mistakes, misinformation and misconceptions of mental health in popular media

Friday, February 4, 2011

"Roomate" Stigmatic Start

AMC Theaters' weekly newsletter leads with an intro to the movie, 2 lines down, "Rebecca is on medication for something she hasn't revealed" is supposed to make a young girl seem bad or evil or something to be concerned about.

Seriously.

Do you tell people you're on medications for high blood pressure, do you tell people you're on medications for allergies? lactose intolerance? and STD maybe? This is an all to obvious allusion to psychiatric medication and conditions. 1. once again, people with a mental illness have been scientifically proven more likely to be a victim then perpetrator if a crime, 2. there are no meds that treat psycho/sociopathy (usually what the "bad" guy in the movie has) conditions which are exceedingly rare, 3. what is wrong with being on medication and not telling the whole world about it?