Mentally Ill Stereotypes

Ever since the concept of mental illness became more mainstream, it has become a widely controversial topic. Based on what has been seen in society, people who are involved with mental disorders are often dehumanized in some way.

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

People with mental health issues have been viewed and treated in a variety of ways within western society throughout time. Historically if an individual displayed behaviours which disrupted their function in society and defied social norms they were viewed as lunatics, insane or even cursed (Cowan, 2008; Elder & Evans & Nizette, 2009). It is from these past issues that many people still have unreasonable thoughts about mental illness; their misconceptions have created unreasonable fears and negative attitudes toward those who experience it. This negativity brings for many the barriers of not only

There are many stereotypes regarding those with intellectual disabilities. This may be because these individuals range in cognitive ability, receptive and expressive language, and physical need. While it may be assumed that those with disabilities are not able to process the world around them, they are not immune to mental health disorders and the, sometimes tragic, events that take place throughout a lifetime. Someone without an intellectual disability may find solace in a friend, partner, or family member. If the event is impactful enough, they may even turn to a mental health professional that is trained to help those going through a tough time. Unfortunately, individuals with disabilities do not always have that same network of support.

Or they see them as violent and aggressive, but the truth is a person with mental health problems is more likely to be harmed or to harm themselves than someone else. The only reason a mentally ill person is violent or aggressive is from the lack of treatment and care. According to Mental Health Foundation, “People with mental health problems say that the social stigma attached to mental ill health and the discrimination they experience makes their difficulties worse and make it harder to recover.” People with a mental health problem have to battle their condition everyday on two ends. Frist they have to deal with their mental illness itself. Then they have to learn how to live with it in a world filled with stigma and discrimination. Society doesn’t understand that the mentally ill are not their mental illness. They are human beings first, they have likes, dislikes, hobbies, skills, fears, dreams and passions just like we do. As I mentioned before Liza Long, the author of the article “I am Adam Lanza’s Mother”, has a son with a mental health problem, but he is also a “13-year old genius who loves Harry Potter and his snuggle animal collection.” Many people with mental health problems have jobs, family, school, friends, pets, businesses and responsibilities like we do. A number of people with a mental health condition learn how to cope with

Although the stereotype towards the mentally ill is very current in society, it is not to say that all of the public agree with it. For example, there are many stereotypes of different ethnic groups but not everybody would agree with them. In contrast, prejudiced people will endorse these negative stereotypes, an example of this being that ‘those who are mentally ill are violent’, as a consequence this then

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

Attitudes toward the mentally ill started to change in the 60’s and 70’s from both the communities and professionals. The two began to recognize that the mentally ill had rights to live an independent life style like that of ordinary citizens. Before this, people with mental illness or developing disabilities had been institutionalized, giving strong medications, sedated and isolated from the rest of society. Living amongst the community, they receive their medication as well as interact with the general public. In addition, they also interact with security personnel and law enforcement officers, and all too frequently with unfortunate consequences. (Russell, 2012).

Schizophrenia is a severe mental illness that usually shows up in adolescence or young adulthood but can be seen in children as young as eight years old. It is a long term mental disorder characterized by a faulty perception of reality, inappropriate actions and feelings, withdrawal from relationships into fantasy and delusion, and a sense of mental fragmentation. It typically involves the breakdown of a person’s relationship between thought, emotion, and behavior. Currently, there are five subtypes of schizophrenia included in the DSM-5; paranoid, disorganized, catatonic, undifferentiated, and residual. Each subtype is characterized by their most prominent symptom. For instance, paranoid schizophrenia is a subtype in which a person experiences

When my mom was first diagnosed with a mental illness, rumours and gossip spread quicker than wildfire. No one, not even my family and I, understood what was going on. All we saw was my mom acting like somebody else. “Crazy” became a word attached to her like a tail is attached to a dog. No matter who explained it or how many times it was explained many people could not see past their narrow views. It is common that people do not like what they do not understand. How can something be understood if it is not physical, not seen? There are many negative attitudes towards mental illness. It is misunderstood and is given less sympathy than a physical illness such as cancer. Often times when people are diagnosed with a mental illness they are automatically deemed crazy. We live in a time were normal is

Walking into “Briarcliff Manor”, the psychiatric hospital in American Horror Story: Asylum, immediately you hear patients screaming in your ear, the smell of rust from the chains staff use to restrain them, you can feel the tension between the staff and the patients and if you go into the day room you see people banging their heads on the wall, staring into space, fidgeting endlessly, or talking to someone who isn’t there. Patients are held in cell-like rooms with only a little-barred window and a small opening that staff can slide their food through. The show goes as far as to show a doctor using the patients to “experiment” during which he created “Raspers” which were mutated versions of the patients and were fed deceased patients. Psychiatric hospitals have always been portrayed as a horrifying place to go, American Horror Story hasn't helped that stereotype. It is true that psychiatric hospitals have treated their patients terribly, that was almost seventy years ago. Since then long-stay psychiatric hospitals have been closed with more services to truly help these patients, along with the hospitals have gained laws that need to be followed, there are no hospitals that treat people as inhumanely as hospitals have in the past. These stereotypes scare people from going into a psychiatric hospital to receive the help they truly need because of shows portraying the mentally ill in such a negative way. The mentally

Thomas Scattergood Foundation. (2016). Stereotypes about People with Mental Illness | Scattergood Foundation. Retrieved from

Another example of negative stereotyping is the unfortunate stigma against mentally ill people. When someone has a physical illness or injury people are very often completely understanding and sympathetic, sometimes having gone through something similar or other incidences leave them understanding about what the person is going through. Mental illness is less common and that seems to leave people without the ability to be empathetic to others circumstances, leaving them to stereotype mentally ill people as lazy or dangerous. With mental illness a common occurrence is that people will do or say things like, ‘Oh, maybe you you go out more and you will be less sad’, ‘it 's just in your head’, or ‘Just stop doing those things even if you feel like you have to.’, and lastly they seem to think that just taking some drugs will solve all of your problems. What these people don’t understand is that depression is not just sadness, it is not there choice to be the way they are, OCD is not something you can control and

There were two main types of prejudice I noticed. First, I noticed that there was prejudice between patients. This was related to perceived behavioural patterns of the mental disorder each patient was diagnosed with, such as one being prone to tantrums or one who would not talk. Secondly, I noticed that visitors, including myself, displayed perhaps had the most noticeable prejudice of mental health. The stereotype presented in media of mental disorders isolates those with a condition since they are seen to be dangerous, fragile, and unintelligent. This is entirely incorrect. Every time I was volunteering, I noticed a visitor who entered very apprehensive but relaxed within the span of their visit once they learned the counterstereotypic

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.