Consumer/Survivor Information
Challenging Stereotypes: An Action Guide
We Must Speak Out!
The purpose of this section is to
provide you with some tools to help
you promote fair, accurate, and balanced
portrayals of mental illness in the
media. Your voice does make a difference.
Whether you handwrite it, type it, dictate
it, or e-mail it, it’s your passion and
knowledge that persuade, that get your
letters read (and published), and that
change hearts and minds.
- Open with your purpose and express your feelings
The purpose of this letter is...
- to let you know...
- to suggest...
- to let you know...
- to express my disappointment with...
- to protest...
- to condemn...
- Document the source of your complaint
- your editorial...
- your article...
- your television program...
- your film...
...that appeared on (date)
under the title of (name of the
editorial, article, program, or
film)
- Say who you are
- As a reader, viewer/fan who has a psychiatric disability...
- As the family member of a wonderful young woman who has a...
- As the administrator of a program for persons who...
- Say what upset you and the harm it does
I can tell you that...
- your joke made me cry from pain and anger...
- your headline made my blood boil...
- you are misleading the public about...
- Add some information and psychiatric disabilities
I can also tell you that...
- negative stereotypes
profoundly affect
attitudes towards
persons with
mental illness. A
1990 study found
that two out of
three people
surveyed get their
information about
mental illness from
the media — not
doctors or other
professionals.
You can address any
harm done by
accurately reporting...
- Say what you want done
I implore you to stop...
- the slurs and jokes...
- the sensational headlines...
- the exploitation...
You can address any harm done by accurately reporting...
- Educate!
I enclose...
- educational material about...
- information about our program...
- an article about...
Here is a Letter to a Newspaper Conerning an Offensive Cartoon
Regarding the cartoon on your editorial page
yesterday, the use of the words “paranoid schizophrenic”
and the man in the straitjacket are
very offensive. Apparently the person who
authored this cartoon knows nothing about
mental illness. Paranoid schizophrenia is a very
serious mental illness, and it is nothing to make
jokes about.
The media is guilty of using this term
indiscriminately. One in four families is affected
by a mental illness. None of us has to look very
far to know someone who has been touched by
this disease.
I hope the people who are guilty of using these
terms will educate themselves.
Here is a Lettter to a Television Network about a Stigmatizing Episode of a Situtation Comedy Show
I am writing to express my deep disappointment
that your network plans to rebroadcast an
episode of the Drew Carey Show (August 20,
1997) that many of us in the mental health and
vocational rehabilitation community find highly
objectionable. This episode reinforces the wide-spread
perception that persons with mental illness
are dangerous, that employing people with
a history of mental illness or being friendly with
people with a history of mental illness is likely
to end in violence, and that people with mental
illness are to be kept away from the rest of society
as much as possible. Having made the mistake
twice now, the show simply chooses to
ignore the criticism, rebroadcasts the offending
episodes, and moves forward.
Here is a Letter to a Newspaper about an Offensive Obituary
Your Oct. 7 obituary of Margaret Mary Ray does
a great disservice to Ray and to the millions of
other people with mental illnesses. Focusing on
Ray’s unusual behaviors, it encourages the public
to think of those with mental illnesses more
as a bundle of frightening symptoms than as
complex human beings, like others, with back-ground
and roots and even accomplishments
unrelated to her mental illness.
In Ray’s obituary, readers learn of her stalking of
David Letterman, her imprisonment, and her
institutionalization — circumstances that are
appropriately reported as part of the history
that brought her to public attention. In contrast
to the more traditional obituaries, however
— such as the one just below hers — no information
about other aspects of her life is given.
The other obituary tells of the deceased
woman’s occupation and education. No information
about education and occupation is provided
for Margaret Mary Ray. The other obituary
names a home town and tells a little about the
woman’s early life. No such information is provided
for Ray. Readers are told of survivors who
will mourn the other woman’s passing. Ray’s
obituary ends only with a retelling of a joke
about her from the Letterman show.
Just because someone’s mental illness has led
her to jail, hospitalization and finally suicide
does not mean that she should be treated as less
fully human than others. Margaret Mary Ray —
as all those who have psychiatric disorders —
deserves recognition of a life and an identity
beyond mental illness.
Here is a "General Purpose" Educational Letter to a Newspaper
In the past 2½ years, two sons and a daughter of three of my friends have died from the same type of illness that afflicts my son. Two of these
people committed suicide. The other was psychotic
and thought he could swim across Budd
Inlet. He made it less than halfway.
The oldest of these three young people was
30. All had serious mental illness. Can you
imagine how I feel when mental illness is
mocked or trivialized?
The current ad campaign for Denny’s Grand Slam
Breakfast is a prime example of trivializing serious
mental illness. Every time I hear or see the
ad, it churns my stomach and makes me want to
cry. Saying, “You must be out of your mind,”
says, in essence, “You must be out of touch with
reality.” Being out of touch with reality means
being in psychosis. People who suffer from psychosis
suffer. And people who love people who
suffer from psychoses also suffer.
The “Happy Meal” boxes currently at McDonald’s
are another example. They feature “Animaniacs,”
which, I understand, is a Warner Bros. Saturday
morning cartoon starring Wakko and
Yakko. I’m sure it is not the intention of McDonald’s
or Warner Bros. that, the next time my son
has a relapse of his illness, his niece and
nephews should laugh at him instead of worrying
about him. That is certainly not their intention,
but it could well be the result.
I know there’s a lot of talk now about “political
correctness” and I know that people are about
fed up with it. I’m not talking about political
correctness. I’m talking about compassion and
consideration for people in deep pain. As
painful as psychoses can be, I’ve heard more
than one person with serious mental illness say
that the stigma is worse than the illness.
Please, these illnesses can strike in any family.
They generally hit people in their late teens or
early twenties — just as a person is about to
begin to fulfill his dreams.
Please teach your children compassion for people
with serious illness and join me in letting
advertisers know that any attempt to sell products
at the expense of other people’s pain is no
longer funny.
Here is a Letter to a Newspaper About the Use of Stereotypical Language
The first sentence of your April editorial,
“Painful Lessons,” describes the bombers of the
Oklahoma City Federal building as “deranged
individuals.” How interesting that this is the
nastiest thing you can think of to say about
them! Once again the press has equated mental
illness with violent evil acts.
Nowhere in the editorial, or other media reports
of the Oklahoma bombing, is there any indication
that the suspects are people with psychiatric
disabilities. Indeed, like others described in
your editorial who committed evil acts, they are
political fanatics who do not value human life.
When I phoned my ex-roommate last month to
wish her happy birthday, she told me a horror
story all too common for those of us with psychiatric
labels. When she sought treatment at a
psychiatric emergency ward, this small gentle
person was assaulted twice by staff. Her insistence
on specifying which medications she would
take got her labeled “non-compliant.” Then, after
the family minister was fooled into leaving, they
jumped her. After breaking her wrist in three
places, they injected her with huge amounts of
mind-paralyzing drugs. She awoke from the drug
haze in “four-point restraint,” with her wrist
swollen double its usual size, and in severe pain.
Labeling the acts of violent political or religious
fanatics the work of “deranged individuals”
directly feeds the prejudice which led to the
assault on my friend.
Serious Mental Illnesses, a term applied
to mental disorders that interfere with some
area of social functioning, affect over 10 million
adults (5.4 percent of the adult population).1
Though the illnesses are treatable and many
people lead productive lives before and after the
illness, the stigma and discrimination imposed
by society discourage treatment and impede
recovery. Two-thirds of the 44 million Americans
who have diagnosable mental disorders do not
seek treatment.2
only in appropriate medical contexts to reduce
public confusion.
Psychosis is a term used to indicate thinking
disruption and altered perceptions of reality.
Psychosis can occur during an acute phase of
schizophrenia, manic-depression, or major
depression, and is generally treatable. “Psychotic”
does not mean sinister or violent. The
term “psychotic” is often misused in articles,
novels, television dramas, and movies to
describe characters with a pattern of heinous
behavior. This error spreads confusion about the
nature of psychosis and adds to prejudice.
Schizophrenia is a diagnostic term applied to
a serious, treatable illness that will affect one
out of every 100 Americans. The illness responds
best to early, supportive treatment. Over time,
many people learn successful ways of managing
even severe symptoms to moderate their disrup-tiveness
to daily life.3
Schizophrenia is not split
or multiple personality. The word should be used
only in appropriate medical contexts to reduce
public confusion.
Major Depression, also called major unipolar
depression, is the leading cause of disability in
the United States and worldwide.4
It affects one
in 15 Americans in any given year. The suicide
rate is 6 times higher for persons with diagnos-able
depression than for a person without the
illness.5
With appropriate treatment, 80 percent
of those affected can improve.6
Manic-Depression, also called bipolar disorder,
is a treatable condition causing disabling
mood swings that will affect one in 100 Americans.
Determining the proper medication
requires persistence and patience.7
Studies show
that without treatment the illness leads to suicide
in nearly 20 percent of cases.8
Manic-depressive
illness, major depression, and
schizophrenia are complicated when combined
with alcohol or substance abuse.
Recovery from a serious mental illness may
take months or years. Progress toward recovery
is aided by recognizing symptoms and seeking
early help, appropriate medical care, social
and housing supports, guidance in managing
symptoms, access to crisis support, and rehabilitation
options.
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