Global Adversities, the Media, and Mental Health
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 15522307 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Ladislav Kesner (0000-0001-8277-9705, National Institute of Mental Health, corresponding author), Jiřı́horáček (0000-0003-0114-7306, Charles University), Jiří Horáček |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 12 |
| Pages | 809239-809239 |
| Publication date | 2022-01-10 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Frontiers in Psychiatry (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1664-0640 • E-ISSN: 1664-0640 |
| Publisher | Frontiers Media (PUBLISHER • CH) |
| DOI | 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.809239 |
| PMID | 35082704 |
| OpenAlex | W4206001189 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 72 |
Global communities are currently confronted with a number of complex problems and threats, the reality of which is amplified by the media. These environmental and socio-political stressors have been accompanied by the spread of problematic psychological and behavioural tendencies, such as the growing polarisation of opinions and values, online radicalisation and extremism, deepening xenophobia and nationalism, the proliferation of irrational beliefs and conspiracy theories, and resistance to rational public policy measures. Here we argue that although they fall outside the scope of psychopathology, they nevertheless currently constitute a major challenge for psychiatry as a research domain and a clinical practise. To substantiate this claim, we outline the mechanisms by which media-transmitted stressors impact mental well-being and possibly psychopathology. The common denominator of these global problems and the media's construction of reality is the increase in uncertainty, unpredictability, and uncontrollability, which prompts defensive responding and, in predisposed individuals, functions as a potent source of chronic stress. These contribute to cognitive inflexibility, a strong predisposing factor for the development of rigid beliefs and attitudes, which to varying degrees underlie the adverse psychological and behavioural tendencies mentioned above. We suggest that the tightening of beliefs and ideas that is the result of cognitive rigidity may correspond to the clinical characteristics of induced delusional disorder. This can be seen as a (ultimately maladaptive) defensive strategy for coping with a high degree of uncertainty and unpredictability. We conclude by briefly outlining the possible ways in which psychiatry can face this challenge
Cognition · Irrational number · Mental health · Political science · Politics · Psychiatry · Psychopathology · Psychotherapist · Stressor · Xenophobia · Clinical Psychology · Mental Health Research Topics · Psychology · Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment · Psychosomatic Disorders and Their Treatments · Social Psychology
The Belief in a Just World
The Predictive Coding Account of Psychosis
Uncertainty and stress
Social influences on neuroplasticity
Mental Illness and Mental Health
From Uncertainty to Extremism
Life Event Dimensions of Loss, Humiliation, Entrapment, and Danger in the Prediction of Onsets of Major Depression and Generalized Anxiety
Into the unknown
Cognitive neuroscience of self-regulation failure
Computational psychiatry as a bridge from neuroscience to clinical applications
Media exposure to mass violence events can fuel a cycle of distress
The myth of mental illness.
Uncertainty and anticipation in anxiety
A taxonomy of prospection
Learned helplessness in humans
When Beliefs Face Reality
The Influence of Intolerance of Uncertainty on Anxiety and Depression Symptoms in Chinese-speaking Samples
A new conception and subsequent taxonomy of clinical psychological problems
Does Psychedelic Therapy Have a Transdiagnostic Action and Prophylactic Potential
Mental Ill-Health and the Epidemiology of Representations
Prospection, well-being and memory
Compensatory Control and Its Implications for Ideological Extremism
The emotional roots of conspiratorial perceptions, system justification, and belief in the paranormal
The concept of mental disorder
News, Politics, and Negativity
Compensatory control and the appeal of a structured world
The Mental Health Continuum
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |