Schizophrenia : Battling the stigma ​ ​ https://disneygenderandschizophrenia.wordpress.com/ Name : Angelica Ourri Word Count : 2019 Topic : The digital fight on schizophrenia stereotypes This essay will explore the significant impact that digital and social media has had on battling stereotypes and expressing counter hegemonic views on the issue of people living with schizophrenia. Whether it's paranoid or dissociative schizophrenia ,mainstream media has misrepresented and created false assumptions of people who suffer from the illness, creating a dominant misinformed view for the audience due to the high use of the violent and criminal schizophrenic camp representation. Thus, this essay will aim to analyse some of the dominant representations and how individuals or groups use social media and participatory culture to counter the misconceptions and hegemonic opinions of those who have schizophrenia. To conduct the following essay, movies and media texts such as “Saving Grace” , “American Horror Story” and “A beautiful mind” will be analysed from a more constructionist approach , of how media texts shape the audience's understanding of the world through their representations. Furthermore, to study the issue of representation in mass media and their role, the books “ The matter of images : essays on representation” By Richard Dyer and“Diffusions of Innovation” by ​ E ​ verett M. Rogers with focus on Hypodermic Needle theory Antonio Gramsci and Stuart Hall’s theories on Hegemony​, w ​ ere used to analyse the hegemonic ideas of schizophrenia in mass media. Also, in order to study the effect social media has had in expressing counter hegemonic views on the topic , books such as “The Structural information of the Public sphere” by Jürgen Habermas​ , “The Global Village: transformations in world life and media in the 21st century” By Marshall McLuhan and “Technologies Without Boundaries : on Telecommunications in a Global Age” by Ithiel De Sola Pool to study the utopian perspective of new digital media that give the audiences access to a greater variety of ideas and texts while also empowering individuals ,giving anyone the power to expresses a public opinion on any matter that’s of his/her concern and represent themselves the way they wish. People suffering from schizophrenia have been stigmatised by mass media. A misinformed representation of schizophrenics and absent presence of a more realistic character with schizophrenia has led to widely glamorised version and camp representation of this group as violent, “mad” and unable of living normal lives or forming significant relationships without inflicting any arm on themselves or others. Although , those with schizophrenia are far more likely to self harm that hurt others, even on the issue of self harming the media has over exaggerated the situation. In the article Portrayals of Schizophrenia by Entertainment Media: A Content Analysis of Contemporary Movies, Dr Patricia Owen of the university of Texas has found that a high 69% percent of schizophrenic movie characters have been portrayed to self harm or suicide, in comparison to the much smaller number of only 10 to 16% of actual people suffering from schizophrenia which self harm, while in the same study Dr Owen found that a highly unrealistic 83% of the schizophrenic characters were shown to be violent and dangerous to their surroundings, despite that only 6% of actual people with schizophrenia are in Prison (Schizophrenia.com, 2015) and in the article “Violence and schizophrenia: examining the evidence” Elisabeth Walsh has found that violent crimes committed by schizophrenic patients is below 10% (Walsh, 2002). Also, a 2008 survey by NAMI found that only one-fourth (24%) of the general public consider themselves to be familiar with the illness and a significant 80% would not feel comfortable dating someone with schizophrenia(NAMI - National Alliance of Mental Illnesses, 2008). These reports show that the dominant views on the subject are highly negative, a fact not surprising when taking in account the lack of information around schizophrenia. One could argue that the below movie examples, are some of the most mild examples schizophrenics being violent and/or not able to engage in a normal successful life, but like most stereotypes, as Dyer argued, The complexity and variety of a group is reduced to few characteristics and an exaggerated version is applied to everyone in the group and the characteristics appear as essential. One could argue These stereotypes are what enhance or create hegemonic views . Hegemony comes from the Greek, and means power – it’s a term coined by Gramsci to define any power relationship that is seen as natural and common sense. In the case of schizophrenia, the hegemonic views and stereotypes feature the violent and unreasonable schizophrenic. In the movie “ Savage Grace” , Anthony, Barbara’s son suffers from schizophrenia. In the film he is seen as having incencous relationship with his mother and killing her at the end. Although the specific film is based on a true story, it could be argued that this would be an exaggeration as the in an article ​Samuel Adams Green​ , Real Barbara Baekeland's former love deny’ that many of the incidents actually happened including the incest allegations. (Green, 2008). Another more recent example is the highly famous tv show , “American Horror story” (American Horror Story Wiki, 2015). Throughout the seasons,the show has featured many characters with various mental and physical illness from Dysmorfia, to serial killers in a season set in an asylum to the most recent murdered in this year’s season “Hotel” that features a dissociative schizophrenic cop who becomes obsessed with finding the “Ten commandments killer” , his life falls apart, he has visions of seeing him only to later discover that he is the serial killer. Also,in season 2 “Asylum” a woman suffering from delusions , believes she is Anne Frank, she as well is presented as violent as she shoots one of the doctors and neglects her kids, one that she also attempted to suffocate.​ with the exception of a few media texts such as, the movie “A Beautiful mind” in which the lead characters faces many difficulties and delusions but manages his disease and leads a successful life,​ One could argue that the repetitive use of this stereotype acts as a propaganda against people with schizophrenia and a hegemonic view of them that is injected with the use of mass media. The theory of the Hypodermic needle could be applied in this situation as it suggests that the media “inject” ideas into a passive audience, like giving a patient a drug. The theory is based on studies conducted in 1920s and 30s, which presupposed that the audience was a mass group – everyone consuming the same product and receiving the same “mass” message. Propaganda is based on this theory since it assumes that the audience will understand ideas / messages behind the media text, therefore a large number of people will be “injected” with the message.(Rogers, 2003). It could be argued that these representations are at least partly to blame for the 71% that is afraid for the safety around someone who is schizophrenic.(NAMI - National Alliance of Mental Illnesses, 2008) However, New digital media has given individuals and groups a chance to freely express their opinion and challenge these representation and dominant views, by representing themselves and expressing counter hegemonic or radical views. ​ Jurgen Habermas​ ​argued for the idea of ‘the public sphere’. where individuals can freely identify, discuss and help share public and social affairs(Habermas, 1989); for example Daily mail published an article online called “'How I live with schizophrenia'” an interview of a successful schizophrenic woman, Janey Antoniou, whose life, goes against the hegemonic beliefs and representation as she is a successful molecular scientist who lives with schizophrenia (Breeze, n.d.) . Twitter has also been used to open a discussion on the subject by using the #schizophrenia amongst others allowing fast responses and shares from people from all over the world (Symplur, 2015). ​ Ithiel De Sola Pool argues that new media has made room for a more democratic world where we have the opportunity to access greater variety of ideas and texts. It also empowers individuals, since even anyone can have a public opinion on any matter that concerns him This, inevitably means that anyone can also take control and at points challenge mainstream representations. Companies are using digital media to break the stereotypes in their advantage. During Schizophrenia awareness week this year “Rethink Mental Illness “ published a video as a campaign to show the real face of schizophrenia, and how the individuals in the video felt viewed and marginalised by the society around them. (Thirdsector.co.uk, 2015) Another organisation that makes great use of new digital media is “Time to change” by publishing real stories and blogs aiming to fight the stigma around schizophrenia(Time-to-change.org.uk, n.d.). Time to change also released a video that played in Cinemas across the u.k, and released online to reach a larger audience. The video titled “Schizo : the movie” used the stereotypical horror trailer setting with a twist to emphasize the difference in the representation of schizophrenia in movies versus real life (Time To Change, 2010). Marshall McLuhan argued that the world as we know it is a global village, at an era where time and distance are shrinking, individuals are more connected with each other as ever. He also argued, that whatever the audience or the content of a text, the technologies used to carry it changes our perception of the world, a video published on youtube by a schizophrenic patient explaining his illness is likely to be viewed as more personal rather than a film about schizophrenia on TV, thus more truthful as it also has a sense of voyeurism like viewing something intimate from their point of view. (McLuhan and Powers, 1989). Social and New digital media has helped and given the means to many individuals to challenge the stigma that comes with their mental illness. Youtuber “​MortenErCrazy​” talks about his illness , and how it is living with schizophrenia on his channel , how to cope with it, and numerous other vlogs some irrelevant to his illness, thus showing how he can lead a normal life despite the difficulties. (MortenErCrazy, 2011) One of the most popular schizophrenic youtubers is ​Autumn Asphodel​ , Autumn has 81.935 subscribers and uses her popularity in order to properly explain her illness. In her videos she shares her personal experience as well with facts in order to give her audience a better understanding of how it is to live with the a mental disorder. In a video called “Meet My Alters / Personalities | Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)” the audience can ​actually see her multiple personalities one by one (Autumn Asphodel, 2014). Youtubers and bloggers like the above open up a public discussion and a chance for a better representation of schizophrenics. Digital media has expanded that discussion through time and distance, individuals like the above have the power to share their message, representation and opinions with people all over the world. The audience can respond thus opening a discussion where they can share experiences or even become the producers. Digital media has gone one step further by providing chats, online support rooms , discussion and information on topics like schizophrenia in order to break the stigma.Furthermore, by using digital media in order to keep fighting the dominant ideologies of the mental illness various youtubers have created virtual simulators of paranoid schizophrenia to further try and show how living with the illness actually is versus how it's presented in mainstream media and what people think . In conclusion, mass mainstream media such as TV have created a dominant idea around schizophrenia that is linked to violence and horror, passing that ideology as the hegemonic one amongst the public as surveys show. Although, the stigma has not yet been broken new digital and social media has been a significant factor in giving a better understanding on how it is to live with schizophrenia and what schizophrenia is. The internet has been a great tool for individuals to expresses their views and share the experience with schizophrenia in order to fight the dominant negative ideologies around the subject . With the proper use of digital media a discussion around the otherwise taboo topic of mental illnesses has opened , hopefully leading to a new dominant view of schizophrenia and the abolishing of the fear against it and the people who live with it. References A Beautiful Mind. (2001). [film] Hollywood: Ron Howard. American Horror Story Wiki, (2015). ​Ten Commandments Killer. [online] Available at: http://americanhorrorstory.wikia.com/wiki/Ten_Commandments_Killer [Accessed 28 Dec. 2015]. Autumn Asphodel, (2014). ​“Meet My Alters / Personalities | Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)”. [image] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjemK803l2M [Accessed 28 Dec. 2015]. Breeze, S. (n.d.). ​'How I live with schizophrenia'. [online] Mail Online. 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