Mental Disorders: Schizophrenia And The Media

The documentary series True Life aired their fourteenth episode on season … “I have schizophrenia.” In this episode three young adults, Joshua, Ben, and Amber, are followed through their daily routines recording how this illness affect their lives and how they manage to handle their mental illness. Each one of them experiences this illness different and that influences their decisions on medical care and the way they interactions others and the outside world. Society often sees people that suffer from schizophrenia as weird and crazy. It is common for society to want to separate them out from the rest of society by putting them in mental hospitals.

Although the stereotype towards the mentally ill is very current in society, it is not to say that all of the public agree with it. For example, there are many stereotypes of different ethnic groups but not everybody would agree with them. In contrast, prejudiced people will endorse these negative stereotypes, an example of this being that ‘those who are mentally ill are violent’, as a consequence this then

When my mom was first diagnosed with a mental illness, rumours and gossip spread quicker than wildfire. No one, not even my family and I, understood what was going on. All we saw was my mom acting like somebody else. “Crazy” became a word attached to her like a tail is attached to a dog. No matter who explained it or how many times it was explained many people could not see past their narrow views. It is common that people do not like what they do not understand. How can something be understood if it is not physical, not seen? There are many negative attitudes towards mental illness. It is misunderstood and is given less sympathy than a physical illness such as cancer. Often times when people are diagnosed with a mental illness they are automatically deemed crazy. We live in a time were normal is

Public perceptions of Schizophrenia are mostly negative. This is due to the public being judgemental and inconsiderate about they way the patience have to deal with the mental illness. Not knowing much about the illness, they assume negative and false information about it, therefore producing stereotypes and myths such as having split personalities or being dangerous and violent (Owen, 2007). Some evidence that there are negative perceptions of Schizophrenia is “In 1998, the Royal College of Psychiatrists commissioned the Office for National Statistics to carry out a national survey of public opinions about people with mental illnesses. Negative opinions were widespread, especially in relation to people with schizophrenia, who were widely regarded as unpredictable and dangerous (Crisp, Gelder, Goddard, & Meltzer, 2005). Negative attributes of Schizophrenia are being the focal point in the media (Crisp, Gelder, Goddard, & Meltzer, 2005).

Schizophrenia is something you should be informed about and its effect towards people.Have you ever seen how they react towards things if you seen the movie Split you would have an idea. This disorder is something you should be definitely be informed about and its effects towards people.However have seen how schizophrenic people react towards things if you seen the movie Split you would have an idea.This disorder is absolutely something that should be talked about because it’s something that could be very dangerous and anything could possibly provoke that person at any moment.Schizophrenia is a mental disorder and it affects many people around the world and it shouldn’t be neglected.This disorder is severe and affects people's lives every day it's definitely not a rare disorder, 2.4 million people suffer from it every year.Since now you have a idea of what I think is important about it and how the main points explain themselves.Going on to what exactly is schizophrenia it's a illness that could affect the mental and physical disorders,such as mental is all in the brain and thoughts they may have but might not speak them.Physical disorders are basically all

Schizophrenia in the media is often portrayed as violent, dangerous, and often homicidal (Owen, 2012). Individuals in movies such as Take Shelter, Shutter Island, and Mr. Brooks show an individual with schizophrenia as causing harm to themselves and others or engaging in paranormal activity, while mostly presenting positive symptoms. However, this representation is misleading and supporting stereotypes about schizophrenics. Persons with schizophrenia only make up one to two percent of the total people in the United States. Schizophrenia has been recognized since the 1800s, first labeled as dementia praecox by Emil Kraepelin; Kraepelin used the label because he believed the disorder was due to deterioration in the brain. However,

Schizophrenia in media portrayal is generally depicted as negative, and is not true, as most cases of schizophrenia are either partial truths, inaccurate or unrelated to it. These negative portrayals of schizophrenia in the media are usually exaggerated as a negative reinforcement of the myth that schizophrenics are unpredictable and dangerous.

“Anxiety is not rude. Schizophrenia is not fake. Mental disorders are not wrong” Mental illnesses are not something to be ashamed of. In today’s society, illnesses can be seen as weird or abnormal, but in reality, our bias truly stems that illusion. Schizophrenia, anxiety and other mental illnesses are underrated as illnesses and overrated as attention-seeking. People can be predisposed to mental illnesses if a blood relative has a illness, neglection as a child, excessive drug and alcohol use, and much more.

In 1968 the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) updated the definition of schizophrenia to include hostility, aggressiveness, and lack of acceptance of oneself. The next social, or cultural influence is that of stigma against mental illness in our daily lives. These attitudes play on decisions made in our lives that affect the larger world. In a recent poll released by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) finds misconceptions to be prominent by American society. “Slightly more than 70 percent of those surveyed would be afraid for their own safety around a person who has not received treatment for schizophrenia, and 21 percent would be afraid for their own safety around a person who had been treated for the disorder, according to the results” (American Psychiatric Association, 2011).

People who get affected with schizophrenia are still living on this planet. It is not the end for them as there so many people, organizations and structured communities who are ready to work with these individual’s day and night. It is very unfortunate that these particular people who are suffering from this mental illness and living their lives in such darkness. People are helpful to these people and do appreciate if someone like this comes up front to ask for help. The majority of schizophrenics feel scared to go outside in public and tell the truth because of the modern culture, a culture where some people do not appreciate or understand these terms and make fun of mental health people. Schizophrenics should be aware that society does not demoralize them but accepts them in a very positive manner. Professionals are trying their level best regarding helping these individuals by introducing new medications, new therapies which might help these people. It is a great way to provide support to these people and make their life a little easier a little better day by

People with mental illness are experiencing a lot of stigma and judgment from the society, they are judged for not being able to fit into their societal roles. Schizophrenia is one form of mental illness that is not as often researched or understood as other mental illness such as depression or anxiety disorder. Individuals that are diagnosed with schizophrenia in our society are dealing with a lot of prejudice and discrimination, which causes them to distant themselves from society. Stigma imposed by societal norms can affect the social identity of individuals with mental illness; this can be seen by the example of individuals with schizophrenia.

Psychological disorders are a very serious matter and everyone needs to be aware of them. Millions of people around the world are affected by these. These disorders could happen to anybody. Several people think it would never happen to them but it still does. They are not contagious and can’t be caught or given to someone else. Many people experiencing symptoms do not even realize they have a disorder. That is why awareness of them needs to be a top priority so these people can get the help they need. One of the most feared disorders is schizophrenia (Myers, 2014, 657).

Next is people with this are more than likely dangerous and become violent very easily. People with schizophrenia is unpredictable they are not violent. Also you will get this mental disorder if your parents have it. That’s is not even the case statistics show that you have a 10% chance of getting schizophrenia. Last but not least people assume because you have this disorder that you are not intelligent but research shows that yet they have trouble learning things like someone without they can be just as smart. When I looked up names I found that a noble peace

“The media’s the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that’s power. Because they control the minds of the masses.” -Malcolm X. It can be said without a doubt that media plays a massive role in how society views certain things. A negative media portrayal ultimately leads to negativity and stigma towards whichever group. One of the groups that is severely impacted by these dismissive representations is mental illness. The portrayal of mental illness in mass media as violent, amusing, or downright “nuts”, is inaccurate and vilifying, but can be resolved by the inclusion of mental health specialist in program planning.

A person with schizophrenia if left untreated, can have negative effects on a person's personality and cause the person to act irrational. Since the disorder effects neurological processing this could lead to a person with anti-social personality and little regards to a person's safety. These people cannot tell the difference between right and wrong even when you try to nurture such. While argument advancing what I mentioned above could be made valid, it does not change that most people are made by nurturing/social external factors. Those with such disorders can have great personalities because socialization with the right intent, can reverse the traits that are