Mental Illnesses In The 1950s Essay

There are three things that can be used to define stigma: stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination (Corrigan 16). One type of stigma is called public-stigma, which is “the reaction the general population has to people with mental illness” (Corrigan 16). The media plays a large role in creating stereotypes and misconceptions. People tend to believe whatever they see on television, in movies, on the Internet, etc. Three of the common misconceptions created by the media are, “ people with mental illness are homicidal maniacs who need to be feared; they have childlike perceptions of the world that should be marveled; or they are responsible for their illness because they have weak character.” (Corrigan 29-32). These are traits most frequently used to describe those with mental illness and almost all of them are inaccurate. While, yes, there are people who do possess one or more of those traits, they are almost never seen out and about in daily life. The media has an unfortunate responsibility in properly portraying any sort of minority, but yet they still continue to misrepresent these groups. The only reason public-stigma really exists is because people are not fully educated on what it is actually like to have a mental illness. The media’s poor representation is all they know. If the media were to either stop misrepresenting mental illness victims, or portray them in a way that is

There was still a large lack of understanding that what caused mental illness the 1930’s, however people still wanted to treat mental illness so this brought more therapeutic ideas on how to cure it. In 1933, two neurologists at Yale Primate Laboratory, Dr. Fulton and Jacobson, performed experiments on two monkeys. They tested the intelligence of the monkeys before and after the removal of half the brains’ frontal lobes. They seemed to retain their skills and intelligence. Fulton and Jacobson wanted to take this a little further, they removed the other half of the frontal lobe. They discovered that the monkeys no longer became violent and frustrated when they didn't immediately get their treats after completing the intelligence test [9].

Soldiers of the American Civil War were overwhelmed by a time where weaponry and technological developments were thriving. This brutal war changed the soldiers, both mentally and physically, and continued to have an impact throughout their entire lives. There were not only many deaths during the war, but also prior to the war as many soldiers took their own life. They would experience disturbing thoughts and events in their mind that could not be explained until they became known as mental illnesses. The exploration of psychological disorders following the Civil War improved medical diagnostic tools and the way patients were treated which transformed the treatment of mental illness by creating new ways of discovering illnesses, treating patients, and developing the foundation for the future of psychology throughout America.

Mental illness becomes a bigger issue with a long lasting cultural stereotyped due to the manner in which it has long been labelled (Miles, 1988). Although mental illness is very much connected to instabilities in one’s mental health state, as previously mentioned, a person can be mentally healthy but still suffer from a mental illness. What is understood by mental illness is that it

When the phrase “mental illness” is spoken, the immediate thought that pops into the individual’s mind is the extremes such as Schizophrenia, or Bipolar Disorder. However, the majority of mental disorders fall into the spectrum of quite common disorders such as Depression, Anxiety, or Obsessive Compulsion Disorder (OCD). Why should the first thing that people think of be negative? What makes people think this way? Society has a negative view of mental illness because of media portrayal, the attitudes of individuals, and skepticism, and the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, makes a connection to these views of the world.

During the 1800s, treating individuals with psychological issues was a problematic and disturbing issue. Society didn’t understand mental illness very well, so the mentally ill individuals were sent to asylums primarily to get them off the streets. Patients in asylums were usually subjected to conditions that today we would consider horrific and inhumane due to the lack of knowledge on mental illnesses.

Mental illness is often wrongly portrayed in the United States’ media creating stigmatization and misrepresentation. Mental illness “refers to a wide range of mental disorders that affect your mood, thinking and behavior” (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2015). Examples of disorders include anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Any “negative attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors are called stigma” (Wilson et al., 2016, p. 2) and stigma can contribute to progression of mental illness because of its harmful effects due to misrepresentation in the media. In the recent years, the United States media has began to address the reprehension around the topic of mental illness, as it has began to develop into a rising problem in citizens across the nation. In the past, any portrayal of a figure or character with a mental disorder would be wrongly depicted, therefore, creating a distorted perception for the viewers (Stout et al., 2004, p. 1). Television shows have started to establish characters with mental illness in hopes to lessen the stigma behind ill characters due to the wrongful associations viewers may make. The way media viewers’ stereotype the mentally ill into categories can be harmful to the well being of those with disorders. Stereotypes can be so harmful that even medical professionals “contend that stigma is a major reason why one-fourth of the estimated 50 million Americans experiencing mental illness yearly will not seek

From 1861-1865 people had little idea about diseases let alone the mental illness aspect of the brain. People did not start to understand how bad people could get sick till the civil war era when they watched their men get sick in the field. Soldiers saw things that they could never forget. Soldiers were dying on the field because of sicknesses that people did not know about and didn’t know how to treat. Soldiers were also coming home to their family’s different because they had something wrong with them on a mental aspect that doctors knew nothing about.

Entering the taboo world of mental illness, stigmatized as the crazy and psychotic by decades of

Metzl and Kenneth T. MacLeish, we can see how these misconceptions are formed. In one passage of this article, it states that “mass shootings represent anecdotal distortions of, rather than representations of, the actions of ‘mentally ill’ people as aggregate group” (Metzl and Macleish pg. 877). Basically, these anecdotal accounts reported by the media do not represent the big picture of the gun violence going on in the country, and it is because of this great exaggeration based on specific events that skews the public’s perception of the mentally ill. Also, the media often makes a distinction between mild and severe mental illnesses, connecting the latter to unpredictability and lack of self-control (Metzl and Macleish pg. 878). But this connection is also called into question by mental health research when serious mental illnesses such as schizophrenia may actually reduce the risk of violence due to traits often associated with schizophrenia such as social isolation and withdrawal (Metzl and Macleish pg.

In America, one in five adults has a mental health condition, a staggering statistic. Appreciatively, recovery is the goal in the mental health centers of 2017. Nevertheless, in the 1950s, patients were provided with inhumane treatments such as lobotomies. Ken Kesey’s novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, provides an accurate portrayal of a psychiatric ward in the 1950s. The antagonist, Nurse Ratched, hopes her patients will not recover and manipulates them to gain authority. In contrast with the past, Nurses of the present day treat individuals with respect. Conduct towards mentally ill patients has changed since the 1950s in ways such as public attitude, medication, and

These views and treatments have changed, but not forgotten. The modern day stigma of mental illness is still portrayed as criminals, sickly, and uncontrollably violent and so the treatment is still true to being discriminatory. From diagnosing the mentally ill based on the beliefs of religion to scientific morals to modern day technology. Technology consisting of social media, fictional television, and news updates spreads the stigma of mental illness. In the history of mental illness, the views and methods of treatment have changed but the mentally ill are still stigmatized and they are still discriminated and neglected against.

“The media’s the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that’s power. Because they control the minds of the masses.” -Malcolm X. It can be said without a doubt that media plays a massive role in how society views certain things. A negative media portrayal ultimately leads to negativity and stigma towards whichever group. One of the groups that is severely impacted by these dismissive representations is mental illness. The portrayal of mental illness in mass media as violent, amusing, or downright “nuts”, is inaccurate and vilifying, but can be resolved by the inclusion of mental health specialist in program planning.

Common stigmas with mental illness include feeling as though you will somehow be threatened by the individual whose mind is not well. It is also thought that someone with mental illness may be obviously identifiable, such as someone who is unkempt, or does not exercise good hygiene. The media does its fair share of perpetuating and instilling these images that many of us have of someone who is mentally ill. Another stigma is that the person on the corner who may be talking or mumbling to himself and is wearing torn, tattered, and dirty clothing must be a drug addict and couldn’t possibly be very intelligent. We do not stop to think that his mind may be in the process of being tortured by voices and magnified sounds.

With the ongoing advance in technology today, it is no surprise that the media is becoming an even greater source in acquiring and sharing information. But exactly how accurate are these reported information? As mentioned in Otto Wahl’s, Media Madness: Public Images of Mental Illness, Americans tend to retrieve most their knowledge about mental illness through the mass media (Wahl 3). When it comes to mental illness, it is safe to say that much of society views the mentally ill as deviants who are capricious and potentially dangerous. Or at least, that is how they are sometimes portrayed in movies, books, music, magazines, etc. Those who are knowledgeable about the severity and seriousness of mental illnesses often view the