Effects Of Mass Media On Mental Disorders
opinionated Essay
3333 words
Malcolm X, a human rights activist, once said, “The media´s the most powerful entity on Earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and the guilty innocent, and that´s power. Because they control the minds of the masses.” Through numerous studies and considerable amount of research, it has become clear that the media has a significant effect on society and its perception. This applies to all topics, but mostly to issues that are difficult for the mass to experience for themselves. For example, our views of government and social institutions are largely based on the medium’s reports, not our own experiences. The subject of mental disorders is one that is particularly difficult for the mass to come across or experience directly. This makes the primary source of information on mental disorders the mass media’s depiction of it, and these depictions affect the media’s perception of the mentally ill and mental health practitioners. Unfortunately, the media does not always represent the subject of mental disorders in a positive light. There are copious amounts of examples that portray the mentally ill as violent and dangerous. These create negative misconceptions about mental disorders and cause discrimination and stigmatization of the people suffering from mental disorders along with the community that strives to help them. This essay will be discussing the consequences of the media’s depiction of mental disorders by highlighting how the mass media is the primary source of information to the public, observing how the media depicts mental disorders through examples and the effects of it, and emphasizing the negative consequences the portrayal of mental disorders in the media has to the mentally ill and mental health practit... ... middle of paper ... ...ill and mental health practitioners. The fact that mental illness’ are habitually belittled and lampooned corroborates with this notion. To some, this may not seem like a serious issue. However, it has been concluded that negative consensus that is formed through misconceptions and stereotypes created by inaccurate reporting and exaggerated portrayals can condone discrimination against the mentally ill and even affect the actions governments take to support communities that work to help the mentally ill. We, as a society, have the obligation to disseminate positive images of the mentally ill, and fight to portray them and mental health practitioners in a more optimistic light. It is important that the public is able to access accurate information on mental disorders more easily, and that they completely understand just how much they can do for the mentally ill.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that we live in a world that is constantly flashing and creating images. the main sources of information for the public are the mass media.
- Explains that mental illness is considered a taboo, and the media is the main source of information to the public.
- Opines that since mental illness is a topic that is not usually discussed, the source of information is the public.
- Opines that books, films, and tv shows influence the public perceptions of topics.
- Analyzes the danger of romanticizing mental illness by portraying the character with an aptitude for things to an abnormal degree.
- Opines that the common stereotype that all mentally ill people are vehement is a misconception forged from
- Explains that their work ethics are clear: respect confidentiality, patient needs, and patient safety first and foremost.
- Opines that less support for mentally ill affects social provision for individual rights. governments will create legislations permitting involuntary admissions to sanatoriums and treatments.
- Concludes that negative depiction of mental illness perpetuates negative reactions towards the mentally ill and mental health practitioners.
- Opines that the media has a significant effect on society and its perception. the primary source of information on mental disorders is the mass media's depiction of it.
- Defines mass media as'means of communication involving the transmission of information in any shape or form to a mass.'
- Explains how the media portrays the mentally ill and mental health practitioners play a substantial role in moulding the mass’ view.
- Opines that the majority of media coverages of mental illness are one-sided, trivializing and demeaning the people with mental disorders. the misuse of medical terms can have deplorable consequences.
- Explains that the organization used the medical term'schizophrenic' to describe a football match. the football commentators undermined the gravity of the illness and belittled it.
- Opines that the media's use of demeaning and victimising language has been an issue for the mental health community.
- Opines that hollywood dramatizes plots and character traits to keep the audience's attention. the film "the maniac cook" portrays a mentally ill character as homicidal.
- Analyzes how david o’russell’s ‘silver linings playbook’ was adapted into a film in 2012. the film portrays the mentally ill characters, pat with anger management issues and tiffany with bipolarity, as selfish and completely unreasonable.
- Analyzes how raymond, a character with autism, has the gift of being an ‘human calculator’, and an superb memory in the film ‘rain man’ and the bbc television drama series ‘sherlock’.
- Opines that the misuses of official medical terms trivialize mental illness, and the demeaning lingo used by journalists in news or magazine articles exacerbate stigmatization.
- Analyzes the negative effects of media's depiction of mental disorders, such as the portrayal of mentally ill characters as childish and irascible.
- Opines that the media's inaccurate depiction of mental disorders affects the mentally ill and mental health practitioners.
- Explains that media portrayal of mental disorders is negative, exaggerating the issues and damages caused by the mentally ill, and downplaying the magnitude of the illness.
- Explains that the media's depictions of mental disorders are not always negative and/or inaccurate. in 2001, rosie o'donnell and her guests, rosemary clooney and mary wallace, discussed the symptoms and difficulties of being clinically depressed.
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In this essay, the author
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- Explains salve, goswami, sagar, nongkynrih, & sreenivas, v. perception and attitude towards mental illness in an urban community in south delhi.
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- Explains that they used the opinion about mental illness for chinese community (omicc) scale to measure the level of stigma and stereotypes that existed within the community.
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- Explains the purpose of this peer reviewed article to validate the new scale, the stigma of suicide scale (soss), as a means of assessing the stigma present toward suicide.
- Explains that an invitation to participate in the study was sent to 2,700 staff and students at the australian national university in march 2010. quantitative data is gathered by the soss and a comparator scale, the suicide opinion questionnaire.
- Explains that three factors were found to be principal components with internal consistency of the soss; stigma, isolation/depression, and normalization/glorification. females were less stigmatizing toward suicide and more likely to believe suicide was a result of depression or isolation.
- Evaluates the strengths of the soss and sos-sf to assess the stigma toward people who suicide. moderate stigmatizing attitudes, such as "weak" or "selfish," were chosen by more than one in four participants.
- Explains that training practice nurses to improve the physical health of patients with severe mental illness: effects on beliefs and attitudes.
- Explains the purpose of the study, which was to educate practice nurses to improve the care provided for severe mentally ill patients.
- Analyzes how nurses were trained to modify nurses' misconceptions of smi and physical health. more practice nurses agreed that finding out their patients' views regarding their psychiatric medications was important.
- Opines that the questionnaires were repeated directly after training, so it is possible that participants would remember previous questions along with answers.
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1607 wordsRead More - What Is Mental Health As A Social Justice Issue?analytical essayIn today’s society, the stigma around mental health has caused many people to fear seeking medical treatment for problems they are dealing with. With an abundance of hateful outlooks and stereotypical labels such as: crazy, psycho, and dangerous, it is clear that people with a mental illness have a genuine reason to avoid pursuing medical treatments. Along with mental health stigma, psychiatric facilities that patients with a mental health issue attend in order to receive treatment obtain an excessive amount of unfavorable stereotypes.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how the stigma around mental health has caused many people to fear seeking medical treatment for problems they are dealing with.
- Analyzes how nathaniel morris challenges society's stigmatized views about psychiatric units by depicting his day-to-day experiences as a mental health provider.
- Analyzes how the article relates to the presentation by angela willits about mental health as a social justice issue.
- Explains that clinical social workers can greatly improve the lives of their clients who have a mental illness in micro, mezzo, and macro ways.
- Concludes that psychiatric units can be beneficial for many patients as long as we continue to improve them in uplifting ways.
- Analyzes how morris's article on psych wards helped them understand how basic stigmas around mental health affect a person on an individual level, and that they can affect treatment. the more society stigmatizes mental illness the more people fear receiving treatment when they truly need it.
1266 wordsRead More - The Role Of Mental Illness In The Mediaopinionated essayAs most topics of interest arise from the media, it only seems just that the media should immortalize “stigmatizing stereotypes” through “cinematic descriptions…characterized by misinformation”, thus deterring individuals from selecting such a dishonest life (Davey). That way, if anyone ever entertains the concept of a mental illness they will be turned off by the “violent or unpredictable” portrayals of dangerous lunatics with a mental illness and wisely decide not to subject themselves to an existence of dishonesty in the foreseeable future (Davey). Next, all credible men and woman in positions of power shall intimidate and discriminate against the mentally ill. Once people are “terrified to disclose their condition…for fear of professional punishment”, it will only be a matter of time before they come to their senses and leave their life of fabrications behind (Holmes). Hopefully, these two painless modifications will “transform their attitudes and behavior around mental health” and force these pitiful people to choose a life of honesty. Once the fallacies are obvious, it is my hope and vision that those feigning an illness will leave behind their victim-complex. After all, it is “the little things they can do to make a difference” in the life of the alleged ill
In this essay, the author
- Opines that in a world full of racism, sexism, and homophobia, mental illness appears to be the best coping mechanism.
- Narrates how they discovered that pretending to be mentally ill can lead to instability. those appalling feigners generate the callous labels on themselves, yet they possess the audacity to claim that they are treated less than satisfactory.
- Opines that mental illnesses are simply unfortunate souls desperately seeking attention in a world that pays no mind. young women are the true culprits of such an unbecoming fad in today's society.
- Opines that mental health is a joke and anxiety is laughable, since everyone experiences ups and downs, and only half of them take medication to combat the supposedly awful symptoms.
- Proposes an infallible method to awaken the well minds inside of these misguided souls, starting with the entertainment industry.
- Urges society to hold its ground and not allow these frauds to infiltrate our country.
- Concludes that the mentally ill are undeniably feigning a serious medical issue through logical thinking, but it is time to end the falsities that spring out of their thick skulls.
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In this essay, the author
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- Explains that other theorists suggest that familiarity with and exposure to mental illness is associated with improved attitudes towards the mentally ill.
- Explains that public perceptions regarding the dangerousness of individuals with mental illness have steadily increased between the 1950s and 1996.
- Explains that attitude influences stigma towards mental illness, and the severity of the symptom diagnosed leads to stigmatization. stigma is most striking when mental illnesses are perceived as severe combained with unfitting environmental responses.
- Explains that a research was conducted to assess the correlation between stigma levels and severity of depression.
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In this essay, the author
- Explains that discrimination affects not only the person who has mental illness, but also the mother of a person with mental health disorders.
- Explains that discrimination can be more of a problem in certain circumstances. bullying is common in schools, and kumpulainen, räsänen & puura concluded that mental health should be addressed.
- Explains how stigma and prejudices surrounding mental health disorders can have serious implications on a person's life.
- Explains that discrimination against people with mental illnesses may cause people to be less willing to seek treatment due to embarrassment or shame. corrigan (2004) suggests that stigma brings two kinds of harm: avoiding treatment and removing social opportunities.
- Explains that discrimination against people who are mentally ill is most prevalent among adolescents and young adults. further research has found that medical professionals could also be responsible.
- Opines that the media is causing discrimination to continue. the review suggests that many members of the public have inaccurate beliefs about the causes of mental health disorders.
- Explains that the media is one of the many creators of society's misconceptions. people may watch films about psychopathic serial killers or social rejects and use the information from these films to build their view of mental health disorders.
- Explains that wilson, nairn coverdale & panapa (2000) investigated how mental illness is portrayed in children's television. they found that 59 of the episodes contained at least one reference to mental illnesses.
- Argues that the media can be used to improve people's perspectives of mental health disorders. medvene and bridge (1990) showed participants an informative film about mental illnesses.
- Explains that attitudes have changed due to society realising that discrimination against those with mental health disorders is extremely wrong and that it has become a problem.
- Explains that research has been conducted using focus groups from across england. interviewers asked people using mental health services about their personal experiences with discrimination.
- Explains how pinfold et al aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the programmes in place in schools that challenge discrimination against people with mental health disorders.
- Explains that the use of mental asylums to separate people with mental illnesses from the rest of the world has changed society's views. new forms of drugs, including neuroleptics and antidepressants, have enabled treatment to be more successful and flexible.
- Explains that the disability discrimination act 1995 aims to remove any discrimination people with physical or mental disabilities may face.
- Opines that the stigma surrounding mental health disorders has not completely removed the problems that exist.
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In this essay, the author
- Explains that stigmatization can severely affect the overall quality of life of those labeled with a mental disorder. however, psychiatric treatment can combat the effects of stigma.
- Explains that there are two perspectives on the issue of whether or not receiving a psychiatric label has more negative outcomes than positive.
- Explains that a psychiatric label brings about stereotypes and stigma that can have detrimental effects on an individual's life.
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In this essay, the author
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- Explains that mental illness consists of "harmful behavior, unrealistic thoughts and perceptions, inappropriate emotions, [or] unpredictable behavior." psychotherapy helps the patient gain understanding and change their thinking, perspective, and way of living.
- Analyzes how szasz argues that mental illnesses affect the physical body, cells, tissues, and organs, whereas physical ailments should be treated medically.
- Explains that mental illness can be beneficial when used as a metaphor to avoid judgment and condemnation associated with behavioral problems. social disapproval can lead to uncompassionate and even inhumane treatment.
- Explains that they sympathize with szasz's basic argument. personality is simply a description of how people express themselves; it is not who they are.
- Opines that szasz's basic critique of the modern understanding of mental illness offers a helpful and necessary clarification toward understanding and treating medical and psychological dysfunction.
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In this essay, the author
- Explains that stereotypes about the mentally ill arise partly due to the lack of awareness in the general population regarding mental illnesses and their causes.
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In this essay, the author
- Opines that mental illness should be painted in a more realistic light that would help the public become better informed.
- Analyzes how the media portrays mental illness as a whole, noting that people are more often confronted with negative images than positive ones, such as in one flew over the cuckoo's nest.
- Explains that media stigmatizes people with mental illness and reduces their likelihood of seeking appropriate help. therapy or counseling should be a place where people feel comfortable and safe, not shamed.
- Argues that the media contributes to the stigma tied to mental health issues with the way they present their stories.
- Explains the potential implications of a balanced portrayal of mental health in the media, such as the ability to understand.
- Opines that mental illness is real and deserves to be understood. if the media continues to portray this community in a negative manner, there will be no change in the way the public views mental health.
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In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how the media persuades children to impersonate what they view on television. the wrestling federation and the high school boys' imitation is similar to a slippery slope.
- Explains that children are influenced by the media, but it is not them alone who imitate and follow what they see and hear on a daily basis.
- Explains how music and its lyrics have played an enormous role in shaping and molding american society's minds. marilyn manson and eminem have parents worried because they don't want their children exposed to such vulgar language.
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- Explains that the internet is an excellent resource for research, entertainment, and communication, but it also has many flaws.
- Explains that media images are disturbing and provocative, depending on the audience. television is the most powerful medium in the world, while movies, entertainment industry, and music industry are very powerful.
- Explains that the media is a part of everyday life in america. it is powerful and can influence one's mind and behavior.
2107 wordsRead More