Depression: As Seen on TV? A Study of Mental Illnesses as Portrayed in Popular Media Autumn Groff COMM 401 Final Paper
Introduction Is it anything out of the ordinary to say media influences us? Wherever we go, we are surrounded by all forms of media which influence our daily lives. This idea that media sways us may not always be conscious, but rather a part of the dominant discourse of popular culture. When we watch movies or television, or listen to music, we are exposed to an entire universe of topics. Topics of controversy in media can often be misinterpreted, or joked about in order to earn a laugh from the audience. One particular topic relevant to this field is the portrayal of mental illnesses and their aids (such as therapy and antidepressants) in media. Within this research, I am going to focus on the ways in which media portrayals of antidepressants and mental illnesses are stereotyped, using specific examples of popular media for analysis. Additionally, I am going to explain the beneficial factors from music usage in relation to mood management theory.
Popular Culture Defined Media and popular culture go hand-in-hand in regard to dominant discourse. As mentioned above, the influential nature of these two areas can cause the public to be swayed to believe certain things about a topic when it is not entirely true, similar to how the stereotypes of depression or therapy could be accepted as truth. According to an article from Philosophy Now by Professor Tim Delaney (2007), popular culture “is generally recognized as the vernacular or people’s culture that predominates in a society at a point in time.” Having said that, the media examples that will be drawn for this research will be those of high popularity from films, music, and television in order to further explain why they have relevance to the topics of depression/mental illnesses.
Portrayals of Mental Illness in Media during Adolescence Portrayals of mental illness have been used in media throughout the years, and have even been seen in the films of Walt Disney. In a study by Andrea Lawson and Dr. Gregory Fouts (2004), an analysis considered the effects of Walt Disney Company’s feature length films’ usage of mental illnesses. Lawson and Fouts (2004) suggested the importance of doing such a study is that children’s “exposure to TV and movies influences attitudes toward a range of social groups (p. 311),” one of which included those with mental disabilities. By looking at the usage of certain terms such as “nuts” or “crazy,” films were classified as having mentally ill characters. From this research taken from 34 feature length films, “85% of Disney animated films contained references to characters with mental illness [and] 21% of all principle characters were referred to as mentally ill” (Lawson & Fouts, 2004, p. 312). In one extreme example taken from Beauty and the Beast, the townspeople referred to Belle and her father Maurice as mentally ill. “Mental illness words are used to set apart and denigrate these characters, implying that to be mentally ill is to be different in a negative and inferior way” (Lawson & Fouts, 2004, p. 312). To a child that may have a mental disability, this may be disturbing to them, and make them feel isolated from the norm. On the other hand, a child that views this type of content may develop a prejudice towards children who may display similar behavior to that of Maurice’s. When I first saw these results I found them quite surprising, but had come to realize that I will refer to myself as “crazy” if something does not go as planned, or if I am under stress, but had never thought about the ways in which those words could be used offensively. We are exposed to such extremes at such a young age, but think nothing of it. Another more recent example of a children’s movie that also deals with depression is the Disney film Inside Out. The plot of this film focuses on the emotions of a little girl (Riley), and how those emotions affect her personality in her everyday life. As the title is “Inside Out,” the viewers are literally inside the mind of Riley, and are accompanied by the five main emotions: happiness (Joy), Sadness, Anger, Disgust, and Fear. Each of these emotions affected every move she made. This movie is generally very comical, but after watching it several times, I was able to connect depression to this type of behavior. For instance, when Joy (happiness) had run off with Sadness, Riley’s mind was only operating under the remaining three emotions. Her outward appearance had become very irritable, scared, and angry. Riley’s family and friends had recognized her actions as unusual, while ignorant to what was going on inside her mind- similar to how sufferers of mental illnesses often deal with their emotions alone. While I was watching Inside Out, it made me realize that those emotions are what helped define Riley; so when one of those was gone, she was negatively affected. In a similar manner to those with mental illnesses, the imbalance of emotions caused her to reactions to be different. In Katherine Sharpe’s book Coming of Age on Zoloft, Sharpe refers to psychiatrist Joseph Schildkraut’s findings regarding depression: “Depression would therefore seem to be related to a deficiency of these same compounds—in other words, a chemical imbalance” (Sharpe, 2012, p.36). This imbalance is what I had seen within Riley’s character while watching the film. Although this representation is not entirely similar, I feel as though this movie will act as a good teaching tool for children to understand depression or mental illnesses at a young age. Additionally, it should be noted that Sadness’s character became
important to the well-being of Riley in the end, as sadness is part of life. Sharpe (2012) briefly explains that “sadness becomes pathological when it is grossly out of proportion with what a situation warrants” (p. 48). When this is the situation, proper treatment is then necessary to subdue suffering.
Stereotypes of Mental Illnesses in Media While early exposure may have a long-lasting effect on us, newer productions of popular culture reinforce those stereotypes that we have seen all our lives. Personally, while watching movies, I am less prone to pick up on stereotypes, and more likely to laugh at them. Because these stereotypes tend to sprout from my childhood, I associate the situation with something that made me laugh as a child- thus causing stereotypes to continue to be added into media. For example, in the comics Tom and Jerry, Tom Cat was always being hurt by Jerry Mouse. The comics were a part of a slapstick-style comedy, so audiences laughed at Tom’s pain, and cheered for Jerry’s heroism. But what we may not realize is that this simple example is just one of the many times we have seen pain associated with comedy. Growing up with comics like these, I learned to laugh at modern movies/television where pain ensued. Looking back on it now, it makes me realize how much we have used stereotypes like these in order to gain a laugh, thus giving those companies a profit. Although this example is not directly related to depression, stereotypes of mental illnesses are ever-present in modern film and television. Various studies have examined the stereotypes and portrayals of mental illnesses in film, and have found both positive and negative implications. According to an article in Psychiatria Danubina by A. Damjanović, O. Vuković, A. A. Jovanović, and M. Jašović-Gašić (2009), “when somebody is watching a movie, barriers between the viewer and the technical aspects of the movie projection become invisible due to the fact that the viewer is absorbing the images into his/her conscious mind (p 231.). As we immerse ourselves into a film, we lose our sense of time and reality, and can be persuaded by what we see. A. Damjanović, et al. (2009), also explain how “movies are exceptionally important in terms of influencing the perception of audience regarding mental illness due to a lack of awareness among general public about the problems associated with mental disorders, while on the other hand other communication media tend to a great degree to blur and mystify the definition of mental illness and persons suffering from mental illness” (p. 231). Some of the more negative portrayals of mental illnesses leave the audience ignorant to the severity of mental illnesses, and poorly reflect truth. Among popular movies, some of the most common movie portrayals stereotype those with mental illnesses as dangerous, violent, or lonely (Damjanović, et al., 2009; Fawcett, 2015; Stuart, 2006) According to Heather Stuart’s article (2006) from CNS Drugs, “mentally ill film characters are the objects of fear, derision or amusement; and verbal references to mental illness are used to denigrate, segregate, alienate and denote another character’s inferior status” (p. 101). As mentioned earlier, casual usage of words such as “crazy” or more derogatory terms are meant to inflict emotional pain upon another character. This usage may be fictional on screen, but can be triggering to a viewer.
Stereotypes of Mental Illnesses seen in Popular Film/Television & Personal Reaction Of the main stereotypes listed above, the most violent mentally ill characters are seen in horror films such as Sling Blade, which features a mentally challenged person who escapes from a mental health institution after being locked up for murdering his mother. Films like this perpetuate the myth that mentally ill people are a threat to society (Damjanović, et al., 2009, p. 233-34). Another poor example of mental illness representation is seen in One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975), and The Exorcist (1973) which promoted the enforcement of mental hospitals, and discouraged the use of psychiatric help. Patients were secluded from the outside world in a prison-style accommodation. “These movies feed even more biases and misconceptions about psychiatry and contribute to the stigmatizing of psychiatric patients” (Damjanović, et al., 2009, p. 231). In a similar example involving mental health institutions, the television show American Horror Story’s second season is set in an insane asylum during the time period when individuals with any type of mental disability/illness were quarantined. Although this show has been known to test the limits, this season focused heavily on unethical therapy tactics similar to those in the movies above, as opposed to psychiatric therapy. The portrayal of psychiatric patients are seen in variety of ways across both film and television. A comedic example of a psychiatric patient that I am familiar with comes from the movie Freaky Friday (2003). In this film, one of the main characters is a therapist. She is seen several times throughout the movie assisting her patient, and it is portrayed as a very comedic scenario. Personally, I think this scenario has been repeated time and time again. I can recall watching several different shows or movies when someone was made fun of for having to go to their therapist, or referred to the psychiatrist as a “shrink” in order to make light of the situation. In the book, Coming of Age on Zoloft (2012), Katherine Sharpe interviews with college students whose embarrassment of taking antidepressant medication led them to joke about their mental illness (p. 257), similar to how characters of movies and television have done in the past.
On the contrary, there are times when popular culture romanticizes the aura of depression. In the hugely popular Twilight series, the main character Edward Cullen became a fan favorite. Edward is a vampire with a life of immortality, yet his depressed nature is what made him a teen idol. Plagued with his self-hatred and suicidal impulses, he refuses to leave his newfound love, Bella. His depression is essentially what made him so appealing. Although he is an “immensely powerful immortal being, able to run faster than cars and crush stones with his hands… his life is completely worthless without the girl he loves” (Cousins, 2015). Looking back on the general plot line of the saga, I do not see how this became such a huge cultural phenomenon. The underlying themes of depression and torment are so blatantly obvious, yet adolescent girls (including myself) fell in love with everything about it. From my own personal experience of watching films with mentally ill characters, I can agree to some extent that there is a negative connotation, or exaggeration of traits, but there are other positive examples where mental disabilities are highlighted but not exaggerated. In the movie It’s a Wonderful Life, the main character George Bailey is chronically depressed, and on the verge of a breakdown. His character is nearly suicidal, but is convinced to stay on Earth when an angel takes him through life if he were never born. By not giving in to his suicidal thoughts, he was able to overcome his temporary depression- something that is often neglected from film and television. Other positive depictions of mental illnesses can be seen in The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and Silver Linings Playbook. I also believe there are media examples of mental illnesses which are simply for comedic relief. For instance, obsessive compulsive disorder is a common character trait in a lot of situation comedy shows, as seen in roles like Monica from Friends, or Danny from Full House. These characteristics are never fully diagnosed as a mental illness, yet they tend to dominate the character’s personality. Unfortunately, this type of representation is what causes us to joke about serious matters such as mental illnesses.
Popular Music’s Effect on Mental Illnesses While film and television have incorporated mental illnesses and therapy into their productions, music also has similar stories written into the lyrics of popular songs. While film and television can have persuasive tendencies, music can do the same. Contrary to the negative effects that have been mentioned above, recent research has considered the benefits music can have on one’s mood. Additionally, this research claims music can possibly calm feelings of depression. The trials of this music therapy research had “shown that music therapy added to standard care helps people with mild, moderate or severe depressive episodes to improve their levels of depression as well as anxiety and functioning (Erkkilä, et al., 2011, p. 138). By simply adding music to one’s daily tasks, one’s mood could ultimately be lifted. After looking at this research, I completely agreed with these findings. Personally, I listen to music at any time of the day. Whether it be during the shower, while getting ready, or just relaxing in my room, I am surrounded by music a good portion of the day. I find that it helps me calm any nerves, or even helps wake me up. Reading this research made me realize how music would be beneficial to anyone who was suffering with any mental illnesses. I do not personally suffer from any mental illness, but I have been able to turn to music when I am upset, and have felt significantly better. There are also times when I would purposely turn to music that fits my bad mood, which resulted in an uplifted mood.
Mood Management Theory In compliance with the statement above, research has been conducted on the mood management theory, which “predicts that individuals will select media content that promises to optimize their moods” (Carpentier, et al., 2008, p. 143). The findings of this research ultimately came to this conclusion: “The higher the adolescents’ prior positive mood level, the more fun the emotional quality of the media they later used. Conversely, the lower the adolescents’ prior positive mood level, the less fun their media were. This tendency was apparent for both adolescents with and without depression, as well as for boys and girls. Thus, it appears that the adolescents were choosing media that matched, rather than enhanced, their current positive mood level, whether that level was high or low” (Carpentier, et al., 2008, p. 158). Essentially, we tend to choose our media based on our prior mood. Just as I had mentioned earlier, when my mood was low, I tended to pick music to fit that mood. The same situation occurs when the prior mood was positive. I really found this study quite interesting, as it is something I find myself doing daily without even realizing.
Final Thoughts In conclusion, we have been surrounded by stereotyped images our whole life. As this research points out, stereotyped images incorrectly portray accurate depictions of the problems at hand, leading audiences to form misconceptions or biases on a subject.
The images of mental illnesses in media are depicted in characters who appear very different or isolated, setting them apart from the rest of the characters. With portrayals like these, audiences could form prejudices of those who suffer from mental illnesses. I believe that we need to see more positive interpretations in media such as It’s a Wonderful Life, or The Perks of Being a Wallflower which show the true hardships behind mental illnesses. On the other hand, media can also be used beneficially as an aid to those suffering from mental illnesses. Music in particular has been proven to calm some of the effects of mental illnesses. Overall, the pros and cons of media portrayals is a controversial subject. As seen in the examples above, there is a range of both good and bad portrayals of mental illnesses in media today. If more positive portrayals continue to appear in film and television, I believe past stereotyped images will be disregarded as such.
References Carpentier, F. D., Brown, J. D., Bertocci, M., Silk, J. S., Forbes, E. E., & Dahl, R. E. (2008). Sad kids, sad media? Applying mood management theory to depressed adolescents’ use of media. Media Psychology, 11(1), 143-166. doi:10.1080/15213260701834484 Cousins, J. (2015). Edward Cullen and the allure of depression. Psych Central. Retrieved from http://psychcentral.com/lib/edward-cullen-and-the-allure-of-depression/ Damjanović, A., Vuković, O., Jovanović, A. A., & Jašović-Gašić, M. (2009). Psychiatry and movies. Psychiatria Danubina, 21(2), 230-235. Delaney, T. (2007). Popular culture: An overview. Philosophy Now, 64. Retrieved from https://philosophynow.org/issues/64/ Pop_Culture_An_Overview Erkkilä J, Punkanen M, Fachner J, Ala-Ruona E, Pöntiö I, Tervaniemi M, et al. (2011). Individual music therapy for depression: Randomised controlled trial. Br J Psychiatry, 199: 132-9. Fawcett, K. (2015). How mental illness is misrepresented in the media. U.S. News. Retrieved from http://health.usnews.com/ health-news/health-wellness/articles/2015/04/16/how-mental-illness-is-misrepresented-in-the-media Lawson A., & Fouts G. (2004). Mental illness in Disney animated films. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 49: 310-314. Retrieved from https://ww1.cpa-apc.org/Publications/Archives/CJP/2004/may/lawson.pdf Sharpe, K. (2012). Coming of age on Zoloft: How antidepressants cheered us up, let us down, and changed who we are. New York, NY: Harper Collins. Stuart, H. (2006). Media portrayal of mental illness and its treatments: What effect does it have on people with mental illness? CNS Drugs 20(2):99-106. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/7299322_Media_Portrayal_of_Mental_Illness_and_Its_Treatments_What_Effect_Does_It_Have_on_People_with_Mental_Illness