Mental Illness: Media Analysis
Mental health issues are one of the most misunderstood health crises facing the population in this current day (Procter et. Al eds 2014). One of the main causes as to why people are not seeking and therefore finding the help they so desperately need is due to the negative stigma attached to mental illness (Pescosolido 2013). There are many organisations now trying to “break the stigma” surrounding mental health and some of the ways they are doing this is through public education, first-hand sufferers speaking out and by trying to make the community understand and have compassion for those suffering (Procter et. Al eds 2014). One of the organisations that use these techniques is called SANE Australia (2017). SANE Australia is a company, who
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Most people who have minimal knowledge of mental illness can only go off how the media represents it. When the media portrays mental health in a negative way (as it often does) it is conveyed throughout the public attitude and in turn only rises the amount of negative stigma surrounding mental illness (Corrigan, Powell & Michaels 2013). One of the major myths shown in the media surrounding mental health is that it makes you violent towards others (Economou et. Al 2012). Reavley, Jorm & Morgan (2016) conducted a study about the link between the media and the associated dangerousness of people with mental health problems. The study concluded that ‘knowing someone with a mental health problem and having a higher level of education on mental health problems were associated with having less of a belief that the mentally ill are dangerous’ (Reavley, Jorm & Morgan 2016). Due to the negative stigma in the media surrounding mental illness, fewer people speak out about their disease and therefore the general public has less exposure to it, creating negative stigma surrounding it (Pescosolido 2013). This is why SANE Australia have a program called StigmaWatch, which is supported by the Australian Government’s program, Mindframe (Hunter Institute of Health 2012). Mindframe works to endorse a truthful representation of mental illness in the media by using the public’s judgement of what is a discriminatory view of mental health and reporting it. In this day and age where the media is so highly sought after for information, initiatives like Mindframe are necessary to help guide the correct material to the general
Most people who have minimal knowledge of mental illness can only go off how the media represents it. When the media portrays mental health in a negative way (as it often does) it is conveyed throughout the public attitude and in turn only rises the amount of negative stigma surrounding mental illness (Corrigan, Powell & Michaels 2013). One of the major myths shown in the media surrounding mental health is that it makes you violent towards others (Economou et. Al 2012). Reavley, Jorm & Morgan (2016) conducted a study about the link between the media and the associated dangerousness of people with mental health problems. The study concluded that ‘knowing someone with a mental health problem and having a higher level of education on mental health problems were associated with having less of a belief that the mentally ill are dangerous’ (Reavley, Jorm & Morgan 2016). Due to the negative stigma in the media surrounding mental illness, fewer people speak out about their disease and therefore the general public has less exposure to it, creating negative stigma surrounding it (Pescosolido 2013). This is why SANE Australia have a program called StigmaWatch, which is supported by the Australian Government’s program, Mindframe (Hunter Institute of Health 2012). Mindframe works to endorse a truthful representation of mental illness in the media by using the public’s judgement of what is a discriminatory view of mental health and reporting it. In this day and age where the media is so highly sought after for information, initiatives like Mindframe are necessary to help guide the correct material to the general