I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on this video. One part that I have to say I did not totally agree with is the footage of Dr. E. Fuller Torrey. I understand that a lot of people have been offended by his words and that he supports forcing medication on people, but since I have recommended his book, Surviving Schizophrenia, and have agreed with some of his viewpoints, I felt I should mention that I don't personally consider him a dangerous, stigmatizing person. I could be wrong, of course. This video footage definitely made me think twice about Fuller and the kinds of statements he makes, since I have obviously not seen all the footage of him that exists. I really didn't like his using the term "brain damaged" to describe people with mental illnesses.
I definitely love this video and agree with the points it makes. I think it would make an excellent educational tool, and the creator offers to use it as such for schools or other institutions in a note on the website right below the video. I wish more people would speak out about stigma and make videos like this one!
Linked to that website, I found another excellent site, which is a sort of clearinghouse on stigmatizing media. It's called the Anti-Stigma Home Page, and I recommend checking it out as well.
Wednesday, September 01, 2010
Stigma Video: "Psychomedia"
I just came across this website: Mental Health Stigma.Com with the below video that I found to be very poignant and worth sharing here. It discusses exactly how stigmatizing reports, movies, and other forms of media are created. I encourage you to view it:
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The video, while it has dubious production values, has some good points. The media tends to sensationalize things and focus on "psycho killers" and the like. Film-makers and TV producers tend to do the same thing, so that when mental illness is mentioned, people will think of Hannibal Lecter, Norman Bates, or any of a thousand other crazed villains.
I remember being particularly disappointed when Billy in "Six Feet Under" was made into a violent nut who came after his sister with a knife hoping to cut off her tattoo.
But when referring to the media, it is a bit of a chicken and egg situation. Audiences seem to like the simple sensationalist stories, so the media make them.
That's true about the chicken and egg situation. Stigma is so ingrained in our society that it would permeate the culture probably even if it was not being constantly promoted by the media. But I do think that the media is largely responsible for creating the psycho killer movies, tv shows, books, etc.
When will our society evolve and when will people treat others as people, not subhuman creatures, if they have a mental illness? So much discrimination continues today; I find it disheartening. But that's why I love finding things like that video where someone is trying to smash the stereotypes.
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