{"id":66117,"date":"2019-06-13T19:12:51","date_gmt":"2019-06-14T03:12:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/?p=66117"},"modified":"2019-06-13T19:12:52","modified_gmt":"2019-06-14T03:12:52","slug":"the-impact-of-the-medias-glamorization-of-drug-abuse-on-mental-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/the-impact-of-the-medias-glamorization-of-drug-abuse-on-mental-health\/","title":{"rendered":"The Impact of the Media\u2019s Glamorization of Drug Abuse on Mental Health"},"content":{"rendered":"
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We often hear about celebrities with addictions from various news outlets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Addiction and mental health issues can affect anyone. In fact, about 19{54c12dad2cc2b53ae830e39915b1a3e70288dbcbbeb8bbf8395437c5dc3c512c} of all U.S. adults<\/a> have dealt or are currently dealing with a mental illness, according to a national survey held by SAMHSA in 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Role of Media in Drug Abuse<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It has been shown that the media contributes to the stigma\nof mental illness through poor language choice, shocking or comical images and exaggerated\nand inaccurate portrayals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dozens of research studies conclude that the type of news\ncoverage presented affects the likelihood of drug abuse and suicide in\nvulnerable individuals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The media disservices the public when mental health issues are presented dramatically. Untreated drug and alcohol abuse<\/a>, mental health disorders and death are public health issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Is the Media Glamorizing Mental Illness?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

One professional study<\/a>\nfound that young people have over 250 labels used to stigmatize people with\nmental illness. The media propagating these labels sensationalizes and\nglamorizes the pain families go through when a loved one dies from mental\nillness. Some journalists even degrade victims of suicide with language like\n\u201ccrazed\u201d or \u201cdisturbed\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The personal stories of celebrity overdoses and the promotion of anorexia, among other things, are glamorized on social media with widespread images and hashtags. Romanticizing stories of overdose and self-harm is influential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What Are the Repercussions of Sensationalized Reporting?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When a repetitious story describes the method of suicide in\nexplicit terms, the risk for individual suicide increases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This sensationalized dispersion of information, though\nskewed, has many believing people with mental illness are violent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Actually, people struggling to deal with mental issues are statistically<\/a> less\nlikely to commit violent acts than people without mental illness. In fact, many\npeople suffer mentally because<\/em> of the\nviolence and abuse they have suffered at the hands of someone else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roadblocks to Recovery<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It can be hard to get treated for mental health and\naddiction issues for a number of reasons, like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n