changed the local presentation of a disorder.
Anorexia in Hong Kong use to present differently from the Westernised
ICD-10 definition of symptoms but local psychiatrists understood it was
the same disorder. After the media story which was informed by internet
research and use of the reference definition of anorexia people began
presenting with Westernised symptoms.
There's been a bipolar story line running in East Enders, a popular UK
soap opera watched by a wide cross-section
of the population. The storyline will affect how the nation think of
bipolar disorder. It may also change how people with bipolar present,
i.e. people may more often be seen to present with bipolar in a similar
way to the character in East Enders. In fact there's a huge varied of
experiences of bipolar but this is changing, something that Dr Joanna
Moncrieff noted in her Madness Radio session.
The makers of East Enders aren't aware of this effect that the media
representation of mental illness can change the presentation of mental
illness. It's explained in a book that's already out in the US and will
soon be out in the UK. There are other cultural and media-related
effects that are little explored by the people who work in the media,
risks they're unaware of or chose to be unaware of.
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