Media Analysis 4
I was reading several websites about Schizophrenia to see what some different sites would have to say about cures/treatments and what I found was quite interesting. While most sites (including both sites trying to sell treatment medication as well as sites containing medical research data and such) make it clear that there is no cure for schizophrenia, there are ways in which researches believe the symptoms can be treated and reduced by a significant amount. I do believe that there are ways to help treat such a mental illness, however I believe that most of the pills that exist for such treatment are most likely going to cause more problems than they solve.
Anyways, after reading several of these websites looking for different portrayals of the illness I realized that most sites only want to sell you their particular “treatment” and of course if you buy it then they are making money, so they are going to try and convince people reading their site (most likely people looking for treatment) that they have a treatment that will work for everybody. Of course most of these sites give a somewhat false sense of hope to many schizophrenia patients because most of the medical sites clearly state that there is no known cause or cure for schizophrenia. That is not to mention the fact that everybody is different and since it is thought to be caused by chemical imbalances, a cure for one person may not help another person at all.
Aside from the more common sites related to schizophrenia, I found this one site that was written by a nurse who never believed it too much when doctors said that schizophrenia could be cured by simple things like vitamin supplements. However, after her son was diagnosed with the illness, she has “come to know that schizophrenia, and other so-called mental illnesses are really biochemical imbalances which can be balanced with dietary changes and supplements. [she] now know[s], on looking back on [her] son’s life, that he was biochemically imbalanced almost from his birth. In the past [she] felt sad and angry that [she] trusted allopathic medicine totally, without question. Now [she] just wants the joy of telling everyone [she] can that THERE IS HOPE AND SCHIZOPHRENIA CAN BE CURED. IT IS A BIOCHEMICAL IMBALANCE”. And that is when I took a step back and said wow. After reading multiple pages that include loads of data explaining that schizophrenia has no known cure, that it is different for everybody, and researchers are continuing to research treatments and cures, this nurse is giving people such a high level of hope for something she probably only knows a small fraction about. Of course if “SCHIZOPHRENIA CAN BE CURED” (allin caps as she wrote it), and she knew that there was one, then the medical researchers would have it. Clearly they don’t. If you were a person suffering from schizophrenia and you came onto this woman’s site you would immediately believe her and you would probably become hopeful, however you may then go to your doctor with questions about the site and he would simply tell you that there is no cure and that there are merely a few possible treatment plans, and that they are not guaranteed to work. That would not be a good day for that guy…
So once again it is clear that the media does not always portray these illness’s very clearly or correctly. In fact its probably safe to assume that unless you contact your doctor, or find a well known, respected, and scientifically factual website or book, then it is unlikely you will ever get 100% correct information regarding any mental illness.
http://www.4optimallife.com/Alternative-Medicines-Cures-For-Schizophrenia-Mental-Illness.html
This site was an interesting find. You do a pretty good job of detecting the motive behind it–profit–but your sarcasm about the “pages and pages” might be misconstrued by the casual reader. Also, in an analysis, focus more on what the author of the product is trying to do, rather than your prediction of the likely outcome. In other words, rather than writing “if you were a person with schizophrenia . . . you would immediately believe her,” focus instead on what she hopes will happen. It’s a small distinction, but the difference in language is an important one. I think you’re right on target about the desired effect, though; there’s no ambiguity in her language at all.