How Personality Disorders Are Portrayed

Running head: DEPICTION OF PERSONALITY DISORDERS IN MEDIA
Depiction of Personality Disorders in Media
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DEPICTION OF PERSONALITY DISORDERS IN MEDIA1
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Depiction of personality disorders on the mainstream media....................................................2
Effect of social media depiction on diagnosis of mental health disorders.................................3
Ethical and the legal issues........................................................................................................4
Application in the real life..........................................................................................................5
Recommendation........................................................................................................................5
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................6
Personal Reflection....................................................................................................................7
References..................................................................................................................................9

DEPICTION OF PERSONALITY DISORDERS IN MEDIA2
Introduction
Personality disorders refers to long-term pattern of the behaviour along with the inner
experiences which is different from the normal order. It begins at the stage of the late
adolescence or in the early adulthood and it causes the distress for an individual. Mass media
wields immense power over the people and they influence the perception of the public about
the personality disorders to a great extent. The mass media have a great effect on the
perspective of the people that has a detrimental effect on lives of the people. The inaccurate
information on the social media platforms results in the misunderstandings that proves to be
catastrophic for the lives of the people. This report discusses about the depiction of the
personality disorders on the mainstream media along with the movies. The report talks about
the effect of the media depiction on diagnosis pertaining to the mental health disorders. This
report talks about the ethical along with the legal issues that can arise in the event of the
wrong depiction of the personality disorders over the platform of the media. This report talks
about the relevance of the topic in real life and reflects on the effect that it can have on the
work of a practitioner.
Depiction of personality disorders on the mainstream media
The media is a very crucial source of the information regarding the mental illness that
can leave a deep impact on the lives of the people. The television can be stated to be a
powerful medium that is responsible for the framing of the public consciousness. The media
representations of the mental illness is very powerful in Singapore and it overrides the
personal experiences of the people. The television along with the films think conceive of the
people with the mental illness as the “other” who are separate from the general fabric of the
society. The people are portrayed as being without any kind of the family or the friends and
they are thought of to be unworthy in the society. The social media platforms in Singapore

DEPICTION OF PERSONALITY DISORDERS IN MEDIA3
makes use of the sensational language so that it can perpetuate the myths along with the
stereotypes regarding the people having the mental illness (Straitstimes.com., 2020). The
skewed portrayal of the people having the mental illness in media is instrumental in creating
representation bias which enables stereotypes within the framework of the Singaporean
society. The behavioural theorists state that the actions of the individuals are determined on
the basis of the life experiences of an individual. The individuals learn the responses by
observing the behaviour of the other individuals. The manner of the depiction of the
personality disorders on the mass media have a great influence on the behaviour of the
individuals. It have been found that the social media penetration within Singapore is third
highest within world which is at 77 %. The Americans receive the information about the
mental illness from mass media when compared to that of mental health professionals. They
receive the majority of the information about the mental illness from the movies along with
the social media. The people having the mental illness views the images on the social media
platform and they feel embarrassed after watching the images (Chen & Lawrie, 2017). They
are depicted in a negative manner that proves to be harmful for their self-esteem. It damages
the confidence of a person and they develop the tendency of being discreet about their
problems. The negative images on mass media influences general public along with the
health care professionals.
Effect of social media depiction on diagnosis of mental health disorders
The misrepresentation regarding the mental illness over the platform of the social
media have an effect on the aspect of the diagnosis and on the kind of the care which is
provided to the clients. The portrayal of the schizophrenia in the recent movies lays emphasis
on positive symptoms of disease and it neglects the negative symptoms that can make the
process of the diagnosis difficult for the people. The wrong symptoms are emphasized by the
media like the visual hallucinations along with the bizarre delusions while at the same time