Zoe Williams
Level 2 Media
When does Adulthood start?
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being 16 and legal but still not able to do certain things like ........
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you're able to smoke but you are not aloud to buy cigarettes.
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you're able to buy a scratch card but not able to cash it in.
Primary Research
Ideas
Anxiety-Depression
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Self harm
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social media
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body shaming
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online bullying
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mental health
Research Proposal:
My overall news report is about anxiety and depression and how it has raised a lot more in the past few years.
PRIMARY RESEARCH: I have chosen an Interview: I will be asking students questions who have been through depression and anxiety or still going though it and what causes it and how it's affected them. I will also be interviewing students who have not experienced it, in order to see why it only affects certain people. I will be doing a focus group to gather information and get multiple opinions on the subject to understand the target audience.
Questionnaire, to get more detailed responses; in order to achieve it I will create surveymonkey.com. I'm going to create a survey to see if more people have opened up more about it over the years and if it's easier now then it was back then. Age Range- this will then help me to see the generations and why it has increased massively.
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Interview
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Focus Group
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Questionnaire
Primary - qualitative
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Survey
Quantitative -
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Internet Research
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News Archives
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Statistics
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Social Media
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Audience viewing habits
Secondary - qualitative
quantitative -
Primary - qualitative - interview
I interviewed students who have experienced depression & or anxiety and here were there replies...
Question 1: At what age did you suffer with depression & anxiety?
Josh & Jade : 15/16
Shefali : 16
Jack: 12+
cameron: 8+
Joe: 12+
Question 2: Do you think its gotten worse as you've got older?
Josh & Jade: YES
Shefali: Yes, because bullying is a lot bigger now.
Jack: Yes, more to worry about as you get older so it triggers the anxiety more.
Cameron: Occasionally
Joe: NO, gotten better
Question 3: Do you think social media has had an influence and why?
Josh & Jade: Yes, body shaming/ imagery. cheating.
Shefali : Go on social media
Jack: Not personally no but yes for other people in terms of fitting in.
Cameron: Definitely, bullying and being online and being able to be anonymous.
Joe:Yes, anonymous and bullying
Question 4: What did you do in oder to overcome it or try to?
Josh & Jade: CAMHS, therapy and talk to friends and family.
Shefali: Not open on social media, kept my friends close. Distract yourself, bury it all away and find solutions to my problems.
Jack: Not going out to public places to avoid anxiety levels rising.
Cameron: Talking to people, didn't take medication.
Joe: Didn't know what to do so i found a new group of friends.
I then asked two student's who have not suffered with anxiety or depression.
Question 1 : Do you think social media has an influence on other people and why?
Matt and Leighton: Yes because there is an app called Sarahah where people can say anything about you but it would be anonymous.
Question 2: What age would you say it starts?
Matt and Leighton: Early teens not to sure exactly what age.
Question 3: Why do you think you haven't been affected?
Matt and Leighton: No worries, no point, every days a new day.
Question 4: What causes people to go through anxiety and depression as an early teen?
Matt and Leighton: Bullying,make them overthink about everything
I then started to talk to some adults to get there prospective.
Lee:
Question 1: Do you think there's any support for adults?
No, there's more support for teens
Question 2: Do you think it was such a big deal back then as it is now ? If so why and what's changed?
No because we are more aware today about the illness, more attention and no motivation.
Question 3: Do you think social media has had an impact on the rise of depression and anxiety?
Yes, more pressure, expectancy, body shaming.
Question 4: Do you know what anxiety and depression can cause people to do?
Become withdrawn, no motivation, self harm, suicidal.
Teacher assistant:
Question 1: Do you think there's any support for adults?
Aware that there is support but not as much for adults
Question 2: Do you think it was such a big deal back then as it is now ? If so why and what's changed?
More promotion now, not clear when younger.
Question 3: Do you think social media has had an impact on the rise of depression and anxiety?
Yes, Pressure, body shaming, fitting in, easier for this type of abuse to be excessed.
Question 4: Do you know what anxiety and depression can cause people to do?
Yes, leading to drinking, drugs, self harm, suicide, eating disorders.
Conclusion
In conclusion the average age that depression and anxiety occurs is 12+ and 1/2 of people said that it has got worse as they've got older. Media seems to have a big influence on the issue as people said there was more bulling and body shaming because of people posting about the perfect person and what they should look like. Near enough everyone said they learnt to deal with it them selves, they never ventured for help. As for the adults there needs to be more focus on helping them to because they have an effect on their children and they need to be able to learn and advise their children on what to do if they feel low or are faced with bullying.
Surveymonkey
As you see from the first question 25 people out of the 35 have suffered from anxiety. 70% out of 100% when you look at it in percentage it makes you aware that this illness shouldn't be ignored.
Same with depression more people have been affected. Not as many 60% but thats only 10% less then people with depression.
Majority of people said its got worse as they've got older. So, I thought media would have been the reason. I went on to ask if social media has had an influence and maybe that's why it has got worse as they've got older.
There were multiple answers to this question but to sum it up people strongly agree that the social media has an impact on the rise of depression and anxiety. They say there is no escape from it because it's always there and gives us access to everything and everything can also access us. Also, body shaming and having people publicize what the perfect person should look like and also act.
More people just suffered in silence. Why's that? Is it because they don't know where to go to get help or all they think the doctors are going to do is give them medication and they think its going to make them worse??
Think i need to dig a little deeper into this one.
This was a tricky question because how would teens know if there was any help for adults as they are not one. But when it comes to publicity they may or may not be aware there is help for adults and that's where the knowledge of knowing if there is support or not for adults. Most people say there isn't or unsure.
This question showed me that it is a bigger deal now because of MEDIA, back when our parents were younger they didn't have social media and that is the main cause of depression and anxiety today.
"More than 90 percent of those who die by suicide have a diagnosable illness such as clinical depression, and often in combination with anxiety or substance use disorders and other treatable mental disorders."
Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S., affecting 40 million adults in the United States age 18 and older, or 18.1% of the population every year.
i know this is an American statistic but it helps give us an idea of an age range and what is the most common age.
focus group
How would our like the Media to present the issue of Anxiety and Depression?
Show it in adverts either on TV, Youtube or when downloading apps and adverts come up because a lot more people take in information better by watching things rather then listening .
Sad music instrumental to draw your attention to the issue.
Posters put in main shopping centres and high end branded stores. Make the poster title big and bold and red to indicate that it's important. show a sign of warning.
Create a group or App to join on social media and when signing up you get updates and emails on help and support and what you can do to help.
Hold events for people to go to for either information or fun and games so they have fun but also learn about the rise of Anxiety and Depression.
Secondary Research
SECONDARY RESEARCH: Internet research: this is so I can see facts and statistics or even the world’s opinion on the subject and how it is portrayed on the Internet and if it is a popular topic. News Archives: I will find pervious news articles to gather factual information for my report. Statistics, Percentages: to help the audience understand more, by using bar graphs on how much it has risen. Social Media: I will be seeing what effects social media has on depression and anxiety. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Dating sites like Tinder, Yellow, KiK ,etc. Audience viewing habits, what age range listens to the radio and BBC News and who pays attention to the news about it.
In part of this article it tells a young girl's story on her self harm and not wanting to attend school. This is a good way to hook the reader because it is based on a true story. FACT.
This is the latest chart i could find about depression and anxiety.
Using a bar chart is a good way to show the audience how much more people suffer with depression anxiety over eating disorders, learning disabilities, etc.
The media covers this issue in a lot of different areas for example...
podcast
She wrote a book called 'i thought there would be cake' and this is what she talks about in the podcast.
"Growing up, Katharine Welby-Roberts imagined that being an adult was one big party. But depression, anxiety and crippling self-doubt led her to alienate herself from others. To replay events and encounters as nightmares. Occasionally, to be unable to leave the house".
The news
A lot of people read the news so this is a good way to get the message out to a wider audience either in the news paper for older people or a news article for the younger generation.
Youtube - videos
Posters
You can see its a popular topic. These videos were posted 2/3 weeks ago and have thousands of views so people are still interested whether its just because they are subscribed to that person or they are wanting to find a way to over come it. Also, when I asked students how they solved their anxiety or depression or at least tried to, about 75% of them said they learnt to deal with it themselves, therefore, possibly watching videos online.
I wanted to see if it is a popular search on the internet so i typed in on Google " have i got" and here were the results.
I was looking at types of posters and they are all very similar. The main colour is yellow and a big title so if I was to create one I would have someone looking down and sad then a big title over to grab your attention and also, the statistics on anxiety and depression in the UK, how much it has increased. Also, I would include help lines for people to call.
0808 163 4925
Anxiety UK
Charity providing support if you've been diagnosed with an anxiety condition.
Phone: 08444 775 774 (Mon-Fri, 9.30am-5.30pm)
Website: www.anxietyuk.org.uk
This is an amazing way to spread a message. Everyone is drawn to one person and showing their full attention. She talks for a while but also interacts with the crowed and does a POLL with them all this keeps there attention span going. She puts a positive attitude and tries to open your mind to bigger things rather then being trapped in your own world. Not only is she looking at the illness itself she is going into the science of your brain and how it works and also how anxiety can affect the way your brain works. Also, shows the amount of money that goes into someone being hospitalised with anxiety. So in America they have the issue of paying for medical bills and that got me thinking .....
Do British Use The NHS To The Advantage?
Is the free health care causing the British to use it to there advantage, by pulling of work sick and being able to go to the doctors and get medication for something they possibly could be lying about just to get of work, or maybe, students are just unhappy with life so they automatically think they have depression and anxiety and go to the doctors and be prescribed with medication they may not necessarily need. Then they use it to their advantage to get out of certain situations and use anxiety and depression as an excuse when they possibly don't have it.
Research Summary
My research is about depression and anxiety and how it's affected people of this generation. I chose this subject because I already know a lot about it, going through it myself, but I was interested to see other people's knowledge on the issue.
I interviewed a few students to get a general idea of why anxiety and depression have occurred more recently and I found that it was due to social media. So I asked them what effects it has? The majority of them said it was because of body shaming, bullying, looking online at other people's lives and how social media implied the best way to live it. So there is no escaping the negativity. I created a surveymonkey help me get a rough idea about the percentage of students who are affected: 70% of students in the class suffer with anxiety and 60% of students in the class suffer from depression. The most common age to suffer this illness is the age range of around 16+. With this information I then started to research and ask teachers if there was any help for adults and it is proven to be less of an issue when older than as a young teen. There is barely any advertisement on help for adults and who they can get in touch with in order to help. That then took me on to marketing and the way this issue is presented to the public. I found posters, podcasts, YouTube videos & news articles so I decided to do a focus group and gather ideas on how it can presented even better. We came up with multiple ideas, using the internet to our advantage by creating groups to join for help and guidance or creating short films and videos for adverts on big companies like YouTube, Netflix, Sky TV. I found that depression and anxiety is one of the most discussed topics; I found this out by searching " do I have..." and the results showed depression and then anxiety straight after. I think one of the most effective ways to get this message across from doing my research would be TEDx Talks, because they give a lot of information as well as keeping an audience's attention to the topic.