Thematic Analysis of Malaysian Online News on People Living With Mental Illness

Sub-theme 1: Existing psychological illness

The link to mental illness is sometimes implied by mentioning that an offender has previously received psychiatric treatments or has a history of psychiatric illness. For instance, a family member of a person with mental illness sought to explain the circumstances leading up to their violent deeds. These excerpts show that psychological illness is a risk factor for violent crimes and suicidal behavior.

• Excerpt 1

(Malay Mail 5 – July, 12, 2019)

Melaka Tengah police chief ACP Afzanizar Ahmad said in the 9.30am incident, the victim, Samnah Mohamed, 55, died at the scene. “The woman who had four stab wounds, two in front and two at the back, was found lying next to her husband who was also injured in the stomach after he tried to commit suicide. “Initial investigations found the couple had a quarrel before the,” he told reporters when met at the scene here today. ... According to him, but police are still determining his last treatment apart from two previous records under Section 380 of the Penal Code for theft and a drug related offence.

• Excerpt 2

(The Star 4 – September, 04, 2018)

, resulting in five including a doctor and three nurses suffering burns in the urology unit of a private hospital in Jelutong Monday (Sept 3),. Northeast District Police chief ACP Che Zaimani Che Awang said. He has been remanded for seven days to assist in investigating the case. "The man, who is single and has no permanent job, was arrested after the incident took place at 4.30pm Monday, and,.

In Excerpts 1 and 2, violence perpetrated by someone experiencing mental illness is explained as a consequence of their mental illness. The authors also highlight criminal victimization and stress the history and treatment of mental illness received by delinquents. Medical treatments for these delinquents with mental illness were mentioned, often involving hospitalization. For instance, information such as the man holds a psychiatric treatment card, but police are still determining his last treatment and based on his health record, he had received treatment for mental illness" is highlighted after these people were detained. This condition seems to be a repercussion of their wrongdoing and is much more related to their mental health. In this case, the combination of criminal behavior with a mental health issue may give the false impression that there is a high correlation between mental illness and violence, while there is none (Ross et al., 2022). Therefore, including mental illness history or diagnosis in news stories outlining violent occurrences might cause readers to assume a connection between the two (Chan & Yanos, 2018). The role of mental illness in violent crime or dangerous behavior in the above excerpts is elusive. Harmful stereotypes suggest that mentally ill people are frequently violent criminals, and their mental illness increases the risk of violence and victimization. However, there is less agreement on the psychopathology and symptoms that lead to violence (Webermann & Brand, 2017). Hence, the author should provide accurate information to the public; misinformation about mental illness, its causes, and its symptoms is another concern.

At this juncture, we could deduce that the news media frequently presents mental illness as untreatable or unrecoverable. For instance, in Excerpts 1 and 2, the reporter reports justification of the suspect's condition as someone with a mental illness record still under treatment. This description suggests that they seemingly cannot be recoverable and have no hope for a "normal" life, even if they have undergone therapy or treatments. Wahl (2003) remarked, "in the media, recovery is unusual." Even when individuals are told to seek counseling and psychiatric treatment, they seldom get better; if they do, it is not enough to stabilize and have friends and jobs. This construction with such information creates a false picture of mental illness. As a result, the depiction hinders people with the same psychotic features from getting the help they need, causes difficult recovery because they feel less confident, causes isolation due to social fear, and promotes discrimination among people with the same mental health conditions (Boyle, 2018). When a reporter describes perpetrators as "struggling with mental health," it is a subtle cause of their deteriorating crime. This description of mental health conditions can potentially internalize stigma among the readers. Therefore, if a reporter writes about an individual who has committed a crime, their mental health condition is irrelevant, but their actions are.

Besides violent acts, suicidal behavior is also associated with the person's psychological illness or mental health condition. Mental health conditions are a significant risk factor for suicidal behavior, where those who attempt to die by suicide are known to have some form of mental illness (Armstrong et al., 2014; Stack, 2014). Suicidal behavior was also discussed alongside depression and hallucinations in Excerpts 3 and 4.

• Excerpt 3

(Malay Mail 06 – August, 31, 2017)

A woman and her three-year-old son were killed after they fell from the 32nd floor of Kiara Residence 2, Bukit Jalil here at about 2pm today. The bodies of the 32-year-old woman and the boy were found at the first floor landing. Cheras police ACP Chong Kok Sin said her husband told police that. “Her husband, aged 28, a real estate agent, had once. According to her husband,,” he told reporters here today.

• Excerpt 4

(New Straits Times 23 – February, 06, 2020)

The 45-year-old woman, who was rescued by her husband after jumping off the Penang Bridge this afternoon,. "Interview with the victim's husband revealed that. "We are still probing the matter further. The case is being investigated under Section 309 of the Penal Code for attempted suicide," Seberang Prai Tengah district police chief Assistant Commissioner Shafee Abd Samad said tonight.

Excerpts 3 and 4 show that mental health disorders, such as depression, are correlated with suicidal behavior. Undeniably, depression is the highest risk factor for attempting suicide (Trakhtenbrot et al., 2016), and this psychotic symptom of psychosis has been identified as a risk factor for suicidality (DeVylder et al., 2015). However, the news of people with depression and suicidal behavior in the above excerpts was portrayed in harmful reporting with the facilitation of sensationalized headlines such as, "Woman, son die in suspected murder-suicide in Bukit Jalil" (Excerpt 3) and "Police: Woman rescued by husband at Penang Bridge suffered from depression" (Excerpt 4). As Bowles and Borden (2000) noted, the news headline must summarize the main point of the whole story. The information in the headline is also used to equip the reader with the knowledge necessary to comprehend the whole narrative, and it is retained in the reader's memory (Garst & Bernstein, 1982; Salih & Abdulla, 2012). Thus, information such as method (murder-suicide) and location (Penang Bridge) activates the reader's general information about suicidal scenarios. These headline descriptions also breach the media guidelines on reporting suicidal behavior, where the method and location should not be disclosed (World Health Organization, 2017).

Other than the existing psychological illnesses discussed earlier, which lead to violent actions or crime and suicidal behavior among individuals who experience mental illness, another reason or risk factor is associated with those behaviors, as mentioned earlier. Having a traumatic consequence, is another risk factor recognized in this study. This risk factor is explained in the second sub-theme, traumatic consequences.

Sub-theme 2: Traumatic consequences

This sub-theme focuses on a catastrophic event that results in physical, emotional, spiritual, or psychological suffering. The individual experiencing the traumatic incident may feel physically intimidated or terrified. These traumas may cause loss of hope, restricted expectations about life, or anticipation that normal living will not occur, such as access to education, and the capacity to have a substantial and devoted relationship. Suicide, for example, occurs in the context of many other psychological and social-environmental (i.e., society and surroundings influence, in some ways, relationships and family) risk factors. Excerpts 5 and 6 show that the psychological triggers of suicidal behavior among people who experience mental illness are stressful life events such as divorce and failed matrimonial relationships.

• Excerpt 5

(Harian Metro 14 – December 06, 2020)

of a three-storey shophouse unit at Jalan Kampar Barat 3, Taman Kampar Putra, here this morning. Hasron Nazri said, based on information obtained from the woman's good friend,. "The victim also told her good friend to take care of her body and. Preliminary police investigations found that;

Excerpt 5 mentions that the primary motive for suicide is personal and family problems. A friend described the woman as depressed and facing many problems, and her friend also recalled a message from that woman asking her not to give her body to her family in the aftermath. This situation shows she experienced a tough time with her family relationship other than she had already ended her marriage. There is a strong correlation between psychosocial (lack of social support and negative feelings about one's own family) factors and suicidal ideation (Shilubane et al., 2014). For these reasons, it is learned that she decided to end her own life and her children's lives as a solution. Fong (2021) notes that one of the significant drivers of suicide in Southeast Asia includes factors such as family conflicts. Therefore, a journalist must adopt interpretative journalism, where they should go beyond the facts related to the event and provide more in-depth news coverage. This kind of interpretative journalism is essential to prevent suicide on internal, individual, personal, societal, institutional, systemic, and policymaking levels (Fong, 2021).

• Excerpt 6

(Sinar Harian 2– December, 18, 2020)

A 34-year-old woman found dead hanging in Machang on Tuesday is and. Datuk Shafien Mamat said, according to their investigation, the woman was. “When she got divorced,”."She may have problems she can't handle, so she chose the easy way out," he told reporters at the press conference at Taman Angkat Amanita Inauguration on Thursday.

In another case, Excerpt 6 states that the exact factor mentioned earlier, a broken-up marriage, has led to drug offenses and the same psychological disturbance (depression) in a woman who later decided to end her life as "an easy way out of her problems." The people who died by suicide in Excerpts 5 and 6 were characterized by impulsivity, hopelessness, and depression. They seemed vulnerable, sufficiently stressed, and dangerously aggressive toward themselves. There are aspects of these suicide deaths that make them of public interest.

• Excerpt 7

(NST 23– February, 06, 2020)

Malaysian Tamilar Kural president David Marshel, who spoke on behalf of the family, said they believe after being allegedly. He said the boy, who was in the second last class in school, had appealed to be transferred to a better class since the start of the new school session but to no avail. ". “Last month, Logamitraa wasafter teachers claimed it was tight-fitting and, which had been with him for a long time,.

Another significant point observed is that the news item in Excerpt 7 portrayed negative issues and attitudes toward suicide by linking this suicide issue with a social stressor, such as having conflicts with teachers. The impact of bullying on teenagers' mental health was the topic of a news story with the headline "Penang boy who committed suicide 'targeted by teachers', claims the family". Hence, the teenager commits suicide to escape the grief and loss. This individual also experienced traumatic events, such as being targeted and bullied by his teachers, which later made him depressed and led to his suicide.

The boy who died of suicide in Excerpt 7 experienced a psychological risk factor when he was a bully victim in school. Being "targeted," bullied, and humiliated by teachers made him more vulnerable than he was. Family members described him as ‘someone with no problem before’ as shown in Excerpt 8.

• Excerpt 8

(New Straits Times 23– February 06, 2020)

. One thing led to another and. "We demand answers from the school. He never had any problems before and now he is gone," he said when met at Logamitraa's final rites at his house in Taman Taman Sejahtera here this morning. Logamitraa is survived by his parents and 15-year-old sister. Family members were too distraught to speak to newsmen present. Logamitraa's cousin asked for understanding that the family be given time to grieve. Logamitraa's mother found in his room at 6pm on Tuesday. He was rushed to the Bukit Mertajam Hospital but was pronounced dead upon arrival.

Being bullied raises the likelihood of mental health problems and suicide ideation, planning, and attempt. Bullying may lead to poor impulse control in teens, the most significant indicator of suicide attempts (Bakken & Gunter, 2012). Consequently, such media reporting and depictions of suicide might influence suicidal behavior and lead to imitative actions (Sisask & Värnik, 2012), particularly among groups of the population with the same conditions and problems (e.g., young people and people with depression) (Gould et al., 2014; Niederkrotenthaler et al., 2014). Sisask and Värnik (2012) also demonstrated significant modeling impacts with various suicide methods. For instance, in Excerpt 8, the reporter reported on how the boy took his own life and how his mother found him, "Logamitraa's mother found her son hanging from a blanket tied to the ceiling fan in his room." This kind of description of method and location has violated the guidelines for media reporting of suicidal behavior by the World Health Organization, which does not give specific details about suicide, such as the method and location (Marzano et al., 2018; World Health Organization, 2017). The evidence for this impact is most remarkable in connection to newspaper reporting (Hawton & Williams, 2005), and there is evidence that lowering the number and enhancing the quality of reporting may lead to decreases in actual suicide behavior (Sisask & Värnik, 2012).

The kind of portrayals in Excerpts 5, 6, 7 and 8 might trigger suicidal behavior among vulnerable people (young people, people experiencing mental health issues or with the same problems) who imitate the suicidal action. The social learning process depends on how the suicide decedent is depicted in the media as someone to identify with or admire (Lee et al., 2014; Niederkrotenthaler et al., 2010; Niederkrotenthaler et al., 2012). Those who admire or identify with a role model who commits suicide may adopt the same method to cope with their stress or problems. In certain circumstances, the media should not reveal the motivation (Wang, 2012). Reporting that represented suicide negatively was less likely to raise suicide rates (Gunn et al., 2020).

Similarly, Niederkrotenthaler et al. (2010) found it less probable that suicide rates would rise by posting stories of people overcoming suicidal situations. This situation is termed the "Papageno effect". Thus, reporting and portrayal of suicidal behavior in the media can affect those exposed to such stimuli, especially those in which reporting is dramatic and includes details of the method used (Hawton et al., 2012; Sisask & Värnik, 2012). However, reformations to reporting suicidal conduct have been shown to reduce the incidence of suicide (Sisask & Värnik, 2012).

The finding also reveals that when portraying the issue of suicidal behavior, suicide was spoken differently between an adult and a teenager. When the news article discussed a story of a teenager's death by suicide, he was described as vulnerable to depression due to several risk factors. The headline highlights the risk factor, and the story's description is sympathetic and lengthier, with enough information about what led to the incident. Risk factors such as low self-esteem, a lack of positive relationships with teachers, and bullying have caused depression and led to suicidal behavior. Kassis et al. (2017) found that depressive symptoms in young people have been linked to a similar risk factor. The portrayal of youth was more compassionate and supportive for the individual with depression and family (Fernandez, 2014). Unlike news articles about adult suicide cases, implicit descriptions of the method and setting associated with a completed or attempted suicide were described in headlines and news text. In terms of media guidelines, most news items on suicidal behavior in this research violated Malaysian media guidelines relating to the precise method of suicide, the location of the suicide, the location of the article in the newspaper, and sensationalized language. Despite the possibility of reporting bias, reporters consistently demonstrate sensationalized and detailed media reporting on suicide behavior.

Overall, the findings have demonstrated that almost all news reports regarding violent crimes and suicidal behavior among people living with mental illness are reported negatively. The risk factor theme had a generally derogatory and stigmatizing manner. The most dangerous or violent acts often included significant links with mental illness as the main subject of the stories. The following were the violations of the regulations that were most often confirmed: Mentioning self-harm or suicide; using the phrase "commit suicide"; disclosing how a violent crime was committed; or using sensational language to depict self-harm, aggressive behavior, or mental illness. The offenders are also described as vulnerable, impulsive, and hopeless. They were described that way due to their current mental health state, a history of mental illness, or traumatic consequences that caused various mental illness symptoms and later drove them to commit violent crimes and suicidal behavior. Thus, promoting significantly stigmatized perspectives of psychosis and those who are suffering from it.