Mental Illness & Society

I am doing a report on mental illness where I am required to connect a variety of sources to mental illness. Each of the resources is different( One Flew Over the Cuckoo's nest, Van Gogh's The Asylum). Just curious for others take on what society is doing about mental illness? Is it Enough? Do we correctly portray mental illness in films like Cuckoo's nest and shows like House. Thanks.

i think society doesn't explain enough about mental illness so currently too much is unknown to the general public. not enough people know the truth about certain illnesses which leads to discrimination and stereotyping. While some movies accurately describe mental illnesses, others completely miss the mark with what they say a certain illness is like.

Media portrayals of mental illnesses are almost invariably caricatured stereotypes. Unfortunately, this is what sells; people generally prefer movies and such which reinforce their preconceived notions, rather than challenging them.

to me one flew... and girl interupted are films that throw you into the deep end of mental illness ie life in an ayslum. its like they are saying all that is then needed to potray mental illness is the charaterictics belonging to a certain illness-type, which shouldnt be diffucult if the characterstics are physical. however in the real world, there are mentally ill people, people who are on the verge on being mentally ill, mentally ill pre-disposed, formerly mentally ill etc. yet all these types can all work/play/ function as non-mental types to a degree. so isnt mental illness an individual experience? and what can be found in a large group of mentally ill that cant be found in a large group of non-mentally ill?

Off-course society plays an important role in mental illness specially in youngsters. honestly speaking, i have not any information about how we can solve this problem.