Media and Mental Health Stigma

Here is another great post from our student contributor, Samantha Ege: Think about all the different kinds of media you consume a day; this includes the Internet, television, music, movies, social media, magazines, newspapers, etc. When I think about it, I probably consume way too much media, I mean being a college student Netflix tends to always be in the background. Even though it might just be background noise, how much does the media influence us exactly? How much does mass media shape society? The media industry has a very wide range of influence, especially when you see it through psychology’s eyes. I’ve seen a lot of movies and television shows in my day, a lot that take some sort of stance on mental health. Some are good representations of the reality of suffering from a mental illness, others, not so much. Many people have seen crime shows on TV like NCIS and Law & Order, great shows, but far too often the murders, thieves, and other criminals suffer from some sort of mental illness. There is no doubt some criminals do suffer from mental illnesses, but this disproportionate representation of criminals who suffer from mental illnesses contributes to stigma against those who suffer from mental illness and are not criminals. There have been countless studies that show that the feeling of dangerousness is a major contributor to mental health stigma, for example Silke, C., Swords, L., &; Heary, C. (2016).

Furthermore, I’m sure most people in the United States have seen a preview for an upcoming movie. This year I saw the preview for “Split” and dramatic movie that focuses on an unstable man with multiple personality disorder, however, the more psychologists I speak to about it, the more I hear that there is insufficient evidence that such disorder exists, not to mention how unrealistic that individual case is. This kind of representation of mental illness distorts society’s view of those who suffer from mental illnesses. According to cultivation theory, the more media one consumes, the more he/she believes that media mirrors reality. This theory explains why people associate people who suffer from mental illness with negative attributes like dangerousness, instability, and impulsivity. Even though these things can happen, they do not occur as often as the media makes it seem. The more one watches television shows and movies that misrepresent those who suffer from mental illness, the more they will internalize that stigma and act on it in the real world.

The media industry should make it a priority to represent people who happen to suffer from mental illness as normal, regular people who happen to struggle with something, because that is more accurate than portraying them as serial killers, bad-guys, and unstable “psychos”. But this is a cycle, we must be more diligent in shaping our perception of those who suffer from mental illness to a more accurate perception; we must be aware of how much influence the media industry has on us everyday.

Kurt Cobain and the Day the Music Died

“The Day the Music Died” is often used to refer to February 13, 1959 when a plane carrying musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson crashed in Northern Iowa. There is another day that the music suffered a terrible loss, April 5th. On April 5th, 1994 the lead singer of Nirvana died of an apparent drug overdose and on April 5th, 2002 Lane Staley the lead singer of Alice in Chains also died of an apparent drug overdose. Both men struggled with mental health and addiction issues up until their deaths. They were both very talented musicians and their deaths had a definite impact on the music industry and on their fans.

 As we reflect back on April 5th it is important not to forget the issues that contributed to those terrible losses. So today I want to talk a little bit about addiction in hopes that it may help others to understand what may have happened there. Many people who have not struggled with addiction think that quitting is as easy as just “having self-control”. The graphic below from the National Institute on Drug Abuse shows that the brains of addicts and non-addicts function differently. After a period of use the part of the brain responsible for self-control becomes less active and the part of the brain responsible for “drive” or motivation to do something gets stronger. An addict’s drive to use their substance(s) of choice is often stronger than their control. This isn’t something that is changed quickly or easily. Often, drug treatment is required in order to help addicts “retrain their brains” and build new neural (brain) pathways. Drug treatment often takes multiple tries in order to be successful.

Depression can make these issues worse. Most people who turn to drugs are trying to self-medicate a mental or emotional issue. Even if temporarily drugs allow people to escape from emotional and psychological pain. Unfortunately, when people come down from their high the emotional pain and dysfunction in their lives is still there. They become addicted because their bodies build a tolerance to the drugs and they need to use more and more to get the same escape from their problems. After a period of use, often addicts don’t even get the high anymore. They have built such a tolerance that drug use is required to even feel “normal”. Quitting cold turkey can cause severe withdrawal symptoms like headaches, vomiting, seizures, blackouts, and in some cases even death.

 Kurt Cobain and Lane Staley had both been in rehab previously. They had tried to fight their addictions and unfortunately were unable to overcome them. Both men also had histories of depression and were under a lot of stress. They were both very famous, and as glamorous as it may seem being famous comes with a lot of stress. They often have grueling schedules, don’t get to see their loved ones regularly, are constantly being watched and publicized, and are exposed to drugs and parties very regularly.

 Some of the important lessons to learn here are that drug addiction is a very complicated problem. Addicts need more support than being told to “just quit”. Often they also need mental health treatment to help them deal with the underlying reasons for their addictions first. They have to learn new coping skills and tools before the unhealthy coping tool of drugs is taken away. You also don’t have to be famous to be under a lot of stress. Many average people struggle with financial issues, relationship problems, depression, and many other things that make life hard. Stress relief and stress management should be an important part of everyone’s lives. If not, unhealthy coping like drug use, overeating, and impulsive behaviors like gambling can cause more stress in the long run than help.