“Fear of the ‘mental illness’ label keeps many people from seeking out needed treatment…even among the very health care organization(7)” I noticed that the doc who diagnosed me started treating me like I was stupid and that I didn’t know what I was talking about, this could possibly be the cause of media influence. I know that this is harder to overcome once it is labeled how it is, but it gives no one any right to think that they are better than you. All it means is that they have an extra thing or struggle or thing, to overcome.
This doc “She found that in the past fifty years Americans have become more likely to identify the cause of mental illness as chemical imbalances.(7)” Before they found that out, many people were sent to the mental hospital and locked up. They thought that there was no solution to mental illnesses, and that these people harmed and endangered themselves.
Many people are scared of fears and violence from mentally ill people. Since people see on the media how bad mental illnesses can be, they know a little about it. “Americans express reluctance to have someone with a mental illness participate in their work places or marry into their families.(7)” If you believe the media, then no wonder it is so scary for them. In the Secret Window, the guy who was mentally ill killed his wife. How encouraging is that?
“Television and movies are rife with images of the crazed killer and ‘escape mental patient…Rarely are people with mental illnesses portrayed as having families, jobs, or being part of a larger community.(7)” News focuses more on negative than positive because it is more exciding that a mentally ill person did this than other people who doesn’t have an mental illness.
“When crimes are committed by someone with a mental illness the stories are more likely to be covered and more often given prominent placement.(7)” The mentally ill are often recognized as their illness rather than the people themselves. If a mental illness is not treated it can be what helped drive them, but when treated they don’t have to deal with all the problems they would otherwise have to deal with.