Effects Of Mass Media On Mental Disorders

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...

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...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.