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PORTRAYALS OF MENTAL ILLNESS OF TEENS IN POPULAR TV SHOWS: 13 REASONS WHY AND ATYPICAL Item Type Electronic Thesis; text Authors Carter, Savannah Citation Carter, Savannah. (2020). PORTRAYALS OF MENTAL ILLNESS OF TEENS IN POPULAR TV SHOWS: 13 REASONS WHY AND ATYPICAL (Bachelor's thesis, University of Arizona, Tucson, USA). Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 05/10/2021 04:49:50 Item License http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/650934 PORTRAYALS OF MENTAL ILLNESS OF TEENS IN POPULAR TV SHOWS: 13 REASONS WHY AND ATYPICAL By SAVANNAH MARIE CARTER ____________________ A Thesis Submitted to The Honors College In Partial Fulfillment of the Minor With Honors in Health and Human Values THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA M A Y 2 0 2 0 Approved by: ____________________________ Dr. Christina Cutshaw Department of Public Health Carter2 ABSTRACT Background: Mass media, specifically television, has provided information and influenced perceptions of audiences on the topic of mental illness. Aims: To explore the extent that the popular dramatic television programs: 13 Reasons Why and Atypical, use stigmatizing or non- stigmatizing language about mental health conditions portrayed by the main character, the representation of mental health treatment, and how stigma is reflected in these portrayals. Methods: The author conducted a qualitative content analysis of four episodes of each show. Results: The depictions of mental illness through stigmatizing language, context, and plot were found to emphasize both public and self-stigma in each show. There were both positive and negative examples of treatment in each show with a more positive impression in Atypical than in 13 Reasons Why. Conclusion: Stigmatizing language continues to be used in popular shows that portray teen characters with a mental illness with mixed representation of treatment. Concerns include how teen audiences interpret the language and its contributions to stigma about mental health. Keywords: mental illness, stigma, teens, television, media, portrayals of therapy, negative, positive Carter3 INTRODUCTION We can learn a lot through television, some lessons are positive while some are negative. What can we learn about mental illness? Mental illness affects all ages, including teens and young adults who consume a lot of media, and thus may be in a position to be influenced by television depictions of mental illness and mental health treatment. Youth Mental Health and Stigma A mental illness is a condition that affects a person’s thinking, feeling or mood (CDC, 2018). It may also affect one’s ability to relate to others and function each day (CDC, 2018). Approximately 1 in 6 young adults experience a mental illness each year (NAMI, 2019). Many mental disorders have increased incidence in the teen years, including mood disorders, anxiety and substance abuse (Paus, Keshayan, and Gless, 2008). Around 50% of youth children received treatment for a mental disorder in 2018, with the average delay between symptoms and treatment being 11 years (NAMI, 2019). One barrier to addressing mental illness are multiple kinds of stigma (Corrigan. Watson, 2002). Stigma is “a mark of disgrace that sets a person apart from others” (STIGMA, 2009). More specifically, self-stigma is “the prejudice which people with mental illness turn against themselves” (Corrigan. Watson, 2002, p. 16). Public stigma is “the reaction that the general population has to people with mental illness” (Corrigan, Watson, 2002, p. 16). Stigma is a barrier between the success in treatment of symptoms among those with a mental illness (Ezell, Choi, Wall, and Link, 2017). When a person is labeled by their illness they may no longer be seen as an individual but as part of a stereotyped group. Living in a society where stigmatizing ideas are promoted might make someone believe they are less valued because of their mental illness, Carter4 resulting in one’s self-esteem suffering (Corrigan, Watson, 2002, p. 17). Negative attitudes and beliefs toward this stereotyped group create prejudice which leads to negative actions and discrimination” (STIGMA, 2009). Prejudice can develop anger which leads to hostile behavior and results in the withholding of help for one mental illness (Corrigan & Watson, 2002, p.16). A concern about stigma is that it may affect people seeking help (Corrigan & Watson, 2002). Out of 1.5 million young adults, around 545,000 believed that getting mental health services would cause them to experience discrimination from others, such as employers, friends, or family (SAMSHA, 2015). Stigmatized views of people with a mental illness are not limited to just the general public but also well-trained professionals from mental health disciplines (Corrigan & Watson, 2002, p. 16). Media Portrayals of Mental Illness There are different representations of mental illness, both positive and negative, that impact not only those with a mental illness but also how the public views people with a mental illness. Media comes in many forms; “television, film, newspaper, magazines, social media, radio, and even mobile applications (i.e. apps). Media provides information that influences how people perceive and understand the world” (Maiorano et. al, 2017, p.703). Social Learning Theory suggests that learning is not only through experience but through observation (Srivastava, Chaudhury, and Mujawar, 2018), thus those who spend a lot of time watching television are likely to assume the television view of mental illnesses (Srivastava, Chaudhury, and Mujawar, 2018). Several sources of negative attitudes toward people with mental illness include: labels, behaviors, attributions, misinformation, particularly regarding the association between violence Carter5 and mental illness (Link and Phelan 1999). Portrayals of mental illness are “often presented in such a manner that foster misconceptions about specific disorders” (Pirkis, Blood, Francis, and Mccalum, 2006 p.530). They create an impression that some rare disorders are common, and they present misleading information about certain disorders (Pirkis, Blood, Francis, and Mccalum, 2006). There is a history of often negative portrayals of mental illness in dramatic media such as television and film through depictions of violence, language such as ‘freak,’ ‘dangerous,’ or ‘crazy,’ and mostly extreme portrayals of anxiety and depression characteristics (Smith, Choueiti, Choi, Pieper, Moutier, 2019). In a review (Goodwin, 2013), psychosis is commonly stigmatized within media and presents inaccurate depictions. Another study found that in dramatic television, 1 in 10 characters (8.7%) are killers and 4.3% are killed; and of those characters, 21.6% of those characterized with a mental illness were killers and 20.7% are killed (Signorielli, 1989). Characters that had portrayed people with mental illnesses were more likely to be depicted as being victims of violence, as being unsuccessful and failures at their jobs more than half of the time, compared to 15% of average characters (Sieff, 2003). Wilson (1999) found that characters affected with a mental illness were portrayed as dangerous, violent, had low intelligence, and were unproductive members of society (Sieff, 2003; Henson et al., 2009). Mental health treatment also has negative portrayals. Psychiatric facilities within films are shown with negative depictions such as acute psychiatric wards where inmates are deprived of basic human rights (Damjanovic, Vukovic, Jovanovich, & Masonic-Gašic, 2009; Goodwin, 2013). Mental health professionals have also been depicted negatively among movies and TV shows. A study done by Schneider (1987) categorized mental health professions into 3 types which others have used when considering mental health professionals in film: “the Dr. Dippy, Carter6 Dr. Evil, Dr. Sexy, and the mental health professionals as ‘rationalist foils’ have all been set up to be ridiculed, feared, or otherwise treated with contempt” (Pirkis, Blood, Francis, and Mccalum, 2006, p. 532). When some form of media portrays an organization or class of people in a negative way it can cultivate prejudice and discrimination and have a damaging impact on those with mental health problems by diminishing levels of self-esteem, discouraging help-seeking behaviors, and increasing discrimination and possibly decreasing their chance to recover (Maiorano et. al, 2017). Furthermore, “media depiction of mental disorders contributes to the level of fear, hostility, and intolerance in the general population,” relating back to public stigma (Mairoano et al. 2017, p. 703). Positive portrayals of mental health such as recovery stories and positive depictions of mental health professionals or treatment centers are often lacking (Pirkis, Blood, Francis, and Mccalum, 2006). These representations impact not only those with a mental illness but also how the public views people with a mental illness: “the recent release of A Beautiful Mind exposed the public to the idea that not all people with schizophrenia are violent criminals” (Sieff, 2003 p. 262). Non-fictional media may also perpetuate stereotypes. Henson (2009) found that 36% of human interest news coverage stories were categorized as ‘ordinary citizen with,

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