The portrayal of mental in media such as movies, books and TV shows is a common trope used to tell a compelling story that captivates an audience. Films such as Fight Club, Secret Window, Split and the classic Psycho all play on over-sensationalized versions of mental illnesses that have come with negative stereotypes relating to our personal understanding of mental illness.
“The worst stereotypes come out in such depictions: mentally ill individuals as incompetent, dangerous, slovenly, undeserving,” says Stephen Hinshaw, a professor of psychology at the University of California–Berkeley. “The portrayals serve to distance ‘them’ from the rest of ‘us.’”
While we are captivated by these films we tend to develop a fear and misconception of individuals who suffer from mental illness; it becomes engrained in our psyche that these individuals are dangerous and should be kept away from us for our safety. Every serial killer from Mike Myers from Halloween to Norman Bates of Psycho are mentally ill individuals with inhuman desire to hurt and kill individuals for the sake of enjoyment. Granted that most of these characters are based off of serial killers that have committed atrocious crimes due to mental abnormalities they have it is goes beyond saying that individuals likes these are a rare case compared to the large number of people who have to deal with mental illness their entire lives.
If media representations of mental illness aren’t improving, individuals can at least become aware of the insidious portrayals that shape their perceptions of real-life people with psychological disorders. That way, they can distinguish between fact and fiction, stereotype and reality and the characters onscreen vs. their real life peers.
For most audiences who have little to no understanding of the truth behind mental illness a film could help propagate negative stereotypes that stay with them for a good portion of their lives. This is also amplified due to our history with treating mentally ill individuals in inhumane ways going as far back as the turn of the 20th century. Our fascination with the abnormal hasn’t breed enough compassion or understanding to dilute the negative effects of film stereotypes that are continuously portrayed on the silver screen. Instead we as a society still have this chasm between what we considered to be normal and abnormal leading to individuals with serve mental illness to be alienated and misrepresented.
Mental illness itself isn’t the only thing misrepresented in media but also the entire premise of psychology. There seems to be a less that accurate representation of psychology in film that once again relies on the stereotypes and often than not outdated versions of theories and practices that come with the territory. One example that impacted me was the final scenes of the movie “Requiem For a Dream” in which one of the stars of the film who was suffering from a mental episode was forcefully administered shock therapy. Her last scene shows her suffering from the after effects of going through what I can only describe an inhuman treatment. These stereotypes only strengthen negative stereotypes of individuals with mental illness without any effort to properly educate individuals about the realities that most individuals suffer from their entire lives. I believe there needs to be more of an effort to educate the general public about the truth behind mental illness and to remind individuals that what we see on the screen doesn’t always represent reality.
(Warning NSFW)
Aronofsky, D. (Director). (2000). Requiem for a dream [Motion picture]. Paris: Aventi.
How Mental Illness is Misrepresented in the Media. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://health.usnews.com/health-news/health-wellness/articles/2015/04/16/how-mental-illness-is-misrepresented-in-the-media
This is such an important issue in the battle against stigmas against mental illness. I often think about this topic in terms of Eating Disorders. I suffered from one myself and received treatment at a young age. The people I met in treatment were so varied in the manifestation of their disease and their stories of how the disease came to be in their lives and how it affected them. It bothers me that while there a multitude of categories of Eating Disorders, the only one that receives any if limited, representation is Anorexia Nervosa. In a addition, this representation is also only seen as a disease that white, middle and upper-class women appear to have. The issue with this is that the disease can affect anyone. Men are susceptible to restrictive eating patterns and purging after bingeing. The “nervosa” part after anorexia denotes that it is also a highly emotional disorder and can be volatile for those suffering stress from poverty and not being Type-A and vain (as often depicted). This disorder can also affect any race or culture that is impacted by these stressors.
Feeling misunderstood or alone or “weird” can exacerbate the experience of suffering from mental illness. This is why I believe that representation matters particularly when we are talking about a topic as delicate as this. We can completely change the conversation if we allow everyone to join. We can also begin to have a better understanding of it and work towards creating a world that is more accommodating to those suffering from mental illness.
Great topic, I agree many of the terror movies I have grown up with the main characters have some type of mental illness. The stereotype as you say could not be further from the truth. In my medical facility we treat many individuals with mental health issues and they are some of the nicest people you can meet. According to the Mayo Clinic mental heal has a negative stigma and because of this many individual do not seek treatment. Social media is a great source to start and promote the importance of mental health treatment. Social media can help improve the negative connotation of mental illness and help people understand.
Mental health: Overcoming the stigma of mental illness. (2017, May 24). Retrieved October 19, 2018, from https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/mental-illness/in-depth/mental-health/art-20046477