Notes

So why does society believe in these different stereotypes about people with mental disabilities or mental illnesses? After doing research I found that there are many reasons to why people in society will believe any stereotypes one has heard. Such as when people watch media one watches it mindlessly and because of cultural reasons. When people watch the media such as tv and movies they are made without the knowledge that when people watch something people are watching it mindlessly and not actually thinking about the outcome and who is affected by it. People only hear things in the media and believe it is true due to the fact it came from the media. In an interview with Casey Reit, she states that many people tend to fall into believing these stereotypes due to the fact that “People don’t reflect on their bias and it’s easier to buy into what they see and hear” rather than believing in their own opinion (1). People would rather not reflect on what one believe and risk going against society's beliefs and having a different belief than society. Which needs to be changed, people need to stand up for what one thinks is true and going against what society says because not everything society says is true especially when it comes to mental illnesses. When people get diagnosed with a mental illness they “shouldn’t matter what others think and not care what others think and you are never actually alone only since people think they have a perception that they are” because of society. (Reit 1) However in order for people to get the help they need people need to ignore the stereotypes that come along with having a mental disorder. Especially since many people in society are unwilling to have an open mind and not judge about things. Not only do the people who suffer need to ignore the people who are unwilling to learn the truth. That means that in order to change people's beliefs in stereotypes the “media producers who want to change people’s perceptions of persons with disabilities must therefore be especially conscious of the need to overcome barriers to mindfulness” since the person who has a mental disability did not ask to have it and is living a constant struggle (Englandkennedy 95). Due to the fact that people in society themselves are unwilling to look at their own bias to create their own beliefs these people rather go along with what society says. But in order to fix this the media must change the way they portray people with mental health disabilities since people would rather go along with what they media says. Society needs to stop portraying mental disabilities as people who are violent and crazy when in reality these things are not true, people with mental disabilities may be people who you may never thought to have had a mental disability. Society needs to stop judging people with mental health as something physical when it is mainly a mental fight with the person and their mental illness.