The Anxious Times: An Analysis of the Representation of Anxiety Disorders in The Australian Newspaper, 2000-2015

Print media retains a significant role in shaping social discourses about mental health. Recent Australian studies have identified a significant social stigma and poor mental health literacy concerning anxiety disorders which prevents individuals from seeking help. No studies to date have explored the representation of anxiety in Australian print media. Targeting this research gap, our study explores models of disability present in 83 articles specifically covering anxiety disorders and published by The Australian newspaper between 2000 and 2015. Using a critical approach to content analysis, the analysis identified the presence of established traditional and progressive media models of disability. Our analysis also identified further supplementary discourses of awareness, nature and risk, thereby extending existing models identified by Clogston (1990) and Haller (2000). These discourses can be seen to both support and challenge traditional discourses of mental ill health according to the context in which the discussion of anxiety is presented. As this study reveals an ongoing potential for newspaper discussion of anxiety to increase stigma, it is important that students, journalists and editors (where necessary) work to challenge dominant discourses which promote traditional stigmatizing discourses of mental ill health.