Dissociative identity disorder, known as DID, is a condition that is formed due to traumatic situations in early childhood that force the sufferer to dissociate from the events he or she is experiencing. People who experience this condition have separate identities that form within themselves, all with different names, traits, and mannerisms. Earlier this year I saw a movie called Split. The film follows a man with 24 different personalities who kidnaps and imprisons three teenage girls in an isolated underground facility. Now, to most of the population, this film would seem like harmless, endearing entertainment. Unfortunately, I and so many others have fallen into the trap of believing that this portrayal of mental illness was accurate. Looking back now, I am horrified to admit that I believed the stigmatizing misconceptions evident in this film, that people with this disorder are violent, dangerous, and highly unpredictable. However, this problem goes far beyond a single misrepresentation of mental illness. Mental illness is such a prevalent problem in today's society and has many issues surrounding it, such as unfair treatment of those who suffer, including misrepresentation of mental illness and ignorance of its existence. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Now, before we go any further, I would like to take a step back and explain what mental illnesses really are. Mental illnesses are conditions that cause serious disturbances in a person's behavior or thinking. In short, someone suffering from a mental illness will not function mentally or behaviorally in the same way as the average person. Mental illness is a huge problem facing society today, with one in four people suffering from mental disorders. With this statistic only set to rise, it is ignorant to not recognize how widespread this problem is and address it accordingly. However, resentment, ignorance, and fear still surround the topic of mental illness and those who struggle with it. There are many different viewpoints, ranging from denial of mental health conditions to those that strongly support recognition, destigmatization, and alternative treatment of mental illness. Public opinion, sometimes believed even by those struggling with mental illness, is that these people are violent, dangerous and highly unpredictable. By analyzing the past it was discovered that five main attitudes surround mental illness. This includes: authoritarianism – the view that people with mental illness cannot be held responsible for their acts and should be controlled by society; benevolence - an attitude that could be placed between tolerance and pity or compassion; mental hygiene ideology - the opinion that mental illness is similar to other illnesses and should be treated properly by specialists; social restriction: the opinion that mentally ill people should be restricted in some social spheres; and interpersonal etiology: the belief that the true cause of a mental illness is problematic interpersonal relationships. Stigmatization and ignorance of mental illness is not currently a Millennium Development Goal in itself. However, it refers to Goal One: Extreme Poverty and Hunger, Goal Four: Reduce Child Mortality, and Goal Five: Improve Maternal Health. Because people with low socioeconomic status are more likely to experience stressful life experiences such as exposure to violence and poor.
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