Profile of a Mental Health Reporter

Katherine Kam is an award-winning reporter who has worked to highlight voices of Asian Americans who suffer from mental illnesses with The Carter Center. Kam’s portrayal of resilience, strength, and family support give inspiration to anyone struggling with a mental health issue.

“It’s important to have these stories that are focusing on recovery and people with mental health illnesses that are doing well.,” said Kam.

““Even with a diagnosis of mental illness, people can still manage their disease and lead productive and successful lives.”

Katherine Kam, photo courtesy of  http://www.cartercenter.org/health/mental_health/archive/author/kam.html

Kam started out in law school before realizing that she didn’t want to be a lawyer. She went to Syracuse University for Journalism School, and then worked as a journalist until 1995 when she began mental health reporting.

“I believe there is always a mental health aspect in every story whether it’s a story about diabetes, heart disease, or any other physical problem. It’s something that affects people for their whole lives and I’ve always been drawn to this.”

Kam has been freelancing for WebMD since 2005 and spends a lot of her time reporting on mental health issues for the site. What she truly enjoys however is getting out into the field for her stories.

“I do a lot of interviewing by phone; talking with experts, professors, people,” stated Kam.

“With the fellowship I enjoyed getting out into the field more and doing the reporting in person, talking with students and families. Then I am transcribing, going through the writing process, documenting and fact checking.”

The embarrassment and intense feelings of isolation that many Asian Americans feel when it comes to depression or suicide is what struck Kam the most.

She thinks the best way for students to help recover from these illnesses is to find someone that they can trust and open up to them.

“The students felt so isolated and like they were alone and had no one to talk to. They tried to just hold it in or cover it up. My advice for any student is not to hold it all in, find someone you can trust and just open up to them.”

“There is no need to feel ashamed. Whether it’s a friend, school counselor, professor or pastor. Don’t keep it to yourself.”

Kam is a journalist whose understanding voice is able to bring a balanced and real depiction of what it is like to live with a mental illness within the American public sphere today.

“Mental health reporting is timely because so often, the media portrays people with mental illness as violent or dangerous or hopeless. In reality, the vast majority of mentally ill people are not violent.”

Find Katherine Kam’s three-part series on mental health in Asian American youth at the following links:

·       On Some College Campuses, a Focus on Asian American Mental Health

·       A Psychological Lifeline for Asian American Teens

·       Cultural Stigma Hurts Asian American Teens with Depression

Below are a few of Kam's must-read links and mental health resources for aspiring journalists:

• "The Center Cannot Hold," Ellen Saks' book about her life with schizophrenia. (Here's a write-u from TIME.) http://content.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1656592,00.html

• Carey's "Lives Restored" mental health series in the New York Times, here's one piece from the series that features Marsha Linehan, a therapist who has coincidentally has some Loyola ties:

 
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/23/health/23lives.html

• A resource on mental health journalism:

 
http://www.mentalhealthjournalism.org/

Written by: Shirley Coenen