Marverine Cole and David Harewood’s documentaries on mental health celebrated at Mind Media Awards

Journalist Cole received an award for her Radio 4 documentary which looks at black women’s experiences with conditions such as anxiety and depression

MENTAL HEALTH: David Harewood has been praised for speaking out (Photo: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire)

MARVERINE COLE has been recognised for making an outstanding contribution to the understanding of mental health issues with her documentary, Black Girls Don’t Cry.

Cole won the journalist award at last night’s Mind Media Awards at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre. 

The awards, organised by mental health charity Mind, ackowledge and celebrate the best possible representations of mental health across TV, radio, print and online.

The journalist and head of undergraduate journalism at Birmingham City University was driven to document black women’s experiences of mental health following her personal encounter with depression and the publication of data that showed black women are more prone to anxiety and depression.

Accepting the award last night, Cole said: “This is a story about women, black women and our experiences, and it was begun, or sparked by my own story of depression. But it’s not about me as a journalist, it’s about telling that story of the fact that black women are more prone to anxiety, OCD, self-harm, panic. 

“Young black women between the ages of 16 and 34 are more prone to self harm and I wanted to tell this story. I wanted to tell the stories of women from Birmingham. I’m a Brummie. Big up Brum.”

Cole also thanked those that made the programme possible by sharing their stories.

“I couldn’t have made this documentary without my incredible contributors. These women who agreed to tell everyone on Radio 4 their stories,” she said.

Actor David Harewood won the Speaking Out award. He was recognised for sharing his own experiences with mental health through his documentary Psychosis and Me, which aired on BBC Two in May.

Harewood, best known for his role as CIA counterterrorism director David Estes in US hit show Homeland, has repeatedly spoken openly about having a psychotic breakdown aged 23.

Hosted by BBC Radio One presenter Greg James, other winners at last night’s event included Shane Meadows’ four-part drama The Virtues, which starred Stephen Graham and aired on Channel 4 in May and ITV Lorraine’s Shine a Light, a campaign that aims to break taboos around under-reported and misunderstood mental health problems.

Paul Farmer, chief executive of Mind, said: “The profile that mental health has today is down in large part to all the journalists and programme makers and bloggers and storyline creators who not only take the subject on, but do it with courage and sensitivity and above all with a dedication to letting the experiences of people who have actually been there shine through.”

The full list of winners can be found here.

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