Mentally Ill = Killers!

Psycho killers, crazy girlfriends, unhinged stalkers, languishing mental patients, and schizophrenic criminals—these are the mentally ill according to Hollywood. They are written to seem out of control, confusing, or scary.

The dominant discourse about mentally ill individuals is that they are crazy, cruel and violent people who are unsafe to be around.

How many times have you watched a movie that involved an individual with a mental illness? How well do you think that individual was portrayed? I'm guessing not that great right. Over and over in these movies, there is that one person with a mental illness that by the end of the movie it makes the viewer think they are better off dead! Why is this? There are so many mentally ill individuals out there and around us that are as capable of living a sane and normal life as any other 'sane' person.  With the right treatment, some function better in society than 'normal' people.

This article talks about four myths the media portrays the mentally ill as. (http://everydayfeminism.com/2012/12/mental-illness-stigma/

Myth 1: Mentally ill are violent

The media more often than not portray the mentally ill as dangerous people. They are close to always a criminal often linked to violent events. But the truth is, these individuals ‘are’ the victims of violent and cruel acts.

Myth 2: Mental illness is beyond help

Usually when a criminal or violent person has a mental illness, it is overdramatized. But if it is a successful person it is often kept on the down low. So basically trying to hide the fact that mentally ill individuals can be successful in society. That is why people try to hide their illnesses, it is in order to keep their credibility.

Myth 3: Mental illness makes people geniuses.

This is the opposite of the second myth. This is the media’s exception: successful people can come out and say they are mentally ill only if they are extraordinarily gifted. Take for example, the show, Perception, in this show, the main character is a schizophrenic who uses his illness to help solve crimes. Basically if your mental illness makes you some kind of gifted individual, then and only then is it okay to come out with it.

Myth 4: Mental illness is sexy, cool and mysterious

Media uses mental illness to a point where they try to convince the viewers that sometime someone’s mental illness can set them apart from Society’s narrow minded thinking and make them something out of the extraordinary. Take for example, the movie, Suckerpunch, in the movie they use the main character’s traumatization to show fantasies about her killing her abusers in a futuristic kind of way, almost romanticizing her illness.

The media is most likely to show a disoriented and mentally ill person as opposed to a perfectly good person functioning in society. The worst part about it is that we consume what the media hands to us and use that as an index to judge people based on their conditions.

It’s understandable that they are out to entertain not satisfy but there should be a line that can’t be crossed because, as much as I want to deny it, the media does indeed shape our perception of society and there is probably going to be a time when it has gone so far that stereotypes aren’t going to be stereotypes anymore because it will grow into what we believe is the ‘norm’.

So as much as there are some who are violent and cruel, there are still those who are completely functional and successful: Mental illness is a sickness like any bodily sickness there is and there are treatments and sometimes cures that are available to these individuals.

Discussion Questions
1. Do you think people with mental illness are as 'bad' as media portrays them to be?
2. Do you know someone with a mental illness? If yes, how would you describe them?
3. Do you think there will come a time when stereotypes become the norm for us and everyone who is currently against these stereotypes?