October 10, 2007
Dumbed-down TV 'could inspire suicide'
According to a study by SANE StigmaWatch program, irresponsible portrayal of mental illness and suicide in many television programs and films could encourage vulnerable people to suicide, reports News.com.
"A scheme launched today to coincide with World Mental Health Day tries to encourage script-writers to avoid stereotypes of the mentally ill, or showing details of suicides.
Deputy director Paul Morgan said the print media appeared to have improved in recent years, but television and films were in some ways getting worse.
... "Television soaps used to focus on people's ordinary struggles, but were increasingly relying on lazy, sensationalist plot devices incorporating stereotypes of mentally ill people, he said. "I don't like the phrase dumbing-down, but certainly (they are) going for more dramatic plots."
Morgan said scriptwriters risked discouraging people struggling with mental illness to seek help because they did not relate to the stereotypes.
Similarly, coverage of suicide that made it seem exciting, or detailed the methods used, could encourage copycat behaviour.
"There is actually evidence about irresponsible coverage of suicide... for people that are vulnerable, that can actually trigger them to do it," he said
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