Mental illness often described negatively

SEATTLE, May 7 (UPI) -- Looney, psycho, scumbag, whacked out, ticking time bomb and bonkers are some of terms used by the U.S. media to describe the mentally ill, researchers said.

Lead author Jennifer Stuber of the University of Washington in Seattle and Peg Achterman, a doctoral student, analyzed 856 stories published in the state from January to April in 1995, May to August in 2000 and September to December in 2005 in four of the state's major media markets -- Vancouver, Seattle and Spokane and Tacoma.

The researchers found 31 percent used negative/derogatory language for people who had mental health issues in news articles, movie reviews, plays and TV programs.

"Using such labels is insulting to people with mental illness. It is equating people with their illness and making their illness their predominant characteristic," Stuber said in a statement.

A term such as "schizoid" or "the schizophrenic" to describe a person living with schizophrenia, stigmatizes the person -- as does the false link between violence and mental illness -- Stuber said.

"There is a widely held misperception by the general public that there is a strong link between mental illness and violence," Stuber said. "There is no such link. Study after study, has shown mental illness is not a defining characteristic of violence."

Other factors -- such as being male, being a young adult or using alcohol -- have a more direct link to violence, Stuber said.