Media Portrayal Of The Mental Illnesses Schizophrenia

Media portrayal of the mental illnesses schizophrenia are damaging not only to individuals with schizophrenia, but also ‘normal’ people such as the families of those who are schizophrenic. The media portrays schizophrenia sufferers as violent peoples who will harm given the opportunity, and as such, should not be trusted and should be approached with caution. These portrayals are incorrect, There are multiple examples of the media’s negative depiction of schizophrenia. One such example is the case of Vince Weiguang Li. Li, a paranoid schizophrenic, believed that he was hearing the voice of God, telling him that a man next to him on the bus, Tim McLean, was an alien that would kill Li and others if he was not killed immediately (â€Å"Canada Cannibal†, 2008). Li then stabbed McLean, decapitated him and removed his internal organs, and remained on the bus during a 3 hour police standoff (â€Å"Canada Cannibal†, 2008), before being subdued by police. In the article â€Å"Canada Cannibal† (2008), Li is identified as a paranoid schizophrenic at the start of the second paragraph, immediately after graphic descriptions of the McLean incident, therefore causing the reader to associate the violence described with schizophrenia. Another example of this is the article â€Å"Daughter Suffering Schizophrenia Charged With Killing Mum† (Marcus, 2013) , where schizophrenia is directly connected with violence, in this case, murder. By including the fact that the daughter is schizophrenic in the title of theShow MoreRelatedEssay about The Portrayal of Schizophrenia in Me, Myself, and Irene1178 Words   |  5 Pages Most people gather what they know about mental illnesses from television and film. Unfortunately these media portrayals are inaccurate and create stigma. They depict people suffering from mental illnesses as different, dangerous and laughable. Characters are often addicted to drugs or alcohol, are violent, dangerous, or out of control. 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