Mental Illness In The Media Essay

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For almost as long as mass media has been around mental illness has been a topic of discussion. With it either being discussed positively or negatively, multiple questions are being raised. Is the way Mental Illness portrayed accurate? Does the media show an inordinate amount of positivity and support to those who have them? Is Mental Illness a topic being stigmatized? From what my research has gathered these questions have been thoroughly examined and quite a few studies have been conducted in order to find the truth. One way of thinking about this debate is that the way mental illness is depicted does not need to be 100% accurate because entertainment media makes shows to pull in ratings, not to be a completely reliable source. Another way …show more content…

One of the arguments for this side is that the media often twists and bends the truth of how those who suffer from mental illness lead their lives. This is often seen in entertainment media such as movies and T.V. shows. An aspect of this was researched by Forensic Psychology Professor Scott Parrott and Assistant Professor Caroline Parrott. They conducted research through seasons of Law and Order, a show which mental illness is significant trait in many of the characters. They had a randomly selected amount of episodes judged of their mental illness content: the amount of mental illness in the show, typical personalities of those with mental illness, etc. What they found was that “Most characters were White, with Caucasians representing about 75% of the sample”. With race, they also found that characters with mental illness were more likely to be perpetrators of crime (60% compared to 19% among the general population)” The show also apparently depicts the social and financial standing of those with mental illness as poor, with “32% [coming] from a low socioeconomic status”, and most of these folks working lower blue-collar jobs such as bartenders and mechanics (Parrott, 649-651). People who argue this side of the debate point out that shows such as Law and Order and movies related often

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