WISCONSIN UNITED
for MENTAL HEALTH

Opinions are shaped by what we read in newspapers, what we hear on the radio, and what we see on television and in the movies. In a 1990 survey by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, respondents indicated that their primary source of knowledge about mental illness was the mass media. But these images are rarely accurate. Studies report that more than 70% of characters with mental illnesses in prime-time television drama are portrayed as violent; and more than one fifth are shown as killers. In actuality, studies have shown that only a minuscule percentage of the violence in American society can be attributed to people who have mental illnesses.

The media's stigmatizing images of people with mental illnesses become impressions of reality for some, leaving them with the misconception that people with mental illnesses are violent and have limited potential for positive participation in society. Also, people who have mental illnesses may start believing these negative messages about themselves.

Source: The ADS Center.  More materials related to these issues can be found at Media.