Question

please help

Media Psychologist Much has been written about media psychologists such as Dr. Phil. Do media psychologists have value? What are the potential drawbacks? Is it just entertainment, or does it help people? Do the changes resulting from a few minutes of insight from Dr. Phil contribute to lasting changes? Is it ethical to expose people's vulnerabilities on TV for the purpose of entertainment?

Answer 1

In my opinion, the media itself doesn't have value at least at present. Media works towards drama and popularity to seek an audience. Their only value is to seek attention and publicity to publicize their product aka the shows to extract money. These show might help people but their main focus isn't on helping but to entertain the audience. Even in some cases, it's all staged to get publicity. They seek the most problematic, vulnerable people to create drama on television because of more the drama more the dollars.

Following are some potential drawbacks of such shows:

• They focus more on problematic elements.
• They source out vulnerability for entertainment.
• It can also cause life long trauma to related people as everyone's watching them.
• Also, undeserved people can become famous for absolutely no reason for eg: Danielle Bregoli aka "Cash me outside, how bout dah" girl.
• It doesn't always give honest knowledge.
• The environment is not counselling friendly.
• They create a delusional version of reality.
• It is not suitable for all age groups especially tweens and teens who are tend to follow trends blindly.

It might help people but mostly it's just entertainment. We very well know that media create content for profit so their main goal is entertainment and if it's helping others it's just mere side perk of it.

Yes, it does have lasting effects on everyone involved (but some people could care that's another point). It can be negative or positive but in recent years negative effects are more evident. The audience who are watching this possess a great impact on their own psychology. They either consciously or subconsciously catch the elements of the programme which might true or gimmicky. Secondly, the participants of such shows have to face a large no. the audience, it can be helpful or traumatic. It is also a possibility that they generate massive love or hate towards them which can be destructive. Moreover, it just puts participants out there in a vulnerable position they might regret later.

No, I do not find it ethically correct to profit off of someone's vulnerability. I absolutely do not appreciate such behaviour. When we work with a client we focus on helping them not to treat them like showpiece for entertainment. Mental health is no fun and games and it definitely takes a lot more than just an episode. By putting them out there in front of thousands eye, this makes them furthermore vulnerable.