Research conducted on ITV’s addressing of mental health topics over Mental Health Awareness Week and beyond has shown one quarter of ITV Daytime and ITV Regional News viewers agree that coverage on ITV changes the way they see mental health. One fifth of viewers feel more able to look after their mental health thanks to stories about it on ITV.

ITV’s Daytime shows - Good Morning Britain, Lorraine, This Morning and Loose Women, alongside ITV Regional News, reach 18.2 million viewers each week.

The research, carried out by YouGov on behalf of ITV, showed over a third of viewers of ITV Daytime and Regional News had seen coverage of mental health issues on the shows. Over a quarter were more aware of how mental health challenges affect people as a result of seeing the coverage, and over one in 10 were more likely to open up about their mental health, and nearly one in 10 have had a conversation with friends and family about their mental wellbeing, as a result of seeing mental health coverage on ITV.

Programmes during Mental Health Awareness Week, which ran 10th-16th May, carried a particular focus on mental health with Good Morning Britain featuring campaigner Alastair Campbell as a guest presenter and Scarlett Moffatt talking about her mental health on Lorraine, alongside a feature for their HEADucation campaign with Government Ambassador for Youth Mental Health, Dr Alex George. As well as a mental health-focused This Morning phone-in and feature championing the benefits of the outdoors, plus a special ‘Loose Men’ edition of Loose Women.

ITV Regional News covered a range of subjects from ITV News Granada who are investigating the lack of mental health beds available in the North West, to ITV News Central who producing a powerful three part series on men's mental health, speaking to those who'd considered suicide and looking at the different types of help available.

ITV has made better mental and physical health its social cause, a major part of its social purpose of shaping culture for good, with campaigns including Britain Get Talking and a partnership between ITV2 and CALM. The latest activity for the landmark mental wellbeing campaign Britain Get Talking has encouraged 3.5 million people to take action, through having a conversation or a better quality of conversation. The campaign, which was launched by Ant and Dec in a stunt in Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway, encouraged audiences to think about the quality of conversation they were having, with the message ‘The better we talk, the better we feel’.

Susie Braun, Head of Strategy and Communications, Social Purpose at ITV said, “In a year when so many people are struggling, making the most of Mental Health Awareness Week to tell people’s stories was really important. It’s inspiring to see that coverage on Daytime and Regional News can have such a palpable impact on viewers in how they think about their own and others’ mental wellbeing.”

All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 1008 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 28th April – 1st May 2021. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all UK adults (aged 16+). ITV Daytime and Regional News viewers in the last month sample size was 358

In general:

● 20% of ITV Daytime and Regional News viewers feel more able to look after their mental health thanks to stories about it on ITV

● 25% of ITV Daytime and Regional News viewers agree coverage on ITV changes the way I see mental health

Following the Mental Health Awareness Week coverage specifically, viewers of ITV Daytime and Regional News said:

● Over 1 in 3 have seen support for mental health issues and Britain Get Talking across Daytime and Regional News (just under 1 in 4 for Regional News alone)

● 46% feel more positive about ITV knowing that it supports mental health issues

● 27% are more aware of how mental health challenges affect people as a result of seeing mental health coverage on ITV

● 14% are more likely to open up about their mental health

● 9% have had a conversation with friends and family about their mental wellbeing as a result of seeing mental health coverage on ITV

● 63% of Daytime and Regional News viewers think it's important ITV covers mental health and wellbeing stories