Emmerdale wins Mind Media Award

Emmerdale has won an award for its portrayal of mental illness. The ITV show picked up the Mind Media Award 2012 for soap for Zak Dingle's depression storyline. Zak, played by Steve Halliwell, has often been a comic character in the soap, but this year he has suffered a mental breakdown and was admitted to hospital. He even lied to his family and said he had cancer as he struggled to come to terms with his own mental health problems. The Mind Media Awards commend the best portrayals and reporting of mental health in the media. The awards ceremony, hosted by Stephen Fry at the British Film Institute in London, were attended by stars including The Saturdays' Frankie Sandford, Denise Welch and Gok Wan. Other winners included Piers Morgan's Life Stories and Channel 4's Homeland, for it's portrayal of CIA agent and bipolar sufferer Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes).