Psycho-Killer Movie Analysis

Schizophrenia is an illness that affects an estimated 200,000 people a year. Often, people have scattered reactions when they hear the word “schizophrenia.” Some may associate this word with uncontrollable actions that could potentially cause harm to those around them. People may think of serial killers, rapists, or any form of negative archetype seen in the media. According to the DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), schizophrenia is diagnosed if the patient experiences delusions, hallucinations, and/or disorganized speech for more than a month. Delusions include but are not limited to the belief you are going to be harassed or harmed, belief environmental cues are directed at oneself, belief you are exceptionally famous or wealthy, belief everyone is in love with you, or conviction of a major catastrophe. It can only be classified as a delusion if the belief is firm and difficult to convince the patient otherwise. Hallucinations are perception-based without any external

influence that can manifest as auditory, tactile, and visual experiences. Some patients diagnosed with schizophrenia have reported hearing both familiar and unfamiliar voices and bugs crawling on or under their skin. All of these symptoms must last for a month or longer and impair the patient substantially. This brief explanation is simply skimming the surface of what schizophrenia really consists of. Moreover, schizophrenia as a whole is a complex mental illness that thousands of people cope with. Consequently, such a complex mental illness is going to have some form of negative stigma attached to it, but why does society have such a severe negative reaction to schizophrenia? The most complete answer to society’s severe negative reaction to schizophrenia is stigma from the media, public stereotypes, and self-stigma.
Media is an outlet for news, entertainment, and information. It is consumed by the masses at exponential rates, so it is only natural for the consumers to accept most of what they see as truth. Many times there are reports of serial killers or rapists pasted all over media. Often, news channels will assume the perpetrator has some form of mental illness, such as schizophrenia. Consequently, many people associate schizophrenia with a negative stereotype associated with violence because of what they view in media. One particular study reviewed 41 different films made between 1990 and 2010 with at least one main character that had schizophrenia. The study found “most characters engaged in dangerous or violent behaviors toward themselves or others, and nearly a third engaged in homicidal behavior” (Owen). Accordingly, the negative portrayals of those with schizophrenia in movies influences the stigma among the general public that schizophrenia is dangerous.
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