This week in one of my social work classes, a student presented a fictional movie character as a mental health client for an assignment. We were asked to consider what symptoms this person exhibits and offer a diagnosis.
While reviewing classmates’ comments and reflecting on my own observations, I started thinking more about how media portrays mental illness.
While many perpetrators of violent crime suffer from a mental illness, the reciprocal of that statement is almost never true. Most people suffering from a mental illness are not perpetrators of violent crime. Numerous studies and mountains of research have found it much more likely those suffering from mental illness will be victims, not perpetrators. When one of a minuscule percentage of people carries out violent crime, being a victim is often one of the catalysts.
This is not to excuse those who engage in violence or minimize the painful impact a handful of people have had through the use of violence. However, we need to reframe the conversation and move away from stigma.
Were the stigma around mental illness not so prevalent, you might be surprised to learn how many people you know suffer from mental illness. Family. Friends. Neighbors. Co-workers.
When I watch a movie or listen to the news and see one outlier’s behavior applied to an entire population, it surfaces frustration, anger, disappointment, and sadness. I wonder how many people suffer in silence for fear of being labeled because of what a movie, television show, or news report says about those who suffer from their disorder.
Is everyone suffering from schizophrenia going to act violently like that person I saw on the news? Will every person dealing with bipolar disorder act like that character in the movie?
Let’s turn off the television and listen to real people. Let’s stop letting the media distort our understanding of mental illness. Let’s turn down the volume on stigma.
People who struggle with mental illness need our compassion, our help, our support; they don’t need another label or avoidance. Do you want to help heal mental illness and make this world a better place? Create safe places for those with mental illness. Listen to their stories. Open your heart instead of closing your mind.
There is nothing wrong with entertainment, but remember it’s just a story, often filled with hyperbole and exaggeration. The news offers good information, but it often focuses on the one exception to the norm because that brings ratings. The person next door who struggles with mental illness is almost never like the caricature we see in the media. Let’s offer love, acceptance, and understanding and bring light to the darkness.
Breaking Into Peace 