NAMI New York State - NAMI New York State

Entry on Mental Illness Added to AP Stylebook

By Bob Carolla, NAMI Director of Media Relations

For years, NAMI has worked to have the news media abandon inaccurate, careless, or stigmatizing language or practices in reporting on mental illness.

Finally, the Associated Press has included rules on mental illness in the new edition of the AP Stylebook, the bible used throughout the industry.

In other words, the mental health community has won a huge victory—a seismic shift in the terrain of popular culture. If necessary, mental health advocates, looking forward, can cite the AP Stylebook as an authority in getting wayward editors and reporters to change their ways in how they report about mental illness.

Founded in 1846, AP is a global news network whose reporting is seen or heard by more than half the world’s population.

The new rules include:

· Mental illness is a general condition. Specific disorders are types of mental illness and should be used whenever possible

· Don’t rely on hearsay or speculate on a diagnosis….Provide examples of symptoms.

· Do not use derogatory terms, such as insane, crazy/crazed, nuts or deranged, unless they are part of a quotation that is essential to the story.

· Wherever possible, rely on people with mental illness to talk about their own diagnoses.

· Avoid using mental health terms to describe non-health issues. Don’t say that an awards show, for example, was schizophrenic.

· Do not assume that mental illness is a factor in a violent crime, and verify statements to that effect. A past history of mental illness is not necessarily a reliable indicator. Studies have shown that the vast majority of people with mental illness are not violent, and experts say most people who are violent do not suffer from mental illness

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2013 Legislative

Conference

NAMI-NYS would like to thank all of those who attended the 2013 Legislative Conference. The event was a great success, as our members had the opportunity to meet with their elected representatives and hear from a number of inspiring and informative speakers.

A special note of thanks to Assembly Members Jeffrion Aubry, Joseph Borelli, Aileen Gunther, Ellen Jaffee, Steve Katz, Felix Ortiz and Harvey Weisenberg who attended and provided messages of support for our mission. We would like to congratulate Assemblyman Aubry, who was presented with the 2013 NAMI-NYS Legislative Champion Award.

Attendees also had the opportunity to hear presentations by New York State Office of Mental Health Acting Commissioner Kristin Woodlock, who spoke on the future of mental health services in New York, and Sita Diehl, NAMI Director of State Policy and Advocacy, who discussed the latest federal issues of interest to our members.

The Conference was a great opportunity for all of our members to learn about the critical issues facing mental health advocates in 2013.

Click here to view the pictures from the Legislative Conference

2013 NAMI-NYS Legislative Action Agenda

Click on the issue to read the action sheet for each issue

Access to Safe and Affordable Housing

Reinvestment into Community Services

The Inclusion of Mental Health Education into Public School's Existing Health Curriculum

Sustained Investment in New York State's Research Institutions

Veteran's Issues

Criminal Justice Issues

NAMI-NYS RECEIVES CHARTER

NAMI-NYS is thrilled to announce that on Thursday, June 28 we became one of the sixteen states to be chartered by NAMI under the new Standards of Excellence. Many in the New York delegation were in attendance to watch as NAMI Executive Director Mike Fitzpatrick, NAMI-NYS President Sherry Grenz and NAMI-NYS Executive Director Donald Capone signed the charter agreement.

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New Board Members

Steve Dvorin

NAMI-NYS is happy to welcome Dr. Steve Dvorin to our Board of Directors. Dr. Dvorin is a retired psychiatrist and current President of NAMI Rochester. Although Dr. Dvorin has retired from clinical practice, he remains as an educator of medical students at the University of Rochester School of medicine and Dentistry, in addition to advising students in St. John Fisher’s Mental Health Counseling Program. We are excited to have him as a new board member.

Ted Vecchio

We are happy to welcome Ted Vecchio back to the NAMI-NYS Board of Directors. Ted has served on the board several times over the past twenty five years in addition to being an active member of the NAMI Queens/Nassau affiliate. Surely Ted’s years of experience will add to our board.

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