Study
Probes Mental Illness
By RICK CALLAHAN
12:01 AM ET 09/27/00 AP
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) _
Americans increasingly associate mental illness with
the potential for violence despite evidence the
mentally ill are not violence-prone, according to a
study that traced public perceptions over four
decades. The researchers said their findings pose a
contradiction because they also discovered that the
public has gained a deeper understanding of the causes
of mental illnesses and recognizes that such disorders
can be successfully treated.
The perceived link
between mental illness and violence could lie in
television and films that sensationalize murders
committed by mentally ill persons, they said.
``We really do need
to understand how the media shapes these attitudes
because there are concerns that they are having an
impact,'' said Bernice A. Pescosolido, an Indiana
University professor who co-authored the study
released Wednesday. She said previous research has
shown that people with mental illnesses are no more
likely to commit violent acts than the general
population.
The joint study by
Indiana University and Columbia University found that
12.1 percent of Americans surveyed in 1996 perceived
people with mental illnesses as ``violent, dangerous,
frightening''. That's nearly twice the 7.2 percent who
expressed such concerns in 1950.
The findings stand
in contrast to the study's other conclusions that the
public has a growing understanding that genetic and
stress-related factors can cause mental illness. While
the percentage of people who linked mental illnesses
to violence is small, the study found a growing
acceptance for using legal means to commit people with
mental illnesses if they are perceived as a threat to
others. About 95 percent of respondents supported such
actions in four of five categories of possible mental
health problems.
Meanwhile, nearly
half (48.4 percent) said they would be unwilling to
interact with a person with schizophrenia and 37.4
percent said they would avoid interacting with someone
with major depression.
The research
compared surveys taken in 1950, 1957, 1976 and 1996.
The 1996 survey quizzed about 1,444 people, finding
that more than half know someone who has been
hospitalized for a mental illness.
About a third also
said they once were on the verge of a nervous
breakdown or had another mental health problem. The
findings are evidence that negative portrayals of the
mentally ill on television and in movies have played a
large role in influencing the public's view of mental
illness, said Cecelia Vergaretti, senior director of
community services for the National Mental Health
Association, which represents about 350 organizations
nationwide.
She said other
studies have shown that the mass media tends to
characterize people with mental illnesses as ``violent
or evil.'' ``I think the media has perpetuated this
myth and this really shows that we have our work cut
out for us in combating that perception,'' she said.
Related Links:
Indiana
Consortium for Mental Health Services Research:
http://www.indiana.edu/(tilda)icmhsr/
National Mental
Health Association:
http://www.nmha.org
