People with schizophrenia being wrongly portrayed in media. Not all are bad or violent

It is really upsetting to watch CSI and NCIS and crime and detective shows always portraying the schizophrenic as a psychotic serial killer. Even on ‘Home and Away’ they depict the character Mick presumably a schizophrenic as a psycho. It upsets me as I have the diagnosis of a-typical psychosis or schizophrenia since 26, and I’m a decent good living Christian. My friend told me he does not see me as having a ‘disability’. If I didn’t mention my diagnosis, people would not know. Another friend of mine with chronic schizophrenia is a good living Christian. My father told me only about 2 % of people suffering schizophrenia commit murders. So why a does the media paint us all with schizophrenia and tar with the same brush. Why is it that a few bad cases of schizophrenia in the telly news and newspaper make us all look bad. Not all of us with schizophrenia are bad. We are ordinary people that suffer from an illness. We are not all the same. I have heard from Jesus at the Healing Rooms. He gave some words to the church elders to tell me. I’m a good Christian, and I’ve been in remission of schizophrenia, and I’m a good person and with no criminal record and I’ve never hurt anyone in my life with words or actions. That’s why this wrong portrayal of schizophrenics makes me sad. We are not all like this.

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The violent schizophrenic does seem to be a stock character in Hollywood. I remember seeing an sz man on “Law and Order” who was violent and a threat to society.

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Ya dear @crimby, Ya so true. My auntie said that people who patronise people or wrongly ‘judge’ someone for having a mental illness are ignorant. Jesus said ’ Do not judge others’, and a tree (a person) is known by its fruit.’

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Tabloid media sensationalism-small minds.

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It’s a well worn trope. People are most afraid of what seems foreign to them. Newspapers and tv shows take advantage of this to sell papers and get ratings.

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Also, a lot of the stigma is because people with sz or sza fear the very same stigma, so most don’t know they have it. So the negative examples are all they ever see.

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@Chess24, it says in scripture ’ Guard your heart with all diligence, for from it flows the issues of life.’ Proverbs 4:23 …strong text …Yes, so we need to guard our heart from some things we see and hear, in other words evil or violence. So, yes I change the channel if a program on telly has too much sex and violence in it. The internet can have some good websites on it and you can research books and articles on it and answer e-mails. So why do you judge me. A tree is known by its fruit. In my country as in the majority of the Western world, Christians watch telly and surf the net. Not everything on the net or on telly is bad. There are some good websites ie. christian chatrooms and forums and websites and blogs and some good tv shows, that are educational, informative and healthy. Not all are bad.

@Bambi I don’t know how it is in Christianity, but in Judaism we have a concept
of being wary of trials.
That means, being afraid of things that might cause us to sin or lose our faith.
And the internet and TV definitely contain stuff that is heretical, that might cause you to sin and to lose your faith.
I think that you should bring the issue up with your clergymen what to do to protect your faith.
There are also compromise versions, of using a filtered version of the internet.

Also at least in Judaism, the most important commandment is to study religious texts(at least for men).
It might be that your time will be better spent studying religious texts and not
watching secular TV shows.
Again, this is something that you may consult with your clergymen about.

dear @Chess24, Thank you for your reply and as much as I respect Judaism, for Jesus WAS a Jew, I do not watch bad secular telly. But not all secular programs are bad and NOT all secular people are bad. Yes, as a Christian, we avoid bad or sinful things too. Yes we are wary of trials too, but trials are inevitable in everyone’s life and we are taught to 'be happy/ joyful in trials **James 12-4…**Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. strong textRomans 12:12…

Folks, Remember that religious topics are off limits on the forum because they can be triggering for some and can cause disagreements between members.

Also, the religious discussions are off-topic for this thread.

I’m going to unlock this thread, but I will need to re-lock it if the religious discussions continue.

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I get upset about sz sufferers getting demonised in the media too. It’s so unfair. The other day I was reading a Danielle Steel book and she wrote of a student going on a shooting spree and that he was mentally ill and untreated. She wrote in her novel that students should be protected from those with mental illness. As if they are a threat or something!

Why is it that mental illness = violent in our society? It’s so stigmatising! We as mental illness sufferers should help to break the stigma. Not that it is easy!

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Ya dear @Hadeda, I love your peace sign on your avatar. Ya it really is cruel and unkind the stigma. I can only discuss my illness and diagnosis of schiz with close friends. I cannot tell the neighbours or they may stop talking to me or act out of prejudice. Dad said ppl with mental illness are treated like the social lepers of the 21 st century.

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I see it as a wrongful portrayal of normal people. Or at least I hope that this is the case. They try to make it seem as though normal people are to be stupid and gullible, and thus are to believe whatever it is that they see and hear on fiction TV shows.

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Yellow press tabloid newspapers and talentless z-grade documentary makers put their interest in money and ratings before accuracy. They don’t give a damn about fact and balanced reporting. And they care even less about people who struggle with mental illness. It is irresponsible journalism. The vast majority of people with schizophrenia live decent, law abiding lives and quietly go about their doing their upmost to stay well. Those few who do feature in awful news stories or as the stock-in-trade characters from lazy scriptwriters do nothing except damage the reputation of all people suffering from schizophrenia.

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If your getting command hallucinations you could be dangerous.

Most people have a great ignorance of what schizophrenia is. That makes it mysterious and poetic, perfect for creating movie characters as psychopaths without scruples.

And while we continue in the shade, the thing will not change. It is a like a circle. We hide -> people ignore -> social stigma -> We hide.
But, I don’t have the solve.

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