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Mental Illness and the Media M Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, 2003, 10, 297–306 Blackwell Science, LtdOxford, UK JPMJournal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing1351-0126Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2003 102April 2003 592 Mental illness and the media M. Anderson 10.1046/j.1351-0126.2003.00592.x Original ArticleBEES SGML ‘One flew over the psychiatric unit’: mental illness and the media M. ANDERSON p h d msc ba (h ons) rn (m ental h ealth) d iphe Lecturer in Mental Health, School of Nursing, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Nottingham, Queen’s Medical Centre, Nottingham, UK Correspondence: ANDERSON M. (2003) Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing 10, 297–306 M. Anderson ‘One flew over the psychiatric unit’: mental illness and the media School of Nursing Faculty of Medicine and Health Media representation of mental illness has received growing research attention within a Sciences variety of academic disciplines. Cultural and media studies have often dominated in this University of Nottingham research and discussion. More recently healthcare professionals have become interested Room B50 in this debate, yet despite the importance of this subject only a selection of papers have Medical School been published in professional journals relating to nursing and healthcare. This paper Queen’s Medical Centre Nottingham NG7 2UH examines the way in which mental illness in the United Kingdom is portrayed in public UK life. Literature from the field of media studies is explored alongside the available material E-mail: from the field of mental healthcare. Three main areas are used to put forward an alter- martin.anderson@nottingham. native approach: film representation and newspaper reporting of mental illness; the ac.uk nature of the audience; and finally the concept of myth. The paper concludes by con- sidering this approach in the context of current mental health policy on mental health promotion. Keywords: audience, culture, film, health promotion, media, mental health problems/ illness, newspapers Accepted for publication: 7 December 2003 ing of the realities that we experience. (Gilman 1988, Introduction p. 18) Throughout the century psychiatry has sought scientific Media representations of mental illness can have a sig- understanding and effective treatment for the conditions nificant effect on public images of people who experience so vividly depicted in the movies. At the same time, mental health problems (McKeown & Clancy 1995). The movie psychiatry has projected a view of the profession implications for people living in the community are con- through the distorting lens of fear, defensive ridicule, siderable, particularly when the media depict people suf- and the yearning for an ideal parent. (Schneider 1987, p. fering from a mental illness as being ‘dangerous’ and 1002) ‘violent’ (Signorielli 1989, Wahl 1992, Cutcliffe & Hanni- The images of Bosch or Van Gogh, of Warhol or gan 2001). Throughout the 1990s, the media increased Escher may reflect the mental representations of some attention on issues surrounding governmental community inner world, but not the mundane one in which we care legislation and the discharge of people from institu- live and yet these private constructions are real. They tional care. This resulted in a stream of news reports on are expressions of myths about the world, the ideas homicides involving a person known to be suffering from a that we project onto it and that shape our understand- mental illness (Department of Health 1989, 1994). News- © 2003 Blackwell Publishing Ltd 297 M. Anderson papers in the United Kingdom (UK) have been one of the and Halloween (1978). The argument for film stereotypes most powerful forms of media portraying such incidents. contribution to the stigmatization of people with mental The case of Stephen Laudat, a person known to be suffer- health problems is convincing (Hyler et al. 1991, Wahl ing from schizophrenia, and who was convicted of killing 1992). Torrey (1994) links newspaper reports, film repre- Bryan Bennett, is identified as the ‘Killer who should not sentations and stereotypes of mental illness amongst the have gone to jail’ in an article attempting to illustrate the public. It is maintained that the stigma created by the image inadequacies of community care provision (Brindle 1995). of the ‘dangerous mentally ill’ has been propagated by the Another report confronts the reader with ‘Mental patient press, together with the popularity of such films as Psycho kills mother after quitting hospital’, which tells the tale of and Halloween. Here we can see where fiction and reality Gilbert Steckel, who was found to have killed a teacher and cross over. However, the relationship between various her two daughters soon after being discharged from a psy- media messages, our beliefs and individual experiences is chiatric hospital (O’Neil & Fletcher 1996). very complex (Philo et al. 1996). Such events, along with the cases of Christopher Clunis The examples of current media attention identified (Ritchie et al. 1994) and Jonathon Newby (Davis et al. above represent a form of popular culture, which accepts 1995), are clearly attributed to health policy and health ser- the entertainment value of both the press and film. These vice failings, as an article in the Independent announces representations fall into Curran & Spark’s (1991) view of ‘NHS accused over mentally ill killers’ (Timmins & Brown audience pleasure, gratification and entertainment, which 1996). More recently, Paterson & Stark (2001) suggest that is applied to the style of tabloid newspapers. These terms policy development in the period 1990–2000 became pre- are used to explain an important framework in this paper. occupied with the assumed need to prevent such violence. Audience describes all members of society who consume What ensued was a moral panic in reaction to the above and interact with media products. In the field of media incidents involving a person experiencing a mental health studies the audience is often regarded as constantly inter- problem. However, the National Confidential Inquiry into acting with the media they consume (i.e. film and newspa- Suicide and Homicides in England and Wales revealed that pers, radio, etc.). Another concept used when examining only 8% of homicides were committed by people with a media (particularly film) is point of view. Basically, this serious mental health problem (Department of Health refers to the person’s viewpoint in the film. Symbolic rep- 1999a). The new millennium has seen a significant shift resentation in the media broadly refers to a sign, object or towards working with the media. This is a central part of act that stands for something by virtue of agreement among mental health promotion strategies and forms a key part of the members of the culture that uses it (O’Sullivan et al. current mental healthcare policy (Department of Health 1983). Finally, an important concept is the uses and grati- 1999b). fication approach, which is a theory suggesting that audi- During the last decade a number of studies and analyt- ences take in media (read newspapers/watch a film) for the ical papers attempted to demonstrate that negative reports gratification of certain individually experienced needs in the press have contributed to the formation of negative (Curran & Sparks 1991). This is explained in more detail public attitudes towards the mentally ill (Philo et al. 1994, later in the paper. The ideological dimensions of entertain- Thornton & Wahl 1996, Conrad 1997). Ward (1997) ment have to be extended to the nature of the reporting of found that broadsheet and tabloid newspapers made a sig- such press articles and the depictions created in film. These nificant link between mental ill health, criminality and vio- forms can be seen as far removed from a sociological way lence. Such stories were often given more exposure than of conceptualizing the world. Instead: positive articles. Yet Allen & Nairn (1997) challenged the Society is portrayed as a series of discrete events unre- idea that the media present negative depictions of mental lated to broader social determinations . Their func- illnesses because journalists are not always well informed tion is to define the contours of what is good and bad, regarding mental health issues. Additionally, the work that and draw attention to the consequences of wrong doing. journalists do is based on the premise that ‘sensation sells’. (Curran & Sparks 1991, p. 229) It is therefore not too surprising that negative ‘representa- This view of the media has to be considered alongside tions’ can be found in the press (this point will be returned the evidence that such contemporary portrayals continue to to later). Newspaper articles function within the whole arouse public anxiety and fear of people suffering from a ‘sphere’ of the media, and coincide with other forms of mental illness living in the community. Studies in commu- communication, but in particular with film. The assump- nity attitudes to mental illness continue to show that levels tion here is that the connotations underlying these head- of intolerance and stigma remain (Brockington et al. 1993, lines might well have been generated by popular films such Huxley 1993, Kelly & McKenna 1997, Rose 1998). The as The Snakepit (1948), Psycho (1960), Taxi Driver (1976) purpose of this paper is to explore the way in which mental 298 © 2003 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing 10, 297–306 Mental illness and the media illness in the UK is portrayed in public life. Whilst there are be due to the focus on the individual’s health and subse- many ways in which mental illness is represented in every- quent problems. Clearly, the impact of Jack Nicolson’s R.P. day life (novels, art, radio, etc.), the focus here is on film MacMurphy rebelling against the total institution had a and newspaper reporting. Both of these form a significant significant effect on public attitudes during the 1970s. part of mass media, they have been regarded as culturally MacMurphy may not have been ‘mad’ before he entered dominant (i.e.
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