Beyond the headlines: psychopharmacology, mental health and the media

This session will begin with a short overview of the work of the Science Media Centre and how it works to get expert voices into the media on the biggest and most contentious topics in mental health and psychopharmacology, and explain why the media still plays an important role in informing public understanding and opinion.

There’ll then be a discussion of the key challenges of engaging with the media on these issues – with practical advice for researchers – some quite general to responsible communication of the evidence, while some very specific to the fields of mental health and psychopharmacology. We’ll discuss specific recent examples such as antidepressants, psychedelics, the treatment of dementia, and the current societal discussion around neurodiversity and the mental health of young people. We’re keen for audience input into the discussion on their experiences of the media.