Shows like Jeremy Kyle should respect the privacy of those in crisis

Jeremy Kyle’s uncouth, aggressive, distasteful programme was an accident waiting to happen (Two more Jeremy Kyle guests took their lives after TV appearances, 20 May), but not entirely unprecedented. Some years ago, a patient of mine was admitted to A&E following a serious overdose (he survived). This occurred four weeks after he had undergone a crass, insensitive TV interview by a celebrity broadcaster which took place in the same A&E. I also worry whether participants in more responsible programmes, such as Louis Theroux’s recent visits to two perinatal psychiatry units, might later come to regret their involvement. There should be a presumption of privacy when people confront the most intense personal crises of their lives. The naivety and greed of broadcasters, the desire of some clinicians to be TV stars, and the marketing strategy of some NHS health trusts should not be allowed to obviate that presumption.
Michael Kopelman
Emeritus professor of neuropsychiatry, Epsom, Surrey

• There may be many reasons why people like to watch the Jeremy Kyle show but none as desperately sad as the one offered to me on an adolescent psychiatric unit by a teenager from a very troubled family background. “It makes me feel normal,” she said.
Peter Kaan
Exeter

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