Schizophrenia in Turkish newspapers

Abstract

The attitude of mass media is a strong determinant for stigmatisation since the majority of the society gets exposed to psychiatric disorders via either written or visual media. In this study we explored to demonstrate the meaning attributed to the word schizophrenia in Turkish written printed media. We screened the online sites of 12 national newspapers which allow word scanning between the dates January 1, 2001 and May 1, 2006. The searched terms appeared in a total of 878 texts. In all twelve newspapers, the terms "Schizophrenia", "Schizophrene", or "Schizophrenic" appeared once every 2.2 days. While a positive referral appeared once in every 12.2 days, a negative referral or metaphoric use was seen once every 3.1 days. Among the 878 texts scanned, in 491(55.9%) the searched terms appeared with reference to the disease and in 387 (44.1%) the searched terms were used metaphorically. Considering the assumption the negative reporting may have a stronger impact than positive reporting, it is possible to suggest that Turkish newspapers are raising stigmatisation. It is meaningful that the name of a disease is used almost with equal frequency as a metaphoric term. In our study, higher rates of metaphoric use observed can be explained with the fact that in Turkey the word Schizophrenia is attributed with strong negative perception.

Should the label "schizophrenia" be abandoned?

“…On the other hand, a name change would also be welcomed since the inappropriate and metaphoric use of "schizophrenia" or "schizophrenic" made by mass media all over the world (Duckworth et al, 2003;Boke et al, 2007;Clement and Foster, 2008;Magliano et al, 2011), to generically indicate any incoherent/contradictory/deviant behavior, make it difficult to convey its proper meaning and contribute to maintaining the misconceptions and misinformation about the condition.…”

Use of the Terms "Schizophrenia" and "Schizophrenic" in the South Korean News Media: A Content Analysis of Newspapers and News Programs in the Last 10 Years

“…It is already known that the names of feared diseases are usually employed with a metaphorical emphasis. In the nineteenth century, for example, metaphors about tuberculosis were very common, while in the twentieth century, these have largely been replaced with metaphors about cancer 4. Over the course of the two periods mentioned above, the use of schizophrenia as a metaphor declined.…”

“…The media is the public's primary source of information on mental illness,1-3 and the attitude of the mass media is an important determinant of stigmatization 4. Many researchers have highlighted the role of the media in contributing to the stigma experienced by people with mental illnesses 5.…”

“Schizophrenia” in the Australian print and online news media

“…In New Zealand, Coverdale, Nairn, & Claasen (2002) found that negative depictions and dangerousness to others were present in 61% of print media stories referring to mental illness, and criminality in 47%. Boke et al, (2007) found that 20% of Turkish newspaper stories on schizophrenia featured violence, and Vahabzadeh, Wittenauer, & Carr (2011) found that 60% of human interest stories in US newspapers stories associated schizophrenia with violence, dangerousness, and criminality. In Australia, Francis et al, (2005) found that 16% of non-fiction media stories about schizophrenia associated it with crime.…”