Even the best media can't avoid treating mental illness like a horror show

Even The Associated Press isn't immune to promoting stigma.

Here's a story about a person who's accused of killing his therapist. Count the number of mental health stereotypes that the clever reporter and editor managed to weave into the text.

The point is: Can we find another way of describing people with mental illness without resorting to adjectives and verbs that are best reserved for a horror movie?

Here's the story (stereotypes are in bold):

A lawyer for a mental patient accused of hacking a Manhattan psychotherapist to death with a meat cleaver said Tuesday that his client will offer an insanity defense at his trial.

Defense lawyer Bryan Konoski said in Manhattan's state Supreme Court that a psychiatrist he hired to examine murder suspect David Tarloff, 40, said he has "very strong grounds" for a psychiatric defense (above photo: Tarloff).

Konoski's court papers say he will offer evidence of Tarloff's "lack of criminal responsibility by reason of mental disease or defect." They also say Tarloff suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, depression, intrusive delusional thoughts of God and Satan, belief he is the Messiah and other mental disorders.

Tarloff, who told police he has been in mental institutions at least 20 times, is charged with first- and second-degree murder in the death of Kathryn Faughey, 56, in her Upper East Side office on Feb. 12, 2008.

Tarloff is also charged with attempted murder and first-degree assault in the cleaver attack on Dr. Kent Shinbach, 70, who was hurt when he tried to help Faughey. Shinbach, whose office was near Faughey's, was Tarloff's therapist.

Konoski said "the evidence is clear that he (Tarloff) did it, but the reasons he did it, what was behind it, are so crazy that we believe we have a very strong insanity defense."

"He was having visual and auditory hallucinations, communications with God telling him how to act," Konoski said. "He believed through prayer that God had approved what he was going to do at Dr. Shinbach's office to save his mother."

The lawyer said Tarloff, who is being held in the psychiatric ward at Bellevue Hospital, was examined there by his psychiatrist for eight to 10 hours on Feb. 27 and four to five hours on March 28.

Here's the definition of mental, when it's used in the above context:

Slang - Emotionally upset; crazed: "got mental when he saw the dent in his new car."
Offensive Slang - Mentally or psychologically disturbed.

So, what's mental?

Are people who take psychotropic medicine "crazed?" Are people who go see psychotherapists or seek treatment at a facility "disturbed?"

Personally, the only thing I ever like to "hack" is any story that compares mentally ill behavior to Frankenstein.

Mental Illness, The Final Frontier

You may remember A Time to Kill, a 1996 movie from a John Grisham novel about a lawyer who took on a racist town. He defended a black man accused of murdering two white men after they raped his young daughter.

But the high drama came at the end -- easily the peak of Matthew McConaughey's acting career -- when he faced the white jurors and asked them to dream a dream.

Imagine a girl, he told them, who was stripped of everything short of her life. This girl could never have children of her own. She was urinated on, then tossed into a creek and "left to die," he said.

"Can you see her?" he asked the hushed jury. "Can you see her?"

"Now imagine she's white...."

Some jurors gasped; others picked their heads up, their eyes bulging. A few looked so appalled, they wept.

One could assume they looked in the mirror, and saw something in themselves that they hated: Racism, separatism, classism. They displayed a sense of generosity that, we hope, they gained while growing up and trying to cope with life in the post-civil-rights era of South. They determined that the black man, Carl Lee Hailey, was innocent.

Sure, it was only a movie. But it was symbolic of a South that's changing. A majority of conservatives, liberals and moderates now appear to share the belief that racism is wrong, even if they continue to display behavior that has a racist subtext. Those who publicly declare themselves racists - proud of it, in fact - are now the fringe. They're the radicals, the minority and, ultimately, the ones whom mainstream society is now tossing into the creek.

Carl Lee Hailey's case isn't unique; octogenarian men who conspired in some of the heinous racist crimes of the 1950s and 1960s are now being brought to justice. Advocacy groups are using DNA testing to prove that men -- particularly black men -- were wrongly convicted of murder and other crimes.

Now African-Americans and Latino-Americans are elected to high offices in the once off-limits states of Mississippi and Georgia. Though their ideology may promote classism and separatism, even conservative pundits are quick to cry "racism" if even one of their own crosses the line.

And it's not just racism, but prejudice of any kind that's changing. Comedians who mocked homosexuality, ethnic groups and races -- particularly by mangling accents and using profane language such as the n-word -- have toned down their acts. Remember the movie "48 Hours," and how the Nick Nolte character used the n-word as often as he said "what?" Years ago, the T.V. version didn't edit the n-word. Now, on TNT, you won't hear it at all -- not even once.

America still has a long way to go, but it's grown to accept diversity. America's growth, however, has never been all-inclusive. Perhaps the final frontier of conquering prejudice -- and finding some happy medium between mainstream acceptance and political correctness -- is the legitimization of mental illness.

If the path to racial equality can be measured in, say, thousands of miles, then the distance toward achieving some mainstream mutual understanding and feeling of compassion for people with mental illness must be measured in light years.

Even in this age of political correctness, terms that the mental health community considers offensive (much like the black community considers the n-word to be offensive) are still being tossed around, and they're as much a part of the fabric of society as brushing your teeth and going to bed. Some in the media never seem to even pause before blasting the word "Psycho" or "Wacko Jacko" in a headline.

Hollywood has shown progress, with movies such as Good Will Hunting and, more recently, Matchstick Men garnering praise from mental health advocates and professionals for portraying mental illness in a sensitive and intelligent way.

But for every Good Will Hunting is a Me, Myself and Irene in which Jim Carrey portrays schizophrenia or multiple personality disorder (hard to tell what he's trying to portray, actually) in a manner that's as silly and stupid as a Gilligan's Island reunion T.V. movie.

The rise of punditry, particularly on the cable news channels, has only made things worse. Media Matters is quick to jump on Don Imus for saying "nappy-headed hos" to describe the Rutgers University basketball team. But how many times has Media Matters done a You Tube search, inserted the terms "loon" and witnessed the seemingly endless list of items from T.V. news shows, each filled with some form of questionable speech?

Well, I've already done the search, so don't bother. Eighty-one items in all. Not all of them were videos of talk-show hosts using the word, but fans were quick to point out that the featured guests in each video were of the "far-left loon" variety (would You Tube change the description if they wrote the n-word instead? Just asking) who deserved the abuse they were getting.

I was inspired initially when I watched "The O'Reilly Factor" a year ago and saw Bill berate Sunsara Taylor from the anti-war group "World Can't Wait" because of her group's loud, rude protests regarding Iraq.

TAYLOR: Because of the U.S. occupation of Iraq, hundreds of thousands of Iraqi people's lives have been destroyed, people have been killed, torture has been committed and legalized

O'REILLY: OK, but look...

TAYLOR: These things are not being discussed the way they should.

O'REILLY: Miss Taylor, that's your opinion, OK, and you're entitled under the Constitution to your opinion.

TAYLOR: Those are the facts.

O'REILLY: No, they're not facts. You are a loon. You are a lunatic. And if you weren't a lunatic, 90 percent of America would agree with you.

It's no wonder Congress or various state legislatures have failed to approve mental health parity health care coverage when society -- as well as those who act as spokespeople for it -- refuses to take schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, bulimia and other illnesses seriously. A poor woman suffering from postpartum depression has a better chance of getting hospital attention -- or, at the very least, health coverage -- if she breaks her arm.

Now, just for a second, imagine if she were white...

This story originally appeared on The Huffington Post on May 29, 2008.

MaryKate Olsen under the microscope in Heath Ledger death; or is she?

Mary-Kate Olsen has had a charmed life. But she's never had it easy.

The "Full-House"-turned-movie star has recovered from anorexia for 4 years now. Still, she's lived the Britney Spears life of having to dodge paprazzi and live a life behind closed doors.

Now the question is how she handles the increased attention she's receiving because of the role she played in the aftermath of the discovery of Heath Ledger's body.

She's never had it easy, actually, because she's been stained by the media since going public with her struggles with eating disorders in 2004. Instead of focusing on her recovery, the media has sought to portray her as a "dirty girl" - like Britney - who plays it on the wild side.

Because she's living this kind of "charmed" life, eating disorders can't possibly be the explanation for everything, the media believes - hence the rumors of potential drug abuse and other mischief that she's allegedly engaged in.

The New York Post was at it again today (Jan. 25), posting this headline on its front page: "Heat is on Mary-Kate." The story says the police will be questioning Olsen in the death investigation, and makes some innuendo that she is somehow culpable.

But the following MTV story shows that this is not the case, and she won't even be questioned. Yet, it still doesn't matter. Mary-Kate will always pay the price for going public about her mental illness, and the media will always find some other explanation for her behavior.

Mary-Kate Olsen Will Not Be Questioned About Heath Ledger's Death: PoliceViews 4,541
By Gil Kaufman

Despite reports that police were interested in questioning her about the death of Heath Ledger, a New York City Police Department spokesperson confirmed to MTV News on Friday (January 25) that officials have no plans to speak to actress Mary-Kate Olsen about the circumstances surrounding the actor's demise.

"We have no interest in questioning her," NYPD Sergeant Kevin Hayes said when asked about the Olsen reports. "We are awaiting the medical examiner's results."

Speculation had surfaced that police might be interested in speaking to Olsen, who received four frantic phone calls from Ledger's masseuse when the actor's body was found in his Soho apartment on Tuesday, but Hayes said that police have no plans to interview anyone about the death at the present time. An initial autopsy was inconclusive, so Hayes said police are awaiting the results of toxicology tests, which could take from 10 days to two weeks.

Police have said they believe that Ledger, 28, was already dead by the time his masseuse, Diana Wolozin, phoned Olsen, 21, who is reported to have been dating the actor for several months prior to his death.

People magazine reported on Friday that funeral services for Ledger would remain private and that he would be buried in his hometown of Perth, Australia, though no official plans have been announced by his family. "At this time, we will not be releasing any information," a representative for Ledger said. "There are no plans for a public service." Members of Ledger's family were reportedly set to arrive in Manhattan Friday for his funeral.

No longer your father's network; CBS is a den of hypocrites

WFAN in New York City has long been my favorite radio station.

Now it's become my favorite radio station run by hypocrites.

I'm speaking about the hiring of Craig Carton, who replaced Don Imus in the morning talk-radio slot after the veteran broadcaster made a racist remark about the Rutgers University women's basketball team. CBS radio later fired him.

Carton, who was a host of the "The Jersey Guys" broadcast on New Jersey 101. 5 during the afternoon drive, has a track record that makes Imus look like Father Murphy - especially when it involved his ignorant remarks about people who suffer from mental illness.

To quote the website, "Diversity Inc.com:" Carton's track record demonstrates his "misogyny" and prejudice: He "outed" politicians thought to be gay and started a game called Operation Rat a Rat/La Cucha Gotcha to turn in undocumented immigrants. He also mocked a Korean-American running for mayor of Edison, N.J., by using a fake Korean accent and said he is irritated that Asian Americans "crowd the blackjack tables in Atlantic City."

He drew most of his negative publicity, however, when he offended women who had postpartum depression in 2006 when Gov. Richard Codey's wife revealed she suffered from the disorder. Codey's wife said that during her darkest times, she had considered placing her baby in a microwave, according to LibertyLounge.net.

"What Gov. Codey ought to do is approve the use of medical marijuana so women can have a joint and relax instead of putting their babies in a microwave," said Carton, according to LibertyLounge.net. "Then all they want to do is cook Doritos. Women who claim they suffer from this postpartum depression ... they must be crazy in the first place."

Now he's paired with former NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason on WFAN in the morning, where they discuss mostly sports. So far, it doesn't appear he's made any statements that have offended people with mental illness, or other ethnic or racial groups. He even criticized The New York Post for its recent "Boss Fog" headline that appeared to mock New York Yankees' owner George Steinbrenner for his declining state of health.


Right: Don Imus

But consider all the charities that Imus promoted - particularly those that supported war veterans and kids with cancer. Consider that he was also the one nationally syndicated radio voice that took a stance against the Bush administration for its abuses of power. His remark was racist and wrong; but his overall impact during his 40-year radio career was powerful and good.

Then ask yourself, how is this an upgrade? What is Carton's impact? Beyond almost getting into a fight with Codey when the former governor was aggravated by his remarks, I'd say, "Not much."

The Boss is thrown for a loss

It pains me to defend George Steinbrenner, the New York Yankees' abrasive owner.

Especially as a Mets fan.

But the avalanche of negative press regarding his treatment of his manager, Joe Torre, has done what I once thought was impossible: Turned the big blowhard whom Larry David famously ridiculed in "Seinfeld" episodes into a sympathetic figure.

And the media hit a new low this past week when - sheez, how shocking - The New York Post printed a cover photograph that made Steinbrenner look like Charles Foster Kane muttering "Rosebud" under his breath.

This is a man who, if we are to believe other press reports, is suffering from some form of diminished mental capacity. The "Boss Fog" headline is a typical tabloid media labeling of mental disorders that trivializes - and even ridicules - their meaning.

But the lack of sympathy isn't the only reason why the press is failing, once again, to present a fair representation of potential mental disorders. Even if Steinbrenner is suffering from dementia, it doesn't mean he's incapable of making decisions that make sense.

If we are to assume that firing Joe Torre is nothing more than the product of a demented decision-making process, then we probably can assume that anyone suffering from some form of mental disorder is potentially incapable of making good decisions.

The interesting thing about this situation is that firing Joe Torre probably does make sense. We're talking about a team with a payroll that exceeds $200 million, by far the biggest in baseball. But the Yankees haven't won a World Series in seven years, and haven't advance past the first round in three years - despite having the most talented team in the major leagues.

I love Joe Torre - in fact, I wish he was still managing the Mets. I've always told people that he was one of the best managers the Mets ever had. He managed from 1977 to 1981, and despite presiding over one of the worst teams in baseball history - particularly in 1979 - he never lost 100 games.

But managers have a shelf-life. Eventually, their style and their strategies get old. It happened to Casey Stengel, who was fired after the 1960 season. In 1961, the Yankees won 109 games and won the World Series.

The "fog" that hangs over the Yankees has been lifted. It's time for Torre to go. The boss is right, for once.