What community mental health means for reporters

• NWMI held an annual meeting in Guwahati, India, where 189 women from across the country attended. One of the sessions focused on navigating mental health.

• Pushpa Rokde, a panelist, discussed the importance of considering the impact of a story on the reader and the community it is written about.

• The Hindu mental-health guidelines require careful language, such as treating suicide as an outcome of various factors and not referring to an attempt as a crime.

• Pushpa’s talk aimed to change societal narrative around mental illness, focusing on the ‘why’ behind the story.

• Journalism’s first obligation is to the truth, and balancing accurate depiction of events with avoiding over-the-top details is crucial.

• Editors often have to consider the impact of their stories on readers and communities, and carry trigger warnings on stories with violence or destruction.

• Tanmoy Goswami, the founder of Sanity, emphasized the importance of community mental health in 2025.

• Media reaches crores of people, and questions can help frame narratives that are disturbing enough to seek answers without triggering a freeze.