On-Screen Portrayals of Mental Illness: Extent, Nature, and Impacts

Abstract

This article reviews the published literature on the extent, nature, and impacts of portrayal of mental illness in fictional films and television programs. The literature suggests that on-screen portrayals are frequent and generally negative, and have a cumulative effect on the public's perception of people with mental illness and on the likelihood of people with mental illness seeking appropriate help. The article concludes that there is a need for the mental health sector and the film and television industries to collaborate to counter negative portrayals of mental illness, and to explore the potential for positive portrayals to educate and inform, as well as to entertain.

Notes

¹The article is based on a more comprehensive report, which is available from the authors on request (Pirkis, Blood, Francis, & McCallum, 2005).

²Medline, Psychinfo, Australian Public Affairs, Cambridge Scientific Abstracts (Communication Studies, SAGE, Sociological Abstracts), EBSCOhost (Communication and Mass Media Complete, Academic Search Premier), Dissertation Abstracts, WARC (World Advertising Research Center), and Emerald Full Text (Health, Sociology, Social Policy).

³MENTAL HEALTH (MENTAL HEALTH PROMOTION, MENTAL HEALTH EDUCATION, MENTAL HEALTH LITERACY) or MENTAL ILLNESS (MENTAL DISORDER*, PSYCHIATR*, DEPRESSION, SCHIZOPHRENIA, ANXIETY, MOOD DISORDER*, OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE DISORDER*, EATING DISORDER*, ANOREXIA, BULIMIA); and MEDIA (MEDIA, TELEVIS*, FILM*, MOVIE*, PLAY*).

⁴Identified from the ISI Web of Science Citation Index.