MENTAL health campaigners have warned that lurid headlines linking Andreas Lubitz's actions with depression risks adding to the stigma of mental illness.

Claims that the co-pilot had received help for a "serious depressive episode" triggered a string of headlines including The Sun's "Madman in cockpit" and the Daily Mail's "Killer pilot suffered from depression." The Daily Mail's front page said "Suicide pilot had a long history of depression" and then asked: "Why on earth was he allowed to fly?"

But campaigners warn making such a link is "overly simplistic" and that pilots with experience of depression will have flown safely for decades.

Experts also point out that it could lead to pilots - and any other professionals - being less likely to be open about mental health issues amid fears it could affect their job.

Concerns were raised in a joint statement issued by the heads of three mental health charities: Sue Baker, director of Time to Change; Paul Farmer, chief executive of Mind; and Mark Winstanley, chief executive of Rethink Mental Illness.

It read: "The terrible loss of life in the Germanwings plane crash is tragic, and we send our deepest sympathies to the families. Whilst the full facts are still emerging, there has been widespread media reporting speculating about the link with the pilot's history of depression, which has been overly simplistic.

"Clearly assessment of all pilots' physical and mental health is entirely appropriate - but assumptions about risk shouldn't be made across the board for people with depression, or any other illness. "There will be pilots with experience of depression who have flown safely for decades and assessments should be made on a case by case basis."

The statement said the headlines risk adding to the stigma surrounding mental health problems, which "millions of people experience each year."

In an article published on The Conversation UK website, Nooreen Akhtar, research training fellow in the psychiatry research group at University of Aberdeen, pointed out that there had been no official confirmation that Lubitz suffered from depression or any other mental illness at the time the headlines had been written.

She said the source of the reports that Lubitz had been severely depressed during a brief interruption in his training was the German tabloid newspaper Bild, which were then widely assumed to be true.

She added: "Whether or not this turns out to be the case, The Sun already seems to be suggesting that Lubitz crashed the plane because he was a "madman".

"Does this mean we should worry that all people who suffer from mental illness are capable of such acts?

"Are people who have been depressed in the past unsafe to fly planes? Are they more likely to commit acts of terrorism? The awkward reality is that there is not necessarily any link between historic depression and a tragedy like this one."

Akhtar highlighted concern over other examples of the media using mental illness to reach "highly speculative conclusions". She said research carried out at the University of Aberdeen scrutinising the media portrayal of anti-depressants in UK newspapers between 2007 and 2010 found around a fifth of headlines referred to a crime story.

"It was hard to avoid the conclusion that the press were making associations between criminality and taking anti-depressant medication," she added.

Akhtar acknowledged that not all newspapers had speculated about the mental health of Lubitz, but raised concerns about the potential effects of the headlines which did.

"Will other airline pilots now fear for their jobs if they have been open about any prior struggles with low mood and depression? Will others now avoid seeking treatment?" she said. "The Germanwings tragedy is bad enough without this unnecessary collateral damage."