Qualitative Research in Psychology, 4:167–186, 2007 Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 1478-0887 DOI: 10.1080/14780880701473573 167 UQRP 1478-0887 1478-0895 Qualitative Research in Psychology, Vol. 4, No. 1-2, June 2007: pp. 1–37 Qualitative Research in Psychology Representations of “Mental Illness” in Serbian Newspapers: A Critical Discourse Analysis Representations of “Mental Illness” in Serbian Newspapers B Bili[#x00107] and E Georgaca BOJAN BILIC 1 AND EUGENIE GEORGACA 2 1 School of Humanities and Social Sciences, International University Bremen, Germany 2 Department of Psychology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece The media are among the primary sources of information on “mental illness” for the general public. This article presents an overview of the representations of “mental ill- ness” in Serbian daily newspapers covering a two-year period, 2003 and 2004. A crit- ical discourse analytic approach was employed to identify the discourses drawn upon to construct versions of “mental illness,” the textual strategies through which these versions are constructed, as well as the functions of these specific depictions of “men- tal illness.” Three broad discourses were identified. The discourse of dangerousness depicts people with “mental illness” as dangerous either by portraying them as committing violent crimes or by conflating them with other stigmatized groups. The discourse of bio-medicalization constructs “mental illness” as a medical disorder, psychiatrists as responsible for its management, and people with mental health prob- lems as passive sufferers of their condition. The discourse of socio-political transition accounts for the recent increased incidence of mental disorders in Serbia by const- ructing versions of a mentally healthy or mentally disordered Serbian nation. The former two discourses are commonly highlighted in the international literature on media depictions of “mental illness.” The discourse of socio-political transition seems to be specific to our corpus and closely related to the current Serbian context, in rela- tion to which it is discussed. Keywords: discourse analysis; “mental illness”; newspapers; Serbia; socio-political transition In the spring of 1999, when it became obvious that NATO aircrafts would attack targets throughout Serbia, graffiti appeared in Belgrade that read: Mad is the one who remained normal. This graffiti summarized a whole decade of social uncertainty, as a result of which the already vague categories of normality and abnormality became almost com- pletely interchangeable. This article uses a critical discourse analytic approach to explore how the reversal of these concepts is effected, in the broader context of investigating the versions of “mental illness” constructed in contemporary Serbian daily newspapers. Before presenting and discussing the results of our study, we introduce the literature on representations of “mental illness” in the media and the discourse analytic approach. We also briefly outline the current socio-political situation in Serbia. Correspondence: Dr, Eugenie Georgaca, Department of Psychology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki S4124, Greece.