Have you ever watched a movie or show that depicted a group of people that you were not educated on and based your assumptions and beliefs on it? The media shapes people’s thoughts and opinions without them necessarily recognizing it. The media plays an integral role in informing and “educating” the public while shaping opinions and attitudes which can be harmful when the information presented is inaccurate. In the media, it is common to see unrealistic depictions of mental illness because it gets distorted and exaggerated for entertainment, fear, and drama.
For people who are not educated on mental illnesses, movie depictions can lead them to falsely associate behaviors to certain mental illnesses. In the text it states, “These portrayals are generally inaccurate in the implication that people with mental illness are typically violent or aggressive toward others.” (Gruman). For example, in movies like Friday the 13th and A Nightmare On Elm Street the audience sees the men escape from psychiatric hospitals before going on a violent and murderous spree. It suggests to the public that people who leave psychiatric hospitals are violent and dangerous to the society which invokes fear and distrust in people with mental illnesses. The inaccurate representations in the media lead to the idea that people with mental illnesses should be avoided and feared.
The media portrays the unrealistic treatment and management of a mental illness as well. My closest family member was diagnosed with Anxiety Disorder and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder four years ago and has since been on medication and goes to therapy to help with her intrusive thoughts that leads to her compulsive behavior and anxiety attacks. Medication and treatment does not “cure” mental illnesses but help treat and reduce symptoms. In the movie, Silver Linings Playbook the main character has Bipolar Disorder which seems to vanish by the happy feel good ending of the movie. While I believe that the movie is accurate in the portrayal of Bipolar Disorder symptoms, I think it falls short when it comes to the idea that a happy romantic relationship can cure a mental illness.
Mental illness in the media is not always accurate which is harmful because people who are not educated on mental illnesses gather false beliefs and assumptions. Mental illness should not be exaggerated or distorted for fear or entertainment. The stigmatization of mental illness in the media is dangerous because it portrays negative stereotypes and inaccurate representations.
References:
– Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (2017). Applied social psychology, 3rd Edition: Understanding and addressing social and practical problems. Los Angeles: SAGE.
Excellent post! I actually mentioned something similar in my last blog post, so I wanted to share some thoughts with you here. I definitely agree that the way the media portrays things is to entice, excite, or scare us. People are very vulnerable to this because they are trusting the news to give them objective information. However, for mental illness, what is portrayed on TV and movies is a mostly negative view.
You gave two great examples of violent movies where the villains are escaped mental patients. There are actually much worse portrayals of mental health care in what we watch. There are countless movies with a therapy scene where the patient is a crazy/violent person. This makes people grow up thinking getting therapy means you are crazy. I personally think therapy is beneficial for literally anyone – some may get more out of it than others, but everyone has something to gain. Also another thing I want to mention is that anxiety disorders and OCD are also highly exaggerated in movies. You typically don’t see someone in a movie with mild to moderate anxiety disorder – it’s either all or nothing.
I can completely agree with this post. The stigmatization of mental illness by the media often can lead to an overall misconception of the disorder/illness. The media often portrays the individual affected in a negative light, which can be harmful to the individual. The way movies paint veterans with PTSD are often harmful to the veteran community for two reasons. The first prevents other veterans from wanting to seek out and receive help because they don’t want others to feel that the portrayal is how they are going to be. The second being that they don’t want to be stigmatized and assumed that if they do have that disorder that the portrayal is how they are all the time. For example, I have PTSD from the military, and I am nothing like movies portray me to be. I am not dangerous, aggressive, or an alcoholic…I don’t even drink. I feel that if the media is to portray anyone that has a mental illness that they need to go about it in a correct and respectful way. An example of a good portrayal of mental illness in the media would be the show, The Good Doctor. They portray the main character as having autism, but do a great job to show some of the mannerisms that come with the disorder, but also show that individuals with this disorder can be independent. They portray the main character as independent, but also that people with autism can be whatever they want to be. He is a medical doctor, and is treated like everyone else. They also do a great job to show how some behaviors can be harder, but also show effective communication techniques. Overall they did a fantastic job portraying this disorder, and I feel that this has helped others to have a better understanding of the disorder and of those affected.
I thought this was a very thoughtful and important topic to discuss, and I am glad you touched on it. There is no doubt that mental illness is depicted prevalently in many forms of media such as television and movies. Often, these productions depict characters with exaggerated or blown out of proportion symptoms of common mental illnesses, and we are completely unaware we are being influenced in this way. I like how you tied in the notion that psychiatric patients escaping from mental hospitals is a commonality in a lot of horror films designed to instill fear in the public. As we can probably guess, this has significant implications for the way the public then views these populations.
I appreciate you sharing your experience with a family member diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. I believe this to be another illness that can be seen in media which portrays a stigmatized experience. You are exactly right that these inaccurate depictions lead members of the public to harbor false beliefs and inaccurate assumptions, which must be unbelievably difficult for these populations that already suffer with difficulties in everyday life.
This study I found, conducted by Parrott and Parrott, examined 65 randomly selected television episodes and 983 characters for stereotypes related to mental illness. They found that characters labeled as having mental illness demonstrated a greater likelihood of committing crimes and violence than the rest of the population of characters, which definitely perpetuates stereotypes. Additionally, they found that these people also had a greater chance of being victimized by crime, which is another stereotype. However, one silver lining of this research was that they found that a few counter-stereotypes also exist in television content. A small, but meaningful first step!
cott Parrott & Caroline T. Parrott (2015) Law & Disorder: The Portrayal of Mental Illness in U.S. Crime Dramas, Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 59:4, 640-657, DOI: 10.1080/08838151.2015.1093486