Mental
Illness and the Media
Semester Research
Project - Spring, 2002
America has
dealt with mental illness and the people affected by it with curiosity and fear over the
years. We are obsessed with the mentally ill
population, this is reflected in the fact that one out of every ten movies has a mentally
ill character (Wahl 5). “Two hundred
years ago the people of Philadelphia paid an admission fee to enter the local mental
hospital and watch the patients. Have we in
the 20th century really come very far? Audiences
today are still entertained by watching patients, even though the watching takes place in
the movie theater or before the television screen,” (Gabbard 1047). The viewing of actual patients strikes us as a
terrible violation of human rights, but we are still allowing the media to dehumanize and
animalize people who struggle with mental illnesses.
As the scientific world has made clear in the past decades, mental
illness is an illness, yet we allow the media to continue to portray people with mental
illnesses in negative and stereotypical ways that are far from accurate. The media has exercised a profound influence on
our perception of people with psychological disorders and this influence has promoted
unhealthy stigmas and stereotypes against a population ill equipped to defend themselves.
This thesis
relies heavily on the belief that media does exercise influence over it’s viewer’s
opinions and perceptions. This belief has
been debated since the onset of popular culture. Popular
culture is a relatively new phenomenon that is still being studied. The onset of popular culture is hard to pinpoint,
but it is largely connected with the development of mass media. America has become culturally assimilated as we
have adopted the same tastes, styles, and trends, largely due to movies, television, and
music. We went from a regional country to one
large country with a clearly defined American culture.
In this process questions have arisen as to how much power the mass
media actually exerts in America. Few can
deny the influence that media has had on our society, but many do still argue the extent
of the media’s influence. How great is
the media’s influence? Is the media
shaping people’s lives, identities, and choices?
As one article states, “The media’s power to affect
perception and action has been a focus of continued interest,” this article goes on
to state, “media images insidiously work their way into the collective unconscious of
society and influence the way we all regard the world around us,” (Gabbard
1044-1047). However, there is large
debate over whether the media reflects or shapes people’s opinions and choices,
“it is hard to tell who is responsible; whether the media reflects or creates public
opinion. But, ‘The media can't do overt racial stereotypes anymore. They should not
be discriminating against people with mental illness, either,’” (Haas).
Regardless of the extent to which the media influences public opinion, there is little
argument against the fact that the media does perpetuate beliefs and has shaped views of
psychological disorders. As one journalist
has put it, “the relentless framing of mental illness in the context of violence, and
criminality, is amplifying, sustaining, and legitimizing a largely false picture of mental
ill-health,” (Smellie). Many mental
health professionals and victims of mental illnesses are beginning to fight these false
beliefs. They have identified, “the
existence of stereotypes that have been presented frequently enough that many people
accept them without question,” (Gabbard, 1047).
As these stereotypes have been identified, campaigns have been launched to
combat them with education and accurate information.
This problem is more severe than a mere perpetuation of
discrimination and false beliefs about and towards a class of people. It affects the treatment and daily lives of people
struggling with mental illnesses, as well as the lives of their family and friends. “Some
fear that the public buys into the misleading images of the media leading to a lack of
available housing, mental health services, and increasing negative public attitudes that
are damaging to a client's recovery” (Haas). These
consequences are affecting people’s lives and their recovery from these debilitating
illnesses.
Media clearly does exercise some amount of influence on
the public’s views in general, and the evidence for this influence on the public’s
view of the mentally ill is overwhelming. As
stated earlier, one in ten movies deal with mental illness and, “according to other
research on the representation of disability in movies, mental disorder has been the most
commonly depicted disability in feature films,” (Wahl 3-4). The media has found a
subject that fascinates Americans and therefore sells.
Unfortunately media’s depictions of people struggling with mental
illnesses are rarely accurate. There is
great danger in this misrepresentation. “Americans
themselves identify mass media as the source from which they get most of their knowledge
of mental illness,” (Wahl 3). As
prevalent as depictions of the mentally ill are in feature films, it is even more
available through television. As argued in an
article from Hospital and Community Psychiatry, “Our premise is that mental
patients have generally been portrayed in stereotypical ways in movies and televised films
and that these stereotypes have an important and underestimated negative effect on the
public’s perception of people with mental disorders,” (Gabbard 1044).
In order to identify the falsehoods conveyed through
movies and television regarding mental illness there must first be an understanding of the
facts regarding mental illness. As a
society we have begun to mature in our attitudes towards people with mental illnesses,
largely due to education and the work of advocacy groups to spread accurate information. The treatment of people suffering from
psychological disorders has come along way according to psychologist David G. Myers:
“…. we have treated psychological disorders with a
bewildering variety of methods, harsh and gentle: by cutting holes in the head and by
giving warm baths and massages; by restraining, bleeding, or “beating the devil”
out of people; by placing them in sunny, serene environments; by administering drugs and
electric shocks; and by talking-talking about childhood experiences, about current
feelings, about maladaptive thoughts and behaviors” (Myers 567).
“Wahl, who also is a professor of psychology at
George Mason University and an expert on mental illness and the media says, ‘As a society we have become more accepting
of the idea that these are disorders rather than character weakness but, there's still a
lot of ignorance and negative feelings. Between 30 percent and 40 percent erroneously
believe that people with mental illnesses are more likely to be violent and dangerous.’”
(Haas). Mental illness is a disease. As defined by the National Alliance for the
Mentally Ill (NAMI), “Mental illnesses are disorders of the
brain that disrupt a person's thinking, feeling, moods, and ability to relate to others.
Just as diabetes is a disorder of the pancreas, mental illnesses are brain disorders that
often result in a diminished capacity for coping with the ordinary demands of life,”
(National). Like any other illness,
mental illnesses require medical evaluation, treatment, and care. Due to scientific advancements we are learning
that many mental illnesses are physical in nature. As
we continue to better understand these illnesses there is hope that the public will be
more accepting of the victims of these illnesses.
The
stereotypes and stigmas that exist and are perpetuated by the media take many forms. Each of these forms has many examples in a
variety of media. Each of these stereotypes
will be discussed as well as the consequences that follow the promotion of these
stereotypes. These stereotypes and the
stigmas they create are very harmful not only to the people who have a mental illness, but
to the general public as well.
The Portrayal of People With Mental
Illnesses as Violent or Homicidal
One of the most prevalent stereotypes
is the mentally ill person as a violent person. Research
does not support this view of psychiatric patients. “The reality is that most mentally ill people are not violent or
dangerous. One of the largest studies ever undertaken into links between mental illness
and violence finds no significant correlation unless the mentally ill person is also
abusing drugs or alcohol. This finding should come as no surprise, since the same is true
of substance abusers who are not mentally ill,” (Smellie). This stereotype can be seen in the Psycho films,
Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal, Friday the 13th, and the Nightmare on Elm
Street to name a few feature films. This does
not even begin to touch on the prevalence of the homicidal or violent mentally ill
characterization on made for television movies and television series. “Television researcher George Gerbner (1985)
reported that 1 in 5 prime-time and daytime programs depicts a psychologically disorder
person, and 7 in 10 of such programs portray this character as violent or criminal,”
(Myers 536).
Two very recent films
reflect this tendency to glamorize mental illness as a side effect of brilliance. These two films are Shine and A
Beautiful Mind. In both of these films
the main character is a genius of some sort who struggles with mental illness. The particular mental illness dealt with in these
films is schizophrenia.
Shine depicts the life of one
of the most brilliant piano players in history, David Helgoft . The film is fairly accurate and focuses more on
the main character’s career than on his battle with mental illness. This film does portray the character’s
humanness and allows the audience someone to sympathize with, David Helgoft. Due to the film’s vague approach to David
Helgoft’s mental illness, many questions go unanswered and mental illness remains
mysterious. This maintaining of the mystery
may have been good for the movie, but it does keep the audience in the dark as far as what
the character was really dealing with when he struggled with his disease (Shine).
A Beautiful Mind is
another feature film that portrays an exceptionally talented individual who struggles with
schizophrenia. This movie follows the life of
Nobel Prize winner John Nash through college to maturity.
This movie has been considered a breakthrough for Hollywood and psychology. The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill
(National) has been particularly supportive:
Xavier Amador, Ph.D., Director of NAMI's Center on
Education, Research & Practice said: "The experience of having schizophrenia is
nearly impossible for the average person to grasp. Understanding what is it like to
believe that something is happening to you, when in fact it is not, is nearly impossible
unless you personally know someone with this brain disorder. But not any more. This film
takes you inside the mind of someone battling to separate reality from delusion. This is
no small feat. The positive impact of A Beautiful
Mind for people with severe and persistent brain disorders, and for society as a
whole, will go far beyond what the filmmakers could ever have imagined” (National).
Though there is creative license taken by Hollywood as it
retells the story of John Nash’s life, the movie does humanize John Nash and
therefore humanizes people who suffer from schizophrenia.
There is little to criticize in A
Beautiful Mind’s very accurate portrayal of a person struggling with mental
illness (A Beautiful).
Two other movies that are
centered on a mentally ill person that is an enlightened member of society are the 1966
film A Fine Madness and the 1968 film King of Hearts.
Both of these films, like Shine
and A Beautiful Mind, reflect the stereotype
that mentally ill people are really brilliant people.
This can also be seen in Patch
Adams where Patch meets a brilliant and famous author in the insane asylum. The danger of perpetuating this stereotype is that
it glorifies mental illness and further contributes to the belief that mental illness is
not an illness at all. The fact that mentally
ill people have a disabling disease is obscured. The
two more recent of the films, Shine and A Beautiful Mind, did provide a more accurate
portrayal of the disabling aspects of mental illness than have most movies in the past. These movies should be applauded for their
accuracy, a rare exhibit of fact telling not often seen in Hollywood. Although accurate, these movies still slightly
glorified mental illness as a mere side effect of brilliance.
There are many other stereotypes that are prevalent in
the media. Some include: the narcissistic
parasite as in the 1983 Lovesick, and 1977’s
High Anxiety; another stereotype is the female
patient as seductress as in 1945’s Spellbound,
1964’s Lilith, and 1980’s Dressed to Kill; and even worse, the mentally ill
patient as a zoo specimen as in the 1946 film Bedlam
and the 1983 film Zelig (Gabbard 1045-47) .
These stereotypes are dangerous and detrimental, "The last thing America needs is any
more stereotyped portrayals of persons with mental illness," said NAMI Executive
Director Laurie Flynn. "Stereotypes promote stigma, and stigma prevents people from
seeking treatment. Lack of treatment ends tragically in broken lives or suicide,”
(Haas). The U.S. Surgeon General has even
warned Hollywood to stop in their insensitive portrayal of victims of mental illness. NAMI
reports, “The U.S. Surgeon General last year called on the
entertainment industry to help eliminate the stigma traditionally associated with mental
illness in popular culture-one of the key barriers that discourage people from getting
help when they need it” (National).
Humans have come up with
many explanations for mental illness throughout our history. We continue to explore the secrets of the mind and
indulge our palate for speculation about mental illnesses as a society, and media has
helped feed this desire. As one psychologist
put it, “People are fascinated by the exceptional, the unusual, the abnormal. “The
sun shines and warms and lights us and we have no curiosity to know why this is so,”
observed Ralph Waldo Emerson, “but we ask the reason of all evil, of pain, and
hunger, and [unusual] people.”” (Myers 531).
We pride ourselves on being a scientific society with beliefs based on
proven facts. There seems to be a paradox in
our acceptance of misrepresentation and superstition regarding mental illness. Why does our culture not apply the same scientific
sensibility to people struggling with diseases of the mind?
We continue to overlook the inaccurate information and portrayals that we
are bombarded with everyday through mass media regarding mental illness. Many have wondered why we are so complacent about
this trend. Even more unsettling is why we
seem to support this trend with our money and silence.
There are many explanations.
One explanation is a need
on the public’s part to dissociate mental illness from everyday life. By sensationalizing mental illness, it seems
unreal and farther away. The truth is that
mental illness is not far away from the average American’s existence. Consider these statistics (Cohen):
v
One in four American
families has a member with a mental illness.
v
One in five adults and
young people has a diagnosable mental disorder.
v Every year, more than 17
million Americans suffer from clinical depression.
v Twenty million experience
phobias, 4 million have obsessive compulsive disorder, more than 2 million have panic
disorder. Two million suffer from bipolar disorders.
These statistics reflect
the reality that mental illness is something that nearly every American will be touched
by, either personally or through family and friends (Cohen). Mental illness has no boundaries; it affects
young and old, rich and poor, male and female. We
fear mental illness and want to keep it as unreal and far away as possible. At the same time we are fascinated by it. We as Americans are intrigued, so we watch, as
long as what we are watching feels far enough away not to be threatening our own lives.
This fear of psychological
disorders also makes us more accepting of dehumanizing portrayals of people struggling
with mental illness. By dehumanizing victims
of mental illnesses, we separate them from ourselves.
If mental illness is not an illness, if its victims are not normal people,
then we don’t need to be afraid. The
public is afraid and does not want to see the media portray the reality that mental
illness is an illness and it’s victims are normal, everyday people. This fear explains why we are accepting of the
stereotypes and stigmas continually perpetuated by our mass media sources.
Ironically the strongest ally in the fight against inaccurate
portrayal of mental illness is the media themselves.
The media is a valuable tool for unleashing information. Since the American public already accepts mass
media as their mains source of information about psychiatric disorders, the mass media is
the obvious choice for spreading accurate facts and portrayals of mentally ill characters. These are good aspects
of the media presenting mental illness so frequently to the general public. In Otto Wahl’s book Media Madness he explains:
The fact that
mental health themes and information are so prevalent in mass media, it should be noted,
could be a very positive circumstance. Mental
health advocates have long been concerned that mental illness has been “kept in the
closet.” Much as cancer used to be. It
was something people did not talk about and even mass media sometimes considered the topic
too frightening or too depressing to present. Advocates
still argue that public knowledge about mental illness needs to be increased and that
discussion and depictions in the mass media are important means to that end. That information about mental illness is available
in so many different and easily accessible sources seems in line with mental health goals.
(Wahl 12)
By no means
should the media cease presenting mental illness to the public. This is very healthy and it is important for the
general public to be aware of these disorders and their impact on society. Since the media is serving such a vital role in
spreading the word about mental illnesses, it is equally vital that the media portray
these stories accurately. Along with the
great honor of educating the general public and shaping the views of society comes a
responsibility to be true to reality of the topics the media presents. An article in Nurseweek explains:
“More
public education is needed to raise awareness about damaging or insulting terms the media
use to describe those with mental illnesses," said Pam Gaurke, RN, a board member of
the American Psychiatric Nurses Association and a long-term care nurse with the Sheboygan
County Comprehensive Health Center in Sheboygan Falls, Wis. "Some [portrayals] are
accurate, some are OK, and some are just off the wall” (Matisoff-Li).
Another
valuable tool in humanizing mental illness is more and more public figures speaking about
their struggles with psychiatric disorders. A
Psychology textbook explains this recent phenomenon, “More and more public figures
are feeling free to “come out” and speak with candor about their struggles with
disorders such as depression. And, the more
often people have contact with mental health patients, the more accepting their attitudes
are,” (Myers 536). These open and honest
voices combat the myths and stigmas about mental illness that have been carried through
the ages.
The media
exercises a profound influence over society’s attitudes and actions. This is evident in the portrayals of people with
mental illnesses and the resulting stereotypes and stigmas.
These stereotypes take many forms, but all of them are harmful. The media has an opportunity to educate the
public, but has irresponsibly perpetuated detrimental stigmas. The media has slowly matured in its approach to
mental illness and there is hope that in the future the media will be more sensitive in
its portrayal of people struggling with psychiatric disorders. Through the work of advocacy groups like NAMI and
the growing awareness of the reality of mental illnesses, stereotypes can be combated with
the truth.
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