The media has for the longest time not categorized addiction as a mental health issue, yet there is compelling evidence that it is. People with problematic alcohol and other drug use issues experience stigmatizing or discriminatory attitudes on a daily basis. Media versions have a tendency to focus on the individual with mental illness rather than framing mental illness as a societal issue. Equally, media representations of people with mental illness are habitually violent, which promotes associations of mental illness with being appalling and criminality. In an experimental study in 2015 that compared attitudinal outcomes, researchers found that stories of recovery decreased prejudiced attitudes toward people with mental illness and drug addiction and increased belief in treatment efficacy.

Source: Daily Nation November 25, 2020 08:53 UTC