Mental Illness and Homeless - Essay Example

Comparison of media articles on Richmond report on mental illness and homeless Student Name Tutor’s name Date Abstract This essay compares two articles; “out of mind” from the “Sydney Morning Herald” and “mental health should not be afterthought” from “the Australian”. These two articles talk about the problems faced by mentally ill people in Australia, especially homelessness. This problem arose due to the wrong address of the Richmond report by successive governments since 1983 when the report was released. Thought the two articles talk about the same issue, they have similarities and differences on how they address and present the situation to readers. Introduction Contemporary social problems such as gender, power, and status have become an interesting content of the media because they appeal to people’s emotions. Though some people may argue that the media exploits people’s feelings, the media has numerous advantages as it enlightens people about these issues and makes them aware of their rights. Mental illness is one of the social issues that have been dominated by the media. The Australian newspapers and televisions have largely discussed the Richmond report, and especially, how its poor implementation has led to homelessness of the mentally ill. Twenty-seven years ago, David Richmond suggested, through his report, “the Richmond report”, that mentally people should be moved from the psychiatric wards. He recommended that the Australian government institute a program to fund a community based network, complete with mental health specialists and hospitals to care for the mentally ill in Sydney. The government was recommended to progressively reduce the size of mental health institutions and instead offer mental services in general hospitals in community level. The government should have funded these hospitals and provided specialist care and accommodation to mentally ill patients. Instead, the government closed beds leading to homelessness of mentally ill people. Ruth Pollard in Sydney morning herald begins with a brief story of a mentally ill man in a mental health hospital. She describes the feelings and fears of the patient as well as the atmosphere in the room, as security guards enter the patient’s room. This is important because readers get to understand the feelings of the patient, therefore knowing how to or not to behave around them. The author also explains that violence is a possibility when dealing with mentally ill patients. It is important to let readers know what goes on in such institutions so that they are prepared whenever they visit mental institutions. This does not happen in “the Australian”. The author in “the Australian” introduces the article with a revision of the country’s politics, and promises for better mental health services with successive governments. Though this does not depict the patients’ feelings and fears, it sets a foundation for discussing the failures of the governments in implementing the Richmond report. “The Australian” shows contrast in governments in dealing with mentally ill patients. The author argues that the federal government failed to deliver on its promises, and this is where its opposition is hoping to improve on. In contrast, the Sydney morning herald rarely mentions the governments; instead, it focuses on the patients. Though it mentions the government, the article uses government figures and statistic of people with mental illness and their conditions in several mental hospitals. The Australian also uses figures though briefly. The author gives an example of an increase in population with a decrease in the number of psychiatric beds. Those who suffer most are patients suffering from serious mental illnesses like schizophrenia, who are left to look after themselves. Mentally ill people should be taken care of by specialists and in favorable environments. When left alone, they become harmful to themselves and to others. Schizophrenic and Bipolar patients should not be left alone but when this happens due to homelessness, their recovery process is hampered, and the condition is worsened. They can easily hurt themselves or those around them. This is why they cannot be left at home. “The Australian” also illustrates homelessness of these patients by showing a scenario where the psychotic patients are not given adequate attention and safe psychiatric beds. Because of this, the patients are usually unable to develop living skills independently. This increases burdens on families, who are forced to take care of mentally ill relatives. Similarly, Sidney morning herald illustrates this condition in hospital using figures. It reports that doctors felt pressured to release prematurely healed patients for lack of beds while others check into hospitals but stay for over three months before securing a bed. This results to most of them sleeping in hospital floors. “Sydney morning herald” provides an example of a case involving a thirty nine year old Australian woman, Conelia Rau. The case highlights on the systems’ inability to help mentally ill people, as it easily locks up people exhibiting differences in appearance, behavior and language. This helps readers have a picture of how mentally ill people are treated. Socially, these people are viewed as a nuisance to the society, and are locked up in detention centers. Logically, these people lack homes where they can be cared for, loved and helped, to regain a healthy mindset. In “The Australian” does not use this kind of illustration. Instead, the successive government s is criticized for failing to properly implement the proposal. The Australian blames the government for not investing in specialist community hospital and offer accommodation services for mentally ill patients. Though the Sydney morning herald comments on the same issue, it does so to illustrate the problem of homelessness in patients. The use of case examples helps readers relate to the problem and draws out the emotions, which is the target of most media houses. It keeps the story alive and fresh within the readers. This is also enhanced by quoting people on the article. This writing technique is lacking in the “Australian”. None of the articles uses photographs or diagrams to emphasize points, though this may be due to the plain nature of the story. A notable difference in the two articles is the reference and reports used in the “Sydney morning herald”. The author talked to different specialists in the health sector to derive information. People mentioned who have added their opinions in this article includes, an officer from the NSW Schizophrenia fellowship, Rob Ramjan, Paul Preisz, a specialist at St. Vincent mental hospital, several doctors, nurses and registrars, and Richard Mathews from NSW Health. This provides proof that the article is not solely the author’s opinion. Though the Australian provides credible evidence of the content, the author does not provide reports from experts on the problem’s ground situation. This makes the article sound passive and opinionated, unlike the article from “Sydney morning herald” which sounds active, verifiable and recent. Despite the negative and sad illustrations of the conditions of mentally ill patients in Sydney, it is important a major similarity. Both papers provide positive actions that have been put in place by other organizations and the government to help the patients recover and provide safe homes for them. “The Australian” mentions “beyondblue”, an organization that has informed people about mental illness and brought the condition to the open. The organization improves awareness of mental illness just like other illnesses such as cancer and arthritis. It also encourages research on mental health such as the Schizophrenia Research Institute. Similarly, the “Sidney morning herald” explains the positive efforts made by Richard Mathews to provide more beds, improve infrastructure, and employ more mental health nurses and other workforce. “The Australian” also highlights Tony Abbott’s efforts to improve this sector by promising eight hundred beds, twenty new intervention and prevention centers as well as sixty mental health services for youth. The two papers recognize certain political aspirations in this sector as they both argue that governments have ignored this sector and now, new aspirants focus on it as a means of getting votes and attaining power. It is clear that politicians use the mass’s problems to gain power. The media on the other hand, plays a role of connecting the politicians and the people, by bringing to light the needs of the common people. “The Sidney morning herald” does not emphasize on the role of politicians in the failure of the Richmond report. It depicts the situation of mental illness in Sydney. “The Australian” on the other hand gives more emphasis on the role of politicians at making it worse and their promises to make it better. It says that politicians who think it has no electoral appeal have neglected mental health, letting the sector deteriorate. The “Sydney morning herald” does not offer such judgment on politicians and the governments. There is the use of negative language in “the Australian” that is lacking in “Sydney morning herald”. When the author highlights the negative efforts of the governments and politicians, the author influences the readers to negatively view politicians. The Author says that mental health has gone through bipartisan neglect from politicians who politicize it. The media should remain objective on thoughts and presentation of ideas so that readers form their own opinions from news articles. Objectivity in presenting news is important as it reduces conflicts between media houses and the people or leaders. In Sydney morning herald, the author simply provides facts about the situation of mentally ill patients, and offers no opinions on why the government failed in the implementation of the report. The two media coverage on this article seeks to inform the people on where the government failed during the implementation of the Richmond report. They both say the government closed beds in an attempt to cut costs instead of funding the community based general hospitals. They also give statistics of mental health situations in Sydney. Sidney morning herald reports that in 1998, seventy five percent of homeless refugees experienced mental disorders. This statistic includes thirty-three percent of people with major mood disorder and twenty-nine percent with schizophrenia (Pollard, 2005). The Australian reports that over eighty-five percent of homeless people in Australia suffer mental illness, and that children below fourteen years in one in five families suffer mental health. The media plays the informant role in this case. Readers are able to get information relating to media illness in Sydney. They also seek to provide the advantages of the Richmond report, as well as highlighting what was included in the report. At the introduction, both the articles introduce the report, and provide its details. Readers are enlightened about the issue to be discussed, and offers background information like the name of the author and year of publication. At the conclusion of both articles, the authors provide extra information on mental illness. The Australian encourages people to avoid stigmatization of the illness as this helps patients handle the condition better. The author also commends the police, social workers and family careers. In this case, the media plays a persuasive role, persuading the mass to be neutral about mental patients and avoid stigmatization. The Sydney morning herald on the other hand offers strategies of improving the situation, through the efforts of Richard Mathews, a chief executive officer as NSW Health. Though the author ends on a negative note by saying that the number of beds in psychotic facilities are not expected to improve in the near future, the whole article is objective and positive. Mental health is a social problem just like others like gender, power, and sexuality. However, in most media context, mental health is neglected, as people believe it affects a minority, and in some cases, people think it is the patient’s fault to be mentally sick. The media treats other social issues such as sexuality, gender and power with utmost sensitive and care. This is because it touches on all aspects of our lives, and affects everyone. Matters to do with politicians also receive urgency because they directly affect our safety, development and other essential part of our lives. Mental illness on the other hand only affects a section of the population and is not considered urgent as other illnesses. With the increased number of people suffering mental illness, governments and media houses should provide due attention to the situation so as to help patients and families cope well. Media also perpetuates stigma on mental illness through poor ethics in news presentation. By labeling a person as mentally ill, the media offers judgment on a person and increases the chances of the person being viewed negatively in the society. The media also depict mentally ill people as perpetrators of violence while in most cases; they are the victims of violence. Mentally ill people usually suffer physical and psychological abuse form other people who take advantage of their situation or family members who feel burdened by their condition. This psychological distress may make them violent towards others, in an attempt to protect them from harm. Other social problems like gender and power also receive negative coverage from the media. When politicians are portrayed as power hungry and selfish individuals, or when men are portrayed as domineering and violent towards men, the media propagates negative view of these groups to the people. The media should always remain objective in their coverage, especially of the sensitive issues that may cause conflicts in a country. Media ethics are rarely observed by some media houses, especially the use of neutral language, as most journalists tend to influence the opinions of the public. In conclusion, the NSW Government has neglected mental sector. The Richmond report had positive effects on mentally ill people. When patients are moved from hospital wards to community based care facilities, there is an increased improvement. This is a fact that both papers agree on. The above comparison highlights the poor housing conditions that mental patients face. In most cases, the police arrest the patients or once they get to the hospitals, they spend close to three months in hospital floors due to lack of beds. Notable differences in the two papers are that the “Sydney morning herald” uses case examples to illustrate patients’ situations, focusing on their problems, how their rights are violated and the possible solutions to the problems. The paper also uses reports from specialists to illustrate these points. On the other hand, “the Australian” focuses on the politicians and government’s role in worsening the situations, and the statistics of related issues. The information provided in both articles of the number of homeless people, we can conclude that mental health is affected by being homeless. Though other factors contribute to mental illness, the statistics also show that homelessness is also a contributing factor. Reference Pollard, R. (2005, February 12). Out of mind. Sydney morning herald. Read More