Essay On Media Influence On Mental Illness

A fifteen year old girl from Portland, Oregon always felt as if she was different. This girl is named Courtney and she discovered that she is not as different as she thinks. She believed that something was different with her, however, she was unaware of anyone else who was dealing with the same issues. The fact is that Courtney was a part of a silent epidemic of mental illness in young kids. A mental health screening gave her an answer and all she had to do was fill out a questionnaire and answer some interview questions. This silent epidemic is not just with teenagers, however, it is seen throughout all ages in the world and in all regions of the world. This is not just something that needs to be fixed in America. This is a global epidemic that is just pushed under the rug by those who are not ready to face the fact that a mental illness is not a sin. Mental illness is prevalent in the world today and people to prepare themselves to …show more content…
The media chooses to fixate on the psychotic criminals (“Introduction to Mental…”). This media influence puts a bias on people’s view of the mentally ill. They can not see anything past a criminal regarding those who suffer from mental illness. Many who have mental illness go about mostly ordinary lives. They work, live, and form relationships just as an “ordinary” citizen would do. But, these lives are not put on the newspapers or seen scrolling across a television screen. A writer, Jamison, stated, “What remains visible in the public eye are the newspaper accounts of violence, the homeless mentally ill, the untreated illness in friends, family, and colleagues. What is not seen are all the truck drivers, secretaries, teachers, lawyers, physicians, and government officials who have been successfully treated, who work, compete, and succeed” (Jamison). This even furthers the point that the media has put a bias on the hope for an improvement in the mental health department of the