Books
about Mental Illness
and the Media
Brandell,
J.R. (editor) (2004). Celluloid
Couches, Cinematic Clients:
Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy in the Movies. New York: State
University of New York Press.
With
contributions from psychoanalysts, therapists, and authors of
literature and cinema studies, this book explores how therapy and
therapists have been portrayed in movies over the past 75 years. It
offers an opportunity to explore themes and issues from a different
reference point by asking what can be learned about the professional
self and the nature of the therapeutic process from the movies.
Fleming,
M. & Manvell, R. (1985). Images
of Madness: The Portrayal of Insanity in the Feature Film. New
Jersey: Associated University Presses, Inc.
This book provides a fully
researched assessment of the
American and European Cinema's portrayal of insanity in feature films.
The first part of the book defines and discusses the major themes of
madness from the perspective of psychiatric therapy and practice in
reference to the times. The second part of the book provides notes and
critical comments on 150 some feature films dealing with insanity.
Gabbard,
Glen & Gabbard, Krin. Psychiatry and the cinema, 2nd
ed.
Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press, 1999.
This book traces the
history of depiction of
psychiatry
in the movies, noting connections between these depictions and broader
sociocultural issues and changes. The focus is on the
psychiatrist/therapist
rather than on the people with psychiatric disorders whom they
serve.
The book also contains a large section that considers films and film
themes
from a psychodynamic perspective, and it ends with an extensive
filmography
of movies with psychiatric themes.
Montgomery,
K. Target Prime Time: Advocacy Groups and the Struggle Over
Entertainment
TV. Oxford University Press, 1989.
This book is actually not about
mental illnesses nor about television depiction
of mental illnesses. However, in detailing how racial, ethnic,
and gender groups advocated for improved representation on
television,
the author provides information that may be useful
to advocates interested in similarly improving the TV image of mental
illnesses.
Mental health advocates could learn from the
strategies, successes, and failures documented in this book
to inform
their
own efforts to influence the entertainment media.
Morris,
G. Mental health issues and the media: An introduction for health
professionals.
New York: Routledge Press, 2006.
The author explores the
ways attitudes, including
those
of mental health professionals, may be shaped by the media in both
positive
and negative ways. He explores a variety of media, including
news,
film, literature, television, and the internet, and present ideas about
how mental health professionals might better interact with the media to
improve its consideration of mental health issues.
Philo,
Greg (Ed.). Media and Mental Distress. Great
Britain:
Addison Wesley Longman Limited, 1996.
This is a book put together
by the Glasgow Media Group and contains a number of papers detailing
research
in Great Britain related to the media depiction of mental
illness.
It examines media content (and shows that the U.S. is hardly alone in
media
stigmatization of mental illness) and the response of various focus
group
audiences to selected media depictions to better understand how media
presentations
may influence public attitudes about mental illness.
Robinson,
David J. Reel psychiatry: Movie portrayals of psychiatric
conditions.
Michigan: Rapid Psychler Press, 2003.
This book catalogs
movie depictions of psychiatric conditions. It is organized by
psychiatric
diagnosis. Each chapter provides a description of the defining
features
of the diagnosis and a number of films that depict the specific
disorder,
noting how the film’s characters fit the diagnostic criteria. The
book may be useful for people seeking to use films to educate about
mental
illnesses.
Wahl,
Otto F. Media Madness: Public Images of Mental Illness. New
Brunswick,
NJ.: Rutgers University Press, 1995.
The author, a clinical psychologist and university
professor,
details the frequency, nature, and impact of mass media depictions of
mental
illness. He includes many examples from film, television, books,
newspapers,
and other media. In addition, efforts to improve media portrayal of
mental
illness are described. For more information about this book,
click
on the title above.
Wedding,
Danny Movies And Mental Illness: Using Films To Understand
Psychotherapy