Media reporting on psychosis : a study of entertainment television in Hong Kong

Abstract

Background Mental illness is one of the most stigmatized conditions in our society. Since 1990, Yankelovich [1] revealed that the mass media, including television and broadcast news, are the primary source of information about mental illness. The media are believed to play a major role in contributing to mental illness stigma via the images they portray of characters with mental illness as well as the misinformation communicated, inaccurate use of psychiatric terms, and unfavorable stereotypes of people with mental illness according to Wahl’s study [2]. However, little is known about the influence of Hong Kong media especially the TV broadcast. Therefore, this study is going to investigate Cantonese TV dramas which related on psychosis, which strongly influence the public recognition of the illness.

Objective The objective of this study is to1)analyze the selected terms ‘ 痴線’ , ‘精神病’ ‘思覺失調’ and ‘精神分裂’ which were related to mental illness that present in the target dramas; 2) to investigate negative images of mental illness in the Cantonese TV dramas; 3)to investigate the relationship between the characters and the terms.

Method This study investigated the domestic free television program service licensees TVB about the drama series they provide within 2001 to 2012 which broadcasted during 8pm to 10:30pm. The dramas in year 2001, 2002, 2006, 2007, 2011 and 2012 would be chosen. The terms‘ 痴線’ , ‘精神病’ ‘思覺失調’ and ‘精神分裂were selected to be analyzed. All episodes were classified by category and analyzed quantitatively.

Results the term of痴線still remained the highest than other terms within the same period of these six selected year. In year 2007, the term of ‘思覺失調’ started being used 0.7% but still in a low frequency comparatively to 痴線13.3% and 精神病1.9Similar results were found in the year of 2011 and 2012. There was a decreased in using 痴線, from approximately 30 % to 10% from 2001 to 2012. There was also an obvious decrease in using the term of ‘精神病’ from 10% to 1% from 2001 to 2012. In general, many of the references to mental illness were about a character's actions in a situation rather than a character's nature or mental state. Characters who received these terms were depicted negatively in the majority of occurrences.

Conclusion The stigma of psychiatric illness is a negative factor in its presentation, detection and treatment. The mass media’s power to impact public perception and the degree to which people are exposed to media representations makes the mass media one of the most significant influences in developed societies. Many studies including this study showed that the media tends to skew reality. People with mental illness were depicted in negative ways and it damaged their self-esteem as a result, they would not going to seek treatment.