The Public Perception Of Children With Mental Illness

Introduction We have a tendency of shadowing out individuals who have been diagnosed with a mental illness. Despite our human nature of caring, we place those individuals in prisons or understaffed psychiatric facilities, leaving them to be the burden of others. People with mental illness may not be able to hold employment and may not have that family support. This public perception (stigma) â€Å"limits opportunities for individuals with mental illnesses and often prevents them from seeking appropriate help†. (Jeglic, 2015) How is it that the public perception is so strong when most people do not have expertise within the field of abnormal psychology?This perception is influenced by the media. â€Å"Information presented in the media can be†¦show more content†¦She seems to be connecting well with her school and her peers; she has a best friend named Daisy who goes to the same school as she does. However, things are not that perfect for Augusta; as she gets older she is becomi ng more dissatisfied with her body. Augusta thinks that she is a fat, ugly teen who is continuing to put on weight; as she gets older, Augusta is becoming more dissatisfied with her image. She thinks that all the kids at school are making fun of her. â€Å"Thin† is being advertised in the movie. Augusta and Daisy stop to observe a flyer of a model and right below her it says thin. In a monologue to herself, she says, â€Å"I think my mom is blind. Why can’t she see that I am fat and ugly? All the kids at school seem to be noticing†. Augusta also feels the need to be a perfectionist when it comes to school with her mother, Martha Dubman. In one scene towards the beginning, Martha mentions that Augusta is suppose to be getting back her results to a math test. Her mother expresses that she knows Augusta passed it with flying colors. In another scene, Augusta lies to her mom saying that her math teacher is still grading the exams, even though she already received th em. The movie starts off with her parents looking for her; unfortunately, Augusta left out of the house without her parents knowing her whereabouts. Ultimately, they end up finding her and another young girl in a crack house, hiding in a closet. Augusta is viewed to be