Mental illness in the media
by Katie Coleman
This is an 8 minute video from the New York Times about mental health care in West Africa:
The Chains of Mental Illness in West Africa
It's easy to dismiss the abysmal treatment found in prayer centers like "Jesus is the Solution" as a problem that only happens in developing nations. We're much more humane in the United States.
Aren't we?
I'm not so sure.
There is a bias against the mentally ill. Such a stigma that most people deny their disability to others and some even to themselves.
Why? "One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest" was published half a century ago. I thought the days of lobotomies were long over.
One possible answer is symbolic annihilation.
Stories on the news that include mental illness are about one of two things:
1) Someone "overcoming" their mental illness (rare)
2) A violent criminal assumed or proven to be mentally ill (more common)
Well no wonder a diagnosis from the psychiatrist comes with a sense of shame!
I'm not going to tell people that I take Wellbutrin if I think they're going to associate me with someone who opened fire at a grade school.
Then there's representation of mental illness in movies. While I commend "Silver Linings Playbook" for its progressive portrayal of bipolar disorder, most movies are not nearly as subtle or realistic.
Mentally ill characters are most prevalent in horror films, which can cause an internalized bias. "I have been to a mental hospital. I am the stuff of nightmares."
Then there are movies like Gothika and Girl Interrupted in which the director is hoping the audience will sympathize with the mental patient. Even if that goal is achieved, the outcome is still demeaning. Sympathy is not equality. And let's face it, no mother wants her son walking Winona Ryder's character down the aisle even if that mother is filled with compassion for Susanna's situation.
We're far from a popular movie in which the protagonist is perceived as loveable and relatable AND happens to have a chemical imbalance. I would pay to see that movie.
The mentally ill in the United States are not chained to trees, but imprisoned by discrimination.
The good news is: We can change the public perception through art, research, and simple conversation. I recommend we do.
"Because as long as there is one man in chains it is humanity that is chained." -Gregoire Ahongbonon