Introduction
Mental illnesses have been around since the dawn of time and will continue to plague humanity until the species ceases to exist. Unfortunately, mental illnesses have always been stigmatized by holy figures, doctors, and in recent times, the media. Dr. Paul Appelbaum best states, “For centuries the misconception that persons with mental illness are ticking time bombs, ready to explode into violence when jostled in the slightest, has wreaked enormous damage on their lives” (Law, 2004). People with mental illnesses have always been depicted as incoherent, unpredictable, and most commonly, violent. Throughout history those with mental illness have been treated as though they had no more control over themselves than a wild animal, and …show more content…
Some cultures believed that mental illness was a sign of demonic possession, and would often times chain those with mental illness to beds and let them wither away.1 Around 6500BC a new method of treatment was developed, this method was called trepanning, which is the action of carving a hole in a living person’s skull with a trepan (Figure 1). It is believed that trepanning was used in order to allow the evil spirit that was possessing the patient to escape through the hole in the cranium, curing them of their illness. Later on more cruel forms of “treatment” were developed, such as, hydrotherapy, medically induced comas and the most infamous of all, the lobotomy. In 1949 lobotomies were at an all-time high, it was a quick, and relatively inexpensive method of subduing patients and making them submissive. In 1581 a law was passed that stated that a person that was not of the mental state to understand their crimes could not be held accountable, and thus the insanity defense was founded. Over the years many criminals have attempted to plea insanity in order to escape the death penalty, or receive a lighter sentence. While only a mere 1% of cases in which defendants plea insanity are successful, the media sensationalizes them and has made it appear as though every criminal has some form of mental illness that has driven them to commit …show more content…
Unfortunately, mental illness has always been targeted by all types of media such as news outlets, film, and even primetime television. Research has shown that around 75% of films that have a mentally ill character depicts them as bloodthirsty maniacs with little to no self-control (Levin, 2001; Signorielli, 1989; Wahl, 1997). Another study showed that 85% of news stories about people who had been in psychiatric facilities focused solely on the violent crimes that they had previously committed (Shain & Phillips, 1991). Due to this representation in the media people have come to build up the stigma that those with a mental illness are far more likely to commit a violent crime and in one survey it was shown that around 80% of Americans believed this myth to be true (Ganguli,
Mental illnesses have been around since the dawn of time and will continue to plague humanity until the species ceases to exist. Unfortunately, mental illnesses have always been stigmatized by holy figures, doctors, and in recent times, the media. Dr. Paul Appelbaum best states, “For centuries the misconception that persons with mental illness are ticking time bombs, ready to explode into violence when jostled in the slightest, has wreaked enormous damage on their lives” (Law, 2004). People with mental illnesses have always been depicted as incoherent, unpredictable, and most commonly, violent. Throughout history those with mental illness have been treated as though they had no more control over themselves than a wild animal, and …show more content…
Some cultures believed that mental illness was a sign of demonic possession, and would often times chain those with mental illness to beds and let them wither away.1 Around 6500BC a new method of treatment was developed, this method was called trepanning, which is the action of carving a hole in a living person’s skull with a trepan (Figure 1). It is believed that trepanning was used in order to allow the evil spirit that was possessing the patient to escape through the hole in the cranium, curing them of their illness. Later on more cruel forms of “treatment” were developed, such as, hydrotherapy, medically induced comas and the most infamous of all, the lobotomy. In 1949 lobotomies were at an all-time high, it was a quick, and relatively inexpensive method of subduing patients and making them submissive. In 1581 a law was passed that stated that a person that was not of the mental state to understand their crimes could not be held accountable, and thus the insanity defense was founded. Over the years many criminals have attempted to plea insanity in order to escape the death penalty, or receive a lighter sentence. While only a mere 1% of cases in which defendants plea insanity are successful, the media sensationalizes them and has made it appear as though every criminal has some form of mental illness that has driven them to commit …show more content…
Unfortunately, mental illness has always been targeted by all types of media such as news outlets, film, and even primetime television. Research has shown that around 75% of films that have a mentally ill character depicts them as bloodthirsty maniacs with little to no self-control (Levin, 2001; Signorielli, 1989; Wahl, 1997). Another study showed that 85% of news stories about people who had been in psychiatric facilities focused solely on the violent crimes that they had previously committed (Shain & Phillips, 1991). Due to this representation in the media people have come to build up the stigma that those with a mental illness are far more likely to commit a violent crime and in one survey it was shown that around 80% of Americans believed this myth to be true (Ganguli,