Media’s Portrayal of Mental Illness
This assignment will give you the opportunity to apply your understanding of one of the mental illnesses, covered in the Mental Health 3 class, to real world events by comparing a mass media story with a scholarly research-based paper (i.e. journal article).
The mass media article/story should come from the popular media (newspapers/television/radio/
You will be comparing how mental illnesses are reported in the mass media with the scientific literature itself.
This is not a research paper. You are comparing and contrasting the two articles and reporting on how they depict the mental health disorder you have chosen to discuss.
Your job will be to: Locate an article from the popular press describing a current issue (within the last 2 years) that involves ONE of the mental illnesses covered in this course:
Media’s Portrayal of Mental Illness
Motor Disorders:
• Tic Disorders, Tourette’s Disorder
• Schizophrenia Spectrum and Other Psychotic Disorders: Schizotypal (Personality) Disorder, Delusional Disorder, Schizophrenia, Schizoaffective Disorder, Substance/Medication-Induced Psychotic Disorder • Bipolar and Related Disorders:
• Bipolar I Disorder, Bipolar II Disorder, Cyclothymic Disorder
Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders:
• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Body Dysmorphic Disorder, Hoarding Disorder, Trichotillomania (hair pulling), Excoriation (skin-picking) • Dissociative Disorders: • Dissociative Identity Disorder
Feeding and Eating Disorders:
• Pica, Rumination Disorder, Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder, Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, Binge-Eating Disorder
Media’s Portrayal of Mental Illness
Substance-Related and Addictive Disorders:
• Substance Use Disorders, Substance-Induced Disorders, Cannabis Use Disorder, Cannabis Intoxication, Cannabis Withdrawal
Personality Disorders:
• General Personality Disorder, Paranoid Personality Disorder, Schizoid Personality Disorder, Schizotypal Personality Disorder, Antisocial Personality Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder, Histrionic Personality Disorder, Narcissistic Personality Disorder, Avoidant Personality Disorder, Dependent Personality Disorder, Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder Here are the steps (Please ensure that you follow the outline and consult the rubric):
Each area of the paper should start its own unique paragraph that correlates to that section of the assignment/rubric.
Each area has its own assigned marks that you need to speak to and address fully to achieve the full marks.
Follow the assignment outline and rubric to guide you!
Media’s Portrayal of Mental Illness
Guidelines
1. Find a recent (last 2 years) opinion piece or editorial that involves one of the mental illnesses covered in this course. The article should come from a popular but reputable news source: Toronto Star, Globe and Mail, Time Magazine, Newsweek, any reputable news reporting website (CP24, CNN, etc.).
Keeping in mind that you are also selecting a journal article (through College’s online library) on the same topic.
2. When reviewing the article look for how that mental illness is portrayed and how it contributes to the story or opinion piece.
3. Then, find a peer-reviewed journal article on the same topic.
The article can be a review article, a theory article, or an original report of research findings.
Look for what the purpose of the journal article is, how its argument is constructed, and what role the concept, effect, or theory plays in that argument (including any research that was conducted on the topic).
Write a 5 page, double-spaced, paper that compares the arguments, evidence, and audience of each of the articles.
Media’s Portrayal of Mental Illness
A cover page and reference page will also be included (but not part of page limit) and the entire paper must be APA formatted.
a. Introduction to the paper (telling the reader what this paper is about)
b. Briefly describe each article (consistently applying in-text citations). Provide a separate summary of your media article and your journal article.
c. Then examine how they are similar and different from each other. i. How is the information presented in each article? ii. Does the media piece accurately represent the scientific work in the area? iii. If it does not, how might it better do so? If it does then how can the media, in general, improve on reporting psychological information? iv. Does the media stigmatize the mental illness and/or the person portrayed? If so, how can the media improve on reporting mental illnesses to the public?
d. Provide a separate conclusion to your paper that summaries what your paper has discussed.
e. Include APA in-text citations to both articles.
Since this paper is asking for your observations and opinions first person (“I”) can be used, but “this writer” is also appropriate.
The paper must include introductory and conclusion paragraphs. See rubric for specifics on marking.