Practitioner’s Corner
Stigma, Schizophrenia and the Media:
Exploring Changes in the Reporting of
Schizophrenia in Major U.S. Newspapers
Newspaper media are a major source of infor-
mation about mental illness in the United States.
Previous research has shown that some printed
material has been both negative and stigmatiz-
ing, which can have a detrimental impact on
individuals with mental illnesses. Such percep-
tions represented in the media may cause those
with mental illnesses to internalize a negative
and stigmatizing stereotype and hinder the pub-
lic’s understanding of mental illness. In recent
years, advocacy groups have increased their
efforts to combat stigmatization of those with
mental illnesses. This study focused specifically
on the use of stigmatizing language concerning
schizophrenia in U.S. newspapers. Because
advocacy to decrease stigmatization of mental
illness has increased in recent years, this study
compared media depictions of schizophrenia in
2000 and 2010 to determine if there had been a
reduction in reporting of dangerousness and
perpetration of crime by people with schizo-
phrenia or in stigmatizing language. All articles
published in five high-circulation newspapers
from diverse urban geographical regions
between January 1 and June 1 in 2000 and 2010
that contained the words “schizophrenia” or
“schizophrenic” were reviewed. Articles were
categorized under the categories of education,
incidental reference, medical and pharmaceuti-
cal news, metaphorical use, charity, obituary,
medically inappropriate, and human interest.
Human interest articles were further subcatego-
rized into advocacy, crimes committed by people
with schizophrenia, crimes committed against
those suffering from schizophrenia, and issues
related to poor mental health care. There was a
statistically significant decrease in reporting of
crime committed by people with schizophrenia
in 2010 compared with 2000. However, no signif-
icant difference was found in metaphorical
usage of the terms schizophrenia and schizo-
phrenic between 2000 and 2010. (Journal of
Psychiatric Practice 2011;17:439–446)
Journal of Psychiatric Practice Vol. 17, No. 6
Copyright © Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.
ARSHYA VAHABZADEH, MD
JUSTINE WITTENAUER, MD
ERIKA CARR, PhD
KEY WORDS: schizophrenia, stigma, newspapers,
media
INTRODUCTION
The news media are a powerful and influential
resource. They are also one of the most important
sources of information concerning mental illness for
the general public.1 Research has suggested that
reporting of mental illnesses in the media is overly
negative and stigmatizing2,3 and that undue atten-
tion is given to issues of dangerousness and unpre-
dictability, with a particular focus on criminality.4
This pattern of reporting is especially true concern-
ing individuals suffering from schizophrenia and
other severe mental illnesses.5 Although, in the
media, individuals with mental illnesses are more
likely to be portrayed as perpetrators rather than
victims of crime, in reality, these individuals are typ-
ically more vulnerable to being victims of both vio-
lent and non-violent crimes than those without such
disorders.6 Such negative media portrayals provide
an unrealistic and unjust view of individuals who
experience mental illness. They also contribute to
misperceptions, social rejection, fear, and shame, and
they do an overall disservice to the community of
those recovering from mental illness.7
The primary goal of journalists is to give fair, accu-
rate, and unbiased reports of news events that will
be of interest to the public; however, a secondary goal
is to capture the attention of readers and viewers. In
order to achieve this second goal, journalists often
VAHABZADEH and WITTENAUER: Department of Psychiatry
and Behavioral Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA; CARR:
Yale University School of Medicine.
Copyright ©2011 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Inc.
Please send correspondence to: Arshya Vahabzadeh, MD,
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory
University School of Medicine, 2004 Ridgewood Drive, Suite 218,
Atlanta, GA 30322. arshya.vahabzadeh@emory.edu
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
DOI: 10.1097/01.pra.0000407969.65098.35
November 2011 439
Practitioner’s Corner
rely on stories that highlight controversy or conflict
in order to generate interest in their target audi-
ence.8 Stories that involve sensational headlines
linked to a mental illness have been shown to strong-
ly attract readers’ attention and to contribute to sub-
sequently unfavorable public conceptions of the
mental illness.7 Thornton and Wahl found that read-
ing an article describing a violent crime committed
by an individual with a mental illness resulted in
readers endorsing less acceptance of people with
mental illness in the community and greater need
for restrictions on such individuals.7
When newspaper readers encounter repeated neg-
ative and often emotion-provoking news articles
about individuals with mental illnesses, the effects
can be significant. These negative impressions can
not only invalidate positive news items, but they may
also override people’s own positive personal experi-
ences with those who have a mental illness,9,10 and
they can have a profound impact on individuals who
experience mental illness and their families.
The clinical significance and relevance of reporting
concerning schizophrenia and its potential impact on
patients, caregivers, and the wider public must not
be underestimated. Stigmatization of mental illness-
es through adverse news reporting can have detri-
mental effects on multiple aspects of psychiatric
care. It can result in patients declining psychiatric
assessment and referral, non-adherence with recom-
mended treatment, and, as a result, a poorer progno-
sis.11 People with mental illnesses may also
encounter stigma when they attempt to integrate
into society, such as when seeking employment,
housing, or use of community facilities11 (Table 1).
Patients’ awareness of the stigma associated with
and negative public attitudes toward mental illness-
es can cause them to develop coping strategies that
may interfere with functioning and hinder recovery.
These strategies include minimizing or denying
symptoms and isolating oneself from society.12
The stigma associated with schizophrenia has no
boundaries and has been observed worldwide.
Concern about stigma led the Japanese Society of
Psychiatry and Neurology in 2002 to change the
term used for schizophrenia in the Japanese lan-
guage from “Seishin Bunretsu Byo” (mind-split-dis-
ease) to “Togo Shitcho Sho” (integration disorder).13
The new name was believed to be less stigmatizing
and to more accurately reflect current understand-
ing of the disorder. Research done before this change
440 November 2011
Copyright © Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.
had revealed that psychiatrists were hesitant to
mention a schizophrenia diagnosis to patients due to
the intense stigma associated with the diagnosis and
concern about the impact of revealing the diagnosis
on adherence to treatment and subsequent clinical
outcome. For example, one study found that only 7%
of Japanese psychiatrists always informed patients
with schizophrenia of their diagnosis.14 The renam-
ing of the disorder in Japan resulted in a significant
increase in the number of patients who were
informed of their diagnosis over the course of 3
years.13 This finding highlights the impact of the cul-
tural stigma and how personal knowledge and the
labeling of a diagnosis can affect adherence to treat-
ment and clinical outcomes.13 As if the symptoms
and experience of schizophrenia were not enough to
manage, the culturalization of this negative stigma
has its own exacerbating effect on how individuals
experience schizophrenia.
Since research has shown the effect of stigma on
mental illness, in particular with regard to schizo-
phrenia, it is imperative to understand where and
how such views are created and fed in society. The
media, via a variety of modalities (e.g., newspapers,
television, Internet) has a powerful effect on society
and culture. Newspapers, specifically, have been
referred to as “social structures” for the establish-
ment of culture. Research indicates that this social
structure concept holds true for perpetuating stigma
associated with mental illnesses.15 Studies have
shown that newspapers in predominantly English-
speaking countries have routinely stigmatized men-
tal health problems in their reporting, for example,
frequently using the terms “schizophrenia” and
“schizophrenic” in a pejorative metaphorical man-
ner.16,17 Given the empirical evidence of the negative
effect of stigma on the well-being of individuals with
mental illness, mental health care providers, advo-
cates, and the general public cannot afford to ignore
the impact of messages being sent by the media.18
Since the beginning of the new millennium, atten-
tion has increasingly focused on public awareness of
mental illnesses, with mental health professionals,
advocacy groups, and governmental bodies targeting
the stigmatization of these illnesses. Organizations
such as the National Mental Health Awareness
Campaign, founded in 1999, have sought to chal-
lenge the social stigma that people with mental ill-
nesses commonly experience.19 The National
Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), a nationwide
Journal of Psychiatric Practice Vol. 17, No. 6
 Practitioner’s Corner

Table 1. Clinical and wider impact of stigmatization on psychiatric care

At onset of symptoms At time of diagnosis Follow-up and wider issues

Impact on patients
1. Denial of symptoms
2. Declines psychiatric referral
3. Self-medication (including
substance abuse)
Impact on families
1. Declines treatment Poor prognosis due to:
2. Refuses admission 1. Delay in presentation
3. Poor adherence to 2. Poor adherence to treatment
medication 3. Substance abuse comorbidity
4. Poor attendance at 4. Decreased social functioning
follow-up (employment/education/
housing/social relationships)

1. Symptoms perceived as laziness 1. Family may support 1. Wider public discrimination against the
or other negative personal traits patient’s decision to family secondary to stigma may lead to
2. Reduced level of functioning decline treatment isolation and increased community
affects family relationships 2. Family’s denial of hostility toward use of facilities
3. Poor patient functioning may diagnosis may lead 2. Family may scapegoat and seek to
affect employment and income to “doctor shopping” isolate the patient.
4. Family may need to care for
patient.
Adapted from Byrne 1997, copyright 1997 Royal Society of Medicine Press, UK11

advocacy group for people with mental illnesses and
their families, initiated a “Stigma Busters” move-
ment in December of 1999.20 Currently 20,000 indi-
viduals are involved with Stigma Busters, which
aims to highlight and protest against stigmatizing
comments and situations as well as negative por-
trayals of mental illnesses in national and local
media. Educational and awards programs have also
been undertaken to improve journalistic reporting
concerning people with mental illnesses and mental
health issues. An example is the University of
Washington Mental Health Reporting project,21
which provides education and advice to journalists
regarding accurate and fair reporting concerning
mental illness and also provides access to mental
health experts and fact sheets. The Atlanta-based
Carter Center also provides educational opportuni-
ties for journalists and has a year-long fellowship
program for mental health journalism.22 The purpose
of this fellowship program is to encourage reporting
of accurate information about mental illness instead
of sensational depictions or negative and unjust
stereotypes. Journal fellows have produced award-
winning books, newspaper articles, and radio and
video documentaries with the goal of combating stig-
ma, reducing discrimination, and improving the pub-
lic’s understanding of mental health issues.
Psychiatrists have also been proactive in reducing
stigma and providing accurate information about
mental health problems. The American Psychiatric
Association has a key interest in mental healthcare
parity and has also developed a public education
website (healthyminds.org) that provides mental
health service users with high quality, jargon-free
information about mental illnesses including schizo-
phrenia.23 The World Psychiatric Association also
has a special Section on Stigma and Mental
Disorders that works to reduce stigma and discrimi-
nation by disseminating information and supporting
research and training efforts internationally.24
Some evidence suggests that reporting of mental
illnesses in the media has become less negative.25
The goal of the study described here was to compare
reporting of severe mental illnesses (as represented
by schizophrenia) in 2000 with such reporting in
2010 in key high circulation national newspapers.
The subject matter of the news articles was reviewed
to gain insight into prevalent themes in reporting
about schizophrenia (e.g., focus on treatment, advo-
cacy, education, criminality, human interest) and to
examine use of stigmatizing language. The authors
hypothesized that a more enlightened view of mental
illnesses and a decrease in reporting concerning
criminality and dangerousness of individuals with

Journal of Psychiatric Practice Vol. 17, No. 6 November 2011 441

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Practitioner’s Corner
Table 2. Newspapers reviewed with
approximate daily circulation
2010 daily
Newspaper circulation
New York Times > 950,000
Washington Post > 578,000
Los Angeles Times > 616,000
Chicago Tribune > 516,000
Atlanta Journal & Constitution > 196,000
schizophrenia might be reflected in the media fol-
lowing the de-stigmatization efforts of advocacy
groups, governmental organizations, and the medical
profession over the last decade.
METHODS
Using the ProQuest Newspaper archives, five high-
circulation U.S. newspapers were identified (Table
2). These major newspapers were representative of
diverse urban geographical regions of the United
States and an archive history from 2000 through
2010 was available for each of them. These newspa-
pers were searched for the terms “schizophrenia” and
“schizophrenic” during the two 5-month periods:
January 1 through June 1 in 2000 and 2010.
Articles citing schizophrenia were categorized
using the similar principal category groups as has
been done in previous schizophrenia-related media
research projects.16,17 These included education, inci-
dental reference, medical and pharmaceutical news,
metaphorical use of the terms “schizophrenia and
“schizophrenic,” obituary, charity, medically inappro-
priate, and human interest. An incidental reference
involved use of the term “schizophrenia” or “schizo-
phrenic” without a connection to content about the
actual illness but rather an “out of the blue” use of
the word that did not fit in any of the other cate-
gories. A medically inappropriate categorization
refers to content that is negative toward medical
treatment or has an antipsychiatry message.
Metaphorical use refers to the use of the term “schiz-
ophrenia” or “schizophrenic” in phrases such as “the
traffic that morning was so schizophrenic.” Articles
in which schizophrenia or individuals with schizo-
phrenia were the main focus were further evaluated
442 November 2011
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and subcategorized by article content under human
interest. The subcategories under human interest
were advocacy, crime committed by a person with
schizophrenia (total), crime committed by person
with schizophrenia (murder), crime committed
against people with schizophrenia, issues related to
poor mental health care, and other. Attention was
paid to emotive or stigmatizing language in all of the
articles that were reviewed in order to aid proper
categorization.
RESULTS
Quantitative Findings
In the 5-month period in 2000, 7,114 articles were
published in the five selected newspapers, 247 of
which mentioned schizophrenia. In the 5-month peri-
od in 2010, 4,397 articles were published in the five
selected newspapers, with 151 articles mentioning
schizophrenia. Although 62% of the articles we exam-
ined were published in 2000 and 38% were published
in 2010, the percentage of articles mentioning schizo-
phrenia in those two time periods did not differ (3.5%
versus 3.4%). All 398 articles were manually
reviewed and categorized as shown in Tables 3 and 4.
Metaphorical and incidental use of the terms
schizophrenia and schizophrenic. Over one quar-
ter of all references to schizophrenia in 2010 and
over 20% of these references in 2000 involved
metaphorical usage. Although there was an increase
in metaphorical usage and a decrease in incidental
usage in 2010, changes in these categories between
2000 and 2010 were not statistically significant
(Table 3).
Research, industrial reporting, and educational
articles. There was also no significant increase in
the reporting of research and pharmaceutical indus-
try news involving schizophrenia between 2000 and
2010. Educational and management related articles
were a small minority of all articles reviewed (3.8%
of all articles reviewed from both time periods). No
significant change was noted in the number of edu-
cational articles between the two time periods.
Human interest articles. The largest number of
articles were in the human interest category, which
accounted for 31.2% of all articles reviewed for schiz-
Journal of Psychiatric Practice Vol. 17, No. 6
 Practitioner’s Corner

Table 3. Newspaper articles mentioning schizophrenia

January–June 2000 January–June 2010

n = 247 n = 151
Article breakdown n (%) n (%) ␹2 p-value

Educational/prevention or
management related articles 9 (3.6%) 6 (4.0%) 0.07 0.80
Incidental reference 68 (27.5%) 37 (24.5%) 0.68 0.41
Medical research/pharmaceutical
industry news 23 (9.3%) 16 (10.6%) 0.32 0.57
Metaphorical use of terms
schizophrenia or schizophrenic 55 (22.3%) 40 (26.5%) 1.57 0.21
Obituary 8 (3.2%) 3 (2.0%) 0.76 0.38
Charity related 5 (2.0%) 4 (2.7%) 0.30 0.58
Human interest total 79 (32.0%) 45 (29.8%) 0.28 0.60

Table 4. Human interest subcategorization

January–June 2000 January–June 2010

Human interest n = 247 n = 151
articles subcategory n (%) n (%) ␹2 p-value

Advocacy related 15 (6.1%) 11 (7.3%) 0.375 0.54

Crime committed by person with
schizophrenia (murders only) 51 (20.1%) 5 (3.3%) 26.572 < 0.0001
Crime committed by person with
schizophrenia (all crime
including murders) 55 (22.3%) 20 (13.2%) 7.170 < 0.001
Crime toward people with
schizophrenia 1 (0.4%) 1 (0.7%) 0.268 0.60
Issues related to poor
mental health care 5 (2.0%) 6 (4.0%) 3.061 0.08
Other 3 (1.2%) 7 (4.6%) 15.034 0.001

ophrenia references. No significant increase was
found between 2000 and 2010 in the proportion of
human interest articles, including articles focusing
on a single person or group of people with schizo-
phrenia (Table 3).
The sub-categorization of the human interest arti-
cles revealed some interesting findings (Table 4). Of
the 124 human interest articles reviewed in both
time periods, 75 (60%) focused on crimes committed
by people with schizophrenia, with murders commit-
ted by people with schizophrenia accounting for 56
articles (45% of all human interest articles). Despite
the fact that people with schizophrenia are more
prone to be the victims rather than perpetrators of
crime,6 situations in which people with schizophre-
nia were victims of crime accounted for only 2 (1.6%)
of the 124 human interest articles reviewed.
A significant decrease was found between 2000
and 2010 in the proportion of articles in the category
“crime committed by a person with schizophrenia
(total)” (p < 0.001). There was an even more signifi-
cant decrease in articles describing murders commit-
ted by people with schizophrenia (p < 0.0001). No
significant differences were found in rates of articles
concerning advocacy and poor mental health care
between the two time periods.

Journal of Psychiatric Practice Vol. 17, No. 6 November 2011 443

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Practitioner’s Corner
Qualitative Findings
Metaphorical use. The categorization of metaphorical
usage revealed some interesting findings, illustrating
how stigma may be exacerbated by connotations of
the word schizophrenia. In vernacular language, the
term schizophrenia is commonly used to describe
illogical actions. It is often used in situations when a
person or organization appears to make two conflict-
ing decisions, feeding into popular public misconcep-
tions about schizophrenia and “multiple or split
personalities.” These misconceptions contrast with a
lack of metaphorical association with schizophrenia
symptoms such as auditory or visual hallucinations.
The following are examples of the metaphorical use
of the terms “schizophrenia” and “schizophrenic” iden-
tified in our search:
“Audiences are really schizophrenic,” said…a
Penn State kinesiology professor who specializes
in sports and culture. “They want to hear but they
don’t want to know.”26
Nevertheless, in a sort of culinary schizophrenia,
enough of the French keep downing Big Macs and
other McDonald’s fare to keep 804 outlets up and
running in the land of gourmet cuisine and the
four-hour Sunday lunch.27
The “schizophrenia” is everywhere. Maybe it’s in
the water. A perfect example the other day was
this woman on a Northeast Washington play-
ground. One minute, she crouched low, looking
eye-to-eye with her daughter, all smiles and
mommy giddiness, glitter and unicorns. Then her
BlackBerry buzzed, and her face changed. She
stood up: “Just a second. I’m working on this bil-
lion-dollar loan to Angola. I’ve gotta deal with
this,” and she began tapping away at the PDA.
Bizarre. She turned all serious, like a totally dif-
ferent person.28
Human interest articles. Crime, violence, and dan-
gerousness were common themes in human interest
articles during both the 2000 and 2010 time periods.
While the content and descriptions used to describe
mental illnesses were generally more factual than
sensational, exceptions were noted. A striking exam-
ple was seen in April 2000 when the following head-
line appeared in the New York Times:
444 November 2011
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Hole in Gun Control Law Lets Mentally Ill
Through; RAMPAGE KILLERS Third of four arti-
cles: Getting Guns29
As noted in the headline, this excerpt was one of four
articles whose titles were similarly sensational and
were likely to contribute to highly stigmatizing views
of individuals with mental illnesses. Another example
was found in May 2010, when the headline read:
China: Knife-Wielding Woman Suffered From
Schizophrenia.30
This article described how a woman with schizophre-
nia was carving into a tree using a knife and was
stopped by security guards. Subsequently she walked
into a youth center but there was no reported injury
or altercation. The article continued with a brief men-
tion of how another unrelated person, without a men-
tionable mental illness, had “hacked to death seven
kindergartners and two adults” in China the day
before. The article appeared to focus more attention
on the woman with the alleged mental illness carry-
ing a knife than on the unrelated man without a men-
tal illness who had killed nine people the previous
day.
An article from the Atlanta Journal Constitution
seemed to be more openly stigmatizing, not only to
people suffering from schizophrenia, but also those
who had alcohol and substance use issues:
Cobb County is drawing a stream of new busi-
nesses and subdivisions, but the growth has also
meant a rising number of uninsured alcoholics,
drug addicts, and schizophrenics.31
Clearly, when such language is used by journalists, it
suggests that people with mental illnesses and those
with substance use disorders are undesirable. By
using their health problem as their primary descrip-
tor, journalists are both labeling and dehumanizing
these “unwanted” people.
DISCUSSION
Reporting of issues related to schizophrenia in major
U.S. newspapers highlights continuing concern about
stories of dangerousness and perpetration of crime by
people with schizophrenia. A particular overemphasis
was noted in the reporting of violent crime and mur-
Journal of Psychiatric Practice Vol. 17, No. 6

der by people with schizophrenia, which contrasts sig-
nificantly with the minimal reporting of crimes
against people with schizophrenia. While crimes com-
mitted by people with schizophrenia made up the
largest subcategory in the human interest category in
both 2000 and 2010, the reporting of such crimes
appeared to have decreased in 2010. In particular, a
highly significant decrease was noted for the report-
ing of murders committed by people with schizophre-
nia. These findings are consistent with previous
research indicating decreasing reporting on mental
illnesses in association with crime and violence.15
These results should, however, be viewed in the con-
text of the complex relationship between crime and
schizophrenia. The Schizophrenia and Related
Disorders Alliance of America states that “people with
schizophrenia are no more violent than their neigh-
bors;” however, they are “victims of murder 6 times
more than the general population”32 but this is rarely
reported. A recent press release by NAMI stated that
“people with mental illness are 10 times more likely
than other Americans to be victims of violence” and
that acts of violence by people with mental illness are
“exceptional.”33 However, an association between vio-
lence and schizophrenia was reported by Fazel et al.,
who conducted both a systematic review and a meta-
analysis of related schizophrenia research.34 The
report found a 20-fold increase in the risk of a person
with schizophrenia committing murder. A large pro-
portion of this excess risk was linked to substance
abuse comorbidity, and a substance use disorder alone
was associated with a similarly elevated murder risk.
Unfortunately reporting on charities, advocacy, and
educational or management issues related to schizo-
phrenia continued to be minimal and did not change
significantly between 2000 and 2010 in the newspa-
pers that were searched.
Use of the word “schizophrenia” as a metaphor has
been increasingly recognized as part of our cultural
language20 and has been called the new “illness as
metaphor.”17 The findings of this study agree with a
previous study on the metaphorical use of “schizo-
phrenia” in 1996–1997. In that study, the researchers
reviewed 1,802 articles in U.S. newspapers and found
metaphorical use in 28.1% of their sample, compara-
ble to the prevalence of 26.5% in 2010 found in this
study.17 Unfortunately, it also appears that the nature
of the metaphorical use of “schizophrenia” found in
this study is similar to that found in earlier studies,
with the term principally used to refer to contradicto-
Journal of Psychiatric Practice Vol. 17, No. 6
Copyright © Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.
Practitioner’s Corner
ry or strange decisions or to a “split personality.” The
metaphorical use of schizophrenia in newspapers is
not solely a U.S. phenomenon. Research in other coun-
tries (e.g., Italy, Turkey) has found that similar use of
the term is prevalent.35,36
The metaphorical use of the word “schizophrenia” in
negative imagery can only be detrimental to the pub-
lic’s perception and understanding of schizophrenia. It
has previously been noted that stigmatizing
metaphors can result in negative perceptions of men-
tal illnesses in the public.37 In addition, people who
suffer from a mental illness often internalize these
perceptions, and, anticipating rejection by society,
may develop coping strategies that involve social iso-
lation and reluctance to admit their symptoms or ill-
ness.12 Such coping mechanisms become obstacles
that must be addressed and overcome by psychiatrists
to ensure that patients receive the care they need.
This study had several limitations. The newspapers
involved in the study were high circulation from pre-
dominately urban and industrialized cities. It may be
difficult to generalize our findings to newspapers with
smaller circulations or those published outside major
urban areas. In addition, the use of additional time
points and examination of a longer duration of time at
each time point would perhaps have yielded more
information about the changing face of reporting of
schizophrenia in the newspaper media. Despite these
limitations, our findings warrant further investiga-
tion and research since negative reporting of schizo-
phrenia may have a substantial impact on treatment
and recovery.
Stigma and discrimination are significant obstacles
to the development and delivery of mental health
treatment.24 The mass media, including newspapers,
are a major source of structural stigma faced by peo-
ple with mental illnesses. As mental health profes-
sionals, we must understand the detrimental impact
the media’s reporting on schizophrenia may have on
our patients. We have a duty to inform both our
patients and the public about the efficacy of treatment
and the possibility of recovery, which may be omitted
in reporting on mental illnesses in the media. It also
important for us, as mental health professionals, to
seek to reduce stigma against mental illness in both
clinical and non-clinical settings and to use the media
as a positive force to undo stigma, given the power the
media has to create cultural constructs and beliefs.
For example, advocacy efforts targeted at encouraging
journalists to consult with mental health profession-
November 2011 445
Practitioner’s Corner
als to achieve accurate reporting regarding mental ill-
ness has the potential to reduce incorrect perceptions
and fear and to promote increased societal awareness
and understanding of those who suffer from mental
illness. As former U.S. president Bill Clinton said,
“Mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of, but stig-
ma and bias shame us all.”
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