LONDON, Aug. 30 (UPI) -- The British media are being criticized for giving disproportionate and sensationalized coverage to mental illness and often linking it to serious crime.
This is producing a very damaging misunderstanding of psychotic conditions, but is also damaging the portrayal of the more common neurotic illnesses, according to Katy-Louise Morgan, a graduate of the University of Leicester's department of media and communication.
"Despite an era of political correctness, the mentally ill are among the few remaining groups being continually subjected to stigmatization," said Morgan. "This victimization is contributing towards prejudice amongst the public."
Psychotic illness is most commonly reported in connection with violent crimes such as murder, causing newspaper readers to make unrealistic links between mental illness and violent crimes, according to Morgan.
"The misconception is two-fold," Morgan said. "Firstly, schizophrenia and other psychotic illnesses are actually among the least common of all mental illnesses and secondly, not all schizophrenics are murderers nor conversely are all murderers schizophrenic."
