Selective mutism is sometimes featured in the media in English-speaking countries. For example, in America, the big three networks (ABC, CBS, NBC) all have featured selective mutism. In the UK, Channel 4 has featured selective mutism. In addition to the TV media, newspapers (e.g. The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Times, The Guardian, etc.) and magazines (e.g. TIME, People, etc.) also have featured the anxiety disorder.
But when it comes to the Japanese media, I seldom heard such things. As far as I know, Yomiuri Shimbun, the largest newspaper circulation in the world, featured selective mutism in 1986 and 1988. In 1988 NHK, Japan's national public broadcasting organization, also featured it. Major Japanese media featured selective mutism in the late 80's, because Minoru Yamamoto, a professor at Yamagata University, published books about selective mutism then. But except for that period, the term "selective mutism (Bamen Kanmoku in Japanese)" rarely appeared in the Japanese media.
Recently however, local editions of Japanese major newspapers featured selective mutism. The Asahi Shimbun (2008), The Mainichi Shimbun (2009) and The Chunichi Shimbun (2009) featured selective mutism. In every case Knet, a Japanese selective mutism support group established in 2007, was involved. In addition to that, The Chugoku Shimbun (October 7th 2009) featured selective mutism in response to a request from a former sufferer of selective mutism. And The Asahi Shimbun (2007) printed a contribution from a reader who appealed for help to children with selective mutism.
There seem to be a growing consciousness among Japanese people involved in selective mutism that awareness of selective mutism should be raised, so they encourage the media to feature the anxiety disorder.
Index of SM in Japan
