Mental Illness And The Media

Think back to the last media you consumed. It may have been a television program, film, or news broadcast. Whatever it may be, you have been changed, in some degree, because of your exposure to it. Your opinions, behaviors, and/or attitude have been affected, either positively or negatively. It is even more common for you to learn from the media you consume, especially if that is how you receive most of your information.
The media is a great tool for teaching the public. However, this tool can be misused. The information you receive may be inaccurate, exaggerated, stereotypical and biased. Hollywood and the news media both have a significant part to play in feeding off of the general audience’s ignorance. This holds true for how the majority
If the brain is a physical organ of the body and a chemical reaction (blood and fluids) also of the physical anatomy, then wouldn’t it all be considered physiological? “Physical” can be seen and felt and is relatively simple to explain. Meanwhile, “mental” is thought of as theoretical, which cannot be seen or felt and is therefore, more complicated and difficult to explain.
Mental illness is thus subject to scrutiny and abuse which causes the patient to delay pursuit of help. On the contrary, Abraham Low saw mental illness as a physiological condition and developed a mental health management training method in addition to offering medical treatment. As a patient and veteran Group Leader for Recovery International I have come across many patients including myself, who because of lack of education or ignorance made getting well more difficult than needed to
Resisting the professional’s advice initiates the long and arduous road for the patient. Patients often make decisions sorely on what they feel they need, not what an educated professional tells them. Their refusal to take medication simply because, “It’s a drug and drugs do harm” or if on medication, they don’t take seriously what is prescribed. Given therapy, they frequently sabotage simply because they disagree or believe they know better. Then, there is the other extreme: patients who make a ritual of changing doctors but continue to believe “they don’t understand me,” or “who knows my body better than I do?”
This self-sabotage may lead to many years of needless pain and suffering. And that is why I chose to write about, “Commencement of mental health education programs in schools” and follow up with refresher courses in later years. By doing so, it would not only help the patient or future patient, but would also assist the general public in having a better understanding of the illness and reduce the amount of stigma to a