'Mental Health' gets more coverage on CNN...with a twist.

[Frazier]

Front page of CNN, but this time it isn't the reporters/authorities pontificating about the perpetrator's access to mental health treatment... this time it is the criminal himself saying "I need a psychiatrist" and "I think I'm really mentally ill".

...Well, I wonder if his revelation only occurred after he was caught and taken into custody?

http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/25/us/minnesota-attack-teen-interview/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

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[OldPsychDoc]

I'll let the forensic psychiatrists weigh in, but this just sounds WAY too premeditated to mee any criteria of mental illness, except of course our favorite 301.7.

 

[shan564]

I'll let the fornsic psychiatrists weigh in, but this just sounds WAY too premeditated to mee any criteria of mental illness, except of course our favorite 301.7.

Well, he's 17, so 312.8...

 

[OldPsychDoc]

Well, he's 17, so 312.8...

What. Ever.
Age is just a number.

 

[birchswing]

Let's see what we have:

• A minor accused of a crime
• His name released by national media—a media based around hysteria and scandal, which has essentially become a drug (quick hits of sensationalism that satisfies for a second, leaving people wanting something more shocking to the system in the next moment)
• A judicial system that has a philosophy of inhumane punishment over treatment and rehabilitation
• And a gaggle of psychiatrists who have never met let alone have a doctor-patient relationship with the accused minor who are offering diagnoses and being as glib as the media about what is a very sad situation—in violation of their own code of ethics

You're doing exactly what the media has come to expect of its audience: be absolutely mindless. People turn on the TV and are told something's bad and react, "I'm irate!" They're told something's good, "Don't see enough of that in the world!"

This is a specific case that is irrelevant to the larger movements of society that news should be covering. Most of news now is gossip and scandal. I guarantee you that if this had happened in Sweden, you would have never heard the comments he made about needing a psychiatrist--comments that are irrelevant—it's gossip, not news. They are played to get a reaction, which they did. The social services in that country are much less distinguishable from the judicial system, and both are benevolent.

 

[shan564]

What. Ever.
Age is just a number.

So is the diagnostic code...

 

[Ceke2002]

So what is the diagnostic code for manipulative, self centred, malingering, bullsh*t artist?

 

[MacDonaldTriad]

Jerry Springer is very popular in Sweden. I find it a very large leap to think that a psychiatrist commenting on a blog about the convenience of a criminal’s insight into his need for mental health assistance is a violation of ethics.

 

[birchswing]

Jerry Springer is very popular in Sweden. I find it a very large leap to think that a psychiatrist commenting on a blog about the convenience of a criminal’s insight into his need for mental health assistance is a violation of ethics.

The Principles of Medical Ethics With Annotations Especially Applicable to Psychiatry, Section 7.3:

"On occasion psychiatrists are asked for an opinion about an individual who is in the light of public attention or who has disclosed information about himself/herself through public media. In such circumstances, a psychiatrist may share with the public his or her expertise about psychiatric issues in general. However, it is unethical for a psychiatrist to offer a professional opinion unless he or she has conducted an examination and has been granted proper authorization for such a statement."

 

[MacDonaldTriad]

Ah, you are right. The cynicism is fair game, making a diagnosis is not OK.

 

[birchswing]

Ah, you are right. The cynicism is fair game, making a diagnosis is not OK.

Your humility softens me. I just dislike the way our news works in general—the way there are these little nuggets of info that give people an opportunity to spout of the things they're already thinking and want people to hear. I think that our news should be more sociological in nature. But I guess everyone has their outlets. I use the news as mindless entertainment the same as everyone else. I could have been less brusk.

 

[MacDonaldTriad]

I agree about news turning to worms lately. I guess most of us use the internet now so television has become what it is. I have trouble telling when the news ends and Entertainment Tonight begins because they are about the same. The saddest part is that our news moves in the direction that is dictated by the interests of viewers. Middle aged potbellied meteorologists don’t have a chance anymore.

 

[jakeislove]

It also amuses me when People find Jesus in jail.

 

[Ceke2002]

I agree news reporting should never be turned into entertainment for the masses. In Australia there are guidelines for the reporting of mental illness in all forms of media. I don't believe they are necessarily enforced but most news outlets seem to make some effort at least to follow them. As someone suffering with a severe mental illness though it peeves me off no end when someone, anyone, regardless of age tries to play the mental illness card when they've been caught for a criminal offence - especially if that offence if violent or potentially violent in nature. There's enough stigma already surrounding certain types of mental illness, and someone sticking their hand up and saying 'Er yeah, yeah I tried to kill a bunch of people with a bomb, because, oh that's right I think I'm mentally ill' does not help the public's perception that we're somehow abnormal, dangerous, not to be trusted. I've been in situations where I've run into people I've known through friends or family, who on the surface appear accepting of my diagnosis, but still instinctively shove their children behind them for their own protection when all we're doing is saying 'hello'. We might have come a long way in terms of stigma compared to how things were say 20 years ago, but the fact is stigma still exists and convenient cries of 'but I'm mentally ill' to excuse anyone's misdeeds just adds more fuel to the fire.

 

[Shikima]

It also amuses me when People find Jesus in jail.

There are no athiests in foxholes and prisons...

 

[MacDonaldTriad]

There are no athiests in foxholes and prisons...

A long time ago, I remember NPR radio ran a story they called “There are no atheists in fox holes”. The next letter feedback segment was full of complaints from angry atheist listeners. Atheists wanted NPR to apologize for suggesting that they are any more likely to give up their convictions at the first sign of trouble. The news anchor shrugged and said, “Well there you have it, you just can’t write an editorial without offending someone”.