Homicidal Maniacs and Narcissisfic Parasites: Stigmatization of Mentally Ill Persons in the Movies

Stigma of mental illness and ways of diminishing it

“…As part of the 'them and us' strategy, mental disorders have also been conferred with highly charged negative connotations of self-infliction, an excuse for laziness and criminality. Hyler et al (1991) have written about a number of Hollywood films where the representations of mental illness are of "overprivileged, oversexed narcissistic parasites". But 'pull yourself together' attitudes are not confined to fictional screen representations, with one Northern Ireland general practitioner writing: "Yet they ('neurotic patients') take up far too much of our time and energy -people complaining, miserable, depressed, neurotically whining about how unhappy they are, pouring out all their problems in the surgery and dumping them on my doorstep.…”

Reducing the stigma of schizophrenia: understanding the process and options for interventions

“…In addition, the stereotype of dangerousness and threat for the social environment is reinforced through the portrayal of mentally ill people in feature films. Here, too, those suffering from mental illnesses are over-represented in the role of the violent criminal (Signorelli, 1989;Hyler et al, 1991;Wilson et al, 1999). Results of a focus group study (Philo, 1996) demonstrate how strongly images from entertainment films can influence ideas of mental illness among viewers.…”

Burden of care in the home: issues for community management

“…Mentally ill people are portrayed in the media as 'maniacs' who cannot be trusted, and such media coverage has considerable impact on how people view the mentally ill (Hyler et al, 1991). Families also carry this stigma and become socially isolated (Kuipers et al, 1989).…”