Key Questions (Edexcel A-Level Psychology): Revision Notes
Mental Health Issues and the Media
Introduction to the key issue
The portrayal of mental health issues in the media represents a key concern in contemporary society. Media representations hold considerable power in shaping public understanding and attitudes towards mental illness. According to Time to Change, an organisation dedicated to influencing public attitudes towards mental health, the manner in which mental illness is depicted and reported in the media plays an incredibly powerful role in educating and influencing the public.
This key question explores how mental health conditions are portrayed in various media formats and examines the impact of these representations on public perception, stigma, and treatment-seeking behaviour.
Media portrayal of mental health issues
Negative stereotypes and themes
Research consistently demonstrates that mental illness is portrayed negatively in mainstream media. A thematic analysis of mental illness on television identified several recurring negative themes:
- Danger and violence
- Aggression
- Unpredictability
- Incompetence
- Childlike behaviour
The overall characterisation of mental illness in media has been described as "outstandingly negative", reflecting deeply embedded stereotypes that do not align with the reality of mental health conditions.
Evidence from television and film
Signorielli (1989) examined characters with mental illness in prime-time television and found that 72% were depicted as violent. Additionally, other studies revealed these characters were often shown as unemployable or failing at work.
Research Finding: Diefenbach (1997)
Diefenbach analysed prime-time television content in the USA over a two-week period and discovered:
- 32% of programmes featured at least one character with mental illness
- These characters were ten times more violent than the general population of television characters
- 50% of violent offences were committed by someone with a mental health disorder
This demonstrates the extreme over-representation of violence in media portrayals of mental illness.
Granello and Pauley (2000) established that intolerant attitudes towards individuals with mental illness were both significantly and positively correlated with the amount of television viewing, suggesting direct media influence on public prejudice.
Lopez Levers (2001) conducted a content analysis spanning 50 years of Hollywood films and found that mental illness is predominantly portrayed as passive, pathetic or comical, but most frequently depicted as dangerous, requiring restraints or invasive procedures. These depictions do not reflect the reality of mental illness within society today, yet demonstrate how stereotypical views are embedded in film iconography.
Reality vs. Media Representation
Mentally ill people are more likely to be victims of violence than perpetrators, directly contradicting media representations. Despite this reality, media depictions have been shown to affect public attitudes towards mental illness, with a third of the public still believing that someone with a mental health issue is prone to violence (Attitudes to Mental Health, 2013).
Discussion using clinical psychology concepts and research
Media as a source of misinformation
The mass media serves as the primary source of information about mental health disorders for most people. However, it contains misinformation and inaccurate use of terminology. Media teaches conventions on how to treat people with mental health issues through consistent and recurrent messages that present a very negative and biased view of mental illness.
Depression portrayed as chemical imbalance
Tartakovsky (2009) reviewed media depiction of mental illness for the American Psychological Association and noted that media portrays depression as a chemical imbalance. Whilst this media image removes the view that depression represents some moral failing on the part of an individual, it perpetuates the idea that neurotransmitters are a significant factor associated with depression and can be cured by a wonder drug.
Although research does suggest that serotonin is implicated in depression, the improvements shown by serotonin drug research may suffer from publication bias, meaning the full picture may be more complex than media representations suggest.
Medical explanations and prejudice
Research suggests that providing a medical cause for disorders such as schizophrenia may reduce the blame associated with the disorder but does not change the prejudices linked to schizophrenia, such as unpredictability and danger (Penn et al., 2003).
In fact, this medical explanation made people given this information more likely to avoid those with the disorder in future, demonstrating that reducing blame alone is insufficient to address stigma and prejudice.
OCD and misinformation
Wahl (2000) conducted a content analysis of articles dealing with OCD and found that although most were fairly accurate depictions of the disorder, several linked it to stalking behaviour, thus confusing it with obsessive behaviour and spreading misinformation.
Gender stereotypes
The media image of depression as a female disorder appears consistent with the statistical prevalence of mood disorders among women. However, the idea that depression is a female disorder may simply reflect the potential over-diagnosis of the illness in the female population perpetuated by stereotypes.
Stigma and labelling effects
Rosenhan's study demonstrates how normal behaviour can be misinterpreted as symptomatic of a disorder once the label has been applied. If information about mental health is negative, then the behaviour of those labelled with the disorder can be interpreted as negative. If the only examples of people with mental health issues are frightening and linked to violence, then these are the labels that will be applied.
The Impact of Stigma on Treatment
Stigma represents a major barrier to help-seeking behaviour. If diagnosis carries a stigma, people who need help might not seek it for fear of being labelled. This has serious implications for the course of the disorder, as for some illnesses early intervention is very beneficial.
Research Finding: Brown and Bradley (2002)
Brown and Bradley found that 25% of people with a mental health issue do not seek treatment in the USA, suggesting that stigma is a primary cause of this avoidance. This represents a significant proportion of individuals whose conditions may worsen due to delayed or avoided treatment.
Social isolation and loss of support
A further issue concerns the potential alienation of people suffering from mental health disorders. If people believe that those with mental health disorders represent a threat, they will be less likely to interact with them. This might rob them of the positive reinforcements to be gained by social interactions, which can act as a protective factor, possibly lessening the severity of the course of the disorder by providing social support and motivation to comply with treatments and to not give up.
Positive developments in media representation
Celebrity disclosure and campaigns
Media exposure to mental health issues can help to ameliorate some of the negative attitudes and stereotypes that exist in society, remove the belief that individuals with mental health issues are a threat, and help to portray a more positive image that could lead to more rational attitudes among the public.
Positive representations in the media can help to change attitudes. Recent celebrity stories of mental health issues provide examples of successful people whom the public can relate to, which helps to counter the negative views.
Celebrity Advocacy: Stephen Fry
Stephen Fry (UK actor and comedian) has talked about living with bipolar disorder and has become a supporter for mental health charities. His high-profile status and openness have helped to normalise mental health discussions and counter negative stereotypes.
The Time to Change campaign, run by the charities Mind and Rethink Mental Illness, works to change attitudes towards mental health. By using social learning theory effectively through the use of high-profile models either talking about their own experiences or supporting other people with mental health issues, public opinion is changing.
Campaign effectiveness
How Campaigns Work
Mental health campaigns such as Time to Change work to raise awareness and normalise mental health issues, publicising the "one in four" statistic which reminds people that one in every four people will experience mental health issues at some time. The campaign has also offered guidance for television programmes portraying mental illness to allow a sensitive and accurate portrayal to take place.
By increasing the sources of information about mental health and involving high-status persons in doing so, the message becomes more powerful and persuasive, making mental health more mainstream and less scary for people.
Changes in public attitudes
Recent research into public attitudes to mental health has found a substantial decrease in intolerance over the last few years (Attitudes to Mental Health, 2013). This report gathered 18 years of survey data regarding public perception towards mental health and suggested that attitudes (particularly women's attitudes) to mental health issues have improved markedly since 1994.
This demonstrates that through continued education, awareness campaigns, and more balanced media representations, societal attitudes towards mental health can change positively over time.
Key Points to Remember:
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Media portrayals of mental illness are predominantly negative, linking mental health conditions to violence, danger, and unpredictability, despite evidence showing mentally ill people are more likely to be victims than perpetrators.
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Research by Diefenbach (1997), Signorielli (1989), and others demonstrates that characters with mental illness in television and film are significantly overrepresented as violent compared to reality.
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Stigma created by negative media representations prevents approximately 25% of people with mental health issues from seeking treatment (Brown and Bradley, 2002).
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Social learning theory explains how media influences public attitudes through high-profile models, and positive campaigns like Time to Change are successfully changing perceptions.
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Public attitudes towards mental health have improved markedly since 1994, with significant decreases in intolerance observed in recent years (Attitudes to Mental Health, 2013).