Misrepresentation of Mental Illnesses :: essays research papers

Misrepresentation of Mental Illnesses by Television MediaTo eliminate the partial representation of mental illnesses, television media needs to focus on all sides of this illness. The media needs to show that attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) is a legitimate disorder with effective treatments.At least one in four families in the U.S. is affected by mental illnesses. Unfortunately there is no cure for this range of illnesses, which have been around for thousands of years. Of the American adult population, 5.4 per centum have a serious mental illness. These health conditions are characterized by alterations in thinking, mood, behavior, or some combination of these. They are also associated with distress and sometimes impaired functioning. In 1990 the total cost of mental health services in the U.S. was $148 billion. According to a new report by the Mental wellness Foundation, one in five children suffer from a mental health problem. Attention deficit hyperactive disorder is a mental illness that is diagnosed in the main in young children and doesnt always disappear in adulthood. All we know is that this genetic, inherited condition ADHD is non due to brain damage at all but rather a variation in how the brain functions. Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) includes symptoms and characteristics that can be placed in one of three categories inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity. These characteristics usually leave a person with ADHD with lack of attention span, easily distracted, fidgety, struggling to stay seated, having trouble engaging in calm activities, impatient, and talking too or out of turn. A new study by researchers says that hyperactive children have behavioral differences due to under active parts of their brain, a biological malfunction, rather than due to way they were brought up. This was revealed by a magnetic scanning device that allowed researchers to look at the brains of children diagnosed with ADHD. These stu dies and statistics reinforce the claim that mental illnesses are not invented simply to justify drugging of children and a disease that needs be educated to the public for better understanding. Rather, ADHD is an illness that affects many people end-to-end their lives. This topic is often misunderstood by the public. The media and medical community need to educate the positive side of this controversy and not just show the opponent view, which often times misrepresented by the media.According to the current President of Attention Deficit Disorder Association (ADDA), the medication prescribed by a doctor cannot lead to drug abuse and addiction.