MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT MENTAL ILLNESS
We’ve seen it in the movies – but how accurate are those on-screen depictions really?
filmmaking can be a bit like Broken Telephone: real life sparks an idea, it is passed from one writer to the next, the script is reworked, a director chops and changes it, actors add their creative flair, and editors ultimately decide what’s important and what’s not. The final product can be quite far removed from the original idea. The stakes are higher, though, when it comes to depicting mental health conditions. Movies and TV shows play an important part in our lives, says University of Cape Town Film and Television Studies lecturer Dr Alexia Smit. ‘All art forms deal with our inner world and represent how we’re feeling inside. But film does it in a special way because it can reproduce experience – we’re seeing things through someone’s eyes and experiencing their world. That’s what makes film so powerful – it can actually embed you in someone else’s mind.’
While it’s not unusual for filmmakers to embellish a condition, or cut the ‘boring’ bits, the problem arises when those misrepresentations bleed into real life. ‘Accurate representation in film and TV is important.
It forms our prejudices and attitudes to people,’ explains Alexia. ‘TV is one of our first lessons about other people beyond our family circle; it’s often how we figure out what other people are like.’ Film and television also affects how we view ourselves. According to Alexia, there is often a character we strongly relate to. ‘We’re always looking for that point of identification – we’re looking for ourselves.’ When we see images we can relate to, we can meaningfully build our own self-image upon that. But if you’re looking for a representation of yourself and all the available options are negative, that could be detrimental and damaging to your self-esteem.
When audiences consistently find poor representations of mental illness in pop culture, negative stereotypes take root and stigmas can be hard to shake. Those who pay the price are the real people living with those misrepresented mental illnesses: isolated and demonised, they’re often too afraid to speak up and get the treatment they need.
The South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG) reports that one in five people will experience mental illness at least once in their lifetime. Yet only 27% of Saffers with severe mental illnesses will get treatment.
‘There’s a lot of stigma attached to mental illness, but really it’s like having a cold or diabetes,’ says psychologist Dr Bernice du Plessis. ‘Mental illness, for example depression, can be triggered by a life experience, or could be related to other health factors such as thyroid problems or having low iron levels. Having a mental illness does not necessarily mean that a person is not able to function optimally in everyday life. The prognosis varies for different people; for many therapy and/or medication may assist them to better cope with their symptoms or be symptom free.
‘When we start talking about mental illness, it normalises it and people can start saying, “Me too!”.’
To demystify some misunderstood mental illnesses, we looked at how popular films compare to real life.