Rosie Anaya's Mental Illness On Television, By Rosie Iv

Improved Essays
Robert M. Hensel, a Guinness World Record holder with a disability, once said, “There is no greater disability in society, than the inability to see a person as more,” (Langtree). When thinking of people with disabilities, many individuals think of the things they cannot do rather than the achievements that they have made or the contribution that they have on humanity. Why is this the perspective that so many humans have? After reading Rosie Anaya’s “Mental Illness on television” and comparing it to Nancy Mairs’ “Disability,” despite these two essays conveying very similar ideas on the topic of how media negatively affects their reader or viewer’s outlook, each composition’s unique situation deserves closer examination. “Mental Illness on …show more content…
Mairs’ essay is about physical disabilities while Anaya focuses on mental disabilities. Although this variance seems insignificant, the consequence that media has twisting the stories of people with mental illnesses has a larger affect than how media portrays those with physical disabilities. Anaya demonstrates the effects when she speaks about how the negative media prevents people with mental illnesses from reaching out to receive help (Anaya 54). Despite the hurt and isolation that people with physical disabilities feel, it does not have the capability to worsen their disability as can happen with those with mental illnesses. Another difference between the effects media have on mental and physical disabilities is the light that each disability is shown in. As illustrated through “Disability,” media makes it out to be that people with physical disabilities are completely dependent on the people around them, unable to think for themselves, and utterly unhappy with their lives (Mairs 14). “Mental Illness on Television” shows that television categorizes everyone with a mental illness as a danger to themselves and others and that this danger is inevitable (Anaya 54). Being viewed as a danger to oneself and society results in others being fearful of you even if you never do anything that warrants the …show more content…
Hensel brought to light an issue that is all too common in our society when he said, “There is no greater disability in society, than the inability to see a person as more,” (Langtree). Media in this day and age contribute a great deal to misrepresentation of people with both mental and physical disabilities. Nancy Mairs, author of “Disability,” and Rosie Anaya, author of “Mental Illness on Television,” similarly disapprove of the media’s portrayal of people with disabilities, mutually demonstrate how having a disability is not a defining factor, and provide a strategy that involves including disabilities as a part of everyday life. However, to spot the differences between “Disability” and “Mental Illness on Television,” readers must dig a little deeper. In contrast, the essay written by Anaya demonstrates the severity of effects that people with mental illnesses face that those with physical disabilities do not suffer. Looking deeper, the depiction of people with physical disabilities has improved over time while the perspective on people with mental illness has gotten worse. Despite the similarities and differences of these two writings, it is clear to see that the media is misleading our society with inaccurate views of people with disabilities. With mental and physical disabilities playing such a large role around us, our society should keep in mind the thoughts shown by Mairs and Anaya. We must realize that the actions and thoughts we have toward others truly

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