Examples Of Mental Illnesses In The Perks Of Being A Wallflower

Mental illness is heavily stigmatized in mainstream media sources, such as articles, books and movies. The character who is suffering from a mental disorder, which is stigmatized is often exaggerated for the sake of entertainment. The stigmatization of mental disorders is unfair to those who have mental disorders. The viewers of media are viewing those suffering from the disorders as “psychotic” or “crazy”, which is inaccurate and unjust to those affected. The media representation of the disorder provides vague and inaccurate causes and treatments. In the movie series “The Dark Knight Rises” and television series “Dexter”, the characters Joker and Dexter are afflicted with the mental disorder antisocial personality disorder; in which it creates

Film industries have been critiqued over their portrayal of mental illness for as long as the field of Psychology has been around, and rightly so. Films often inaccurately portray mental illnesses for the sake of dramatic effect. They will stereotype characters, label them as ‘crazy’ and unstable, and in the case of Silver Linings Playbook, cast the therapist in an uncaring, trigger happy, and unprofessional role. Psychologists are just in their outrage, because the effect on public understanding of people with mental illness is damaging, to both normal people and those who have a mental illness. To explore these issues in Silver Linings Playbook, we need to first, introduce the psychological disorders that are in the film, examine the

Misinformation and misperception about mental illness can lead to the stigmatization of ourselves, our parents, our children, our spouses and others that we care about. The consequences of stigma range from social isolation to poverty to barriers to quality treatment and care. Stigma perpetrated on a grand scale can result in a system that reinforces the idea that people diagnosed with mental illnesses are unimportant and therefore are unworthy of access to quality and affordable care. Some media outlets (films and television) serve to perpetuate negative stereotypes and reinforce stigma. Although relatively few people with mental illness act out in

Studies have shown that one of the public’s primary sources of information regarding mental health disorders is mass media (Fawcett, 2015). This makes it incredibly important for movies, newspapers, and television shows to provide society with accurate depictions of mental health. While there are media outlets who portray mental health correctly, there are also ones that depict the subject via stereotypes or in a negative light (Fawcett, 2015). This can lead to people developing an unfavorable, or worse, inaccurate view of what mental illness truly is.

However, this fear is especially heightened at this time towards mental illnesses through the media, and personal experiences with those who had mental illnesses. In the media most villains are often linked to having the mental illness of sociopathy, psychosis or psychopathy, often causing many people to associate mental illnesses with evil. According to Psychology Today:

It is well known that children are very easily influenced by what they see in the world, especially in the media. Disney has undoubtedly monopolized the hearts and brains of children all around tihe world, so they have an extreme amount of power in the way they portray things. Whether it be the way they portray gender, families, or mental illness, these portrayals affect their audience on a deep psychological level. The way that mental illness is portrayed is a lot harder to detect than some other topics like gender and families, but they are just as damaging. Disney needs to strive to portray mental illness as something that is genuinely human rather than something that is evil.

We have come to a point where we are very susceptible to the things that we see in the media every day. We believe the things that are being told to us through media because we have been pushed to think this way. Social media has the ability to manipulate the way in which topics are viewed such as mental illness. We have come to a point where we are less likely to question the things that happen in films because we have become comfortable accepting the information we gather through media. However if you actually pay attention to the way things are portrayed in films, a lot of the time there is little truth behind it. For some reason it has become the norm to make mental illnesses more dramatic and seem way more dangerous than they actual are. Mental illness in films is very rarely accurately portrayed in films, a lot of the time they are made to be way more dramatic than they actually are solely for the purpose to make the film

Shutter Island portrays multiple mental illnesses in the main character as well as in supporting characters. One might call it an abnormal psychology “goldmine.” It takes place at a water-bound psychiatric facility, Shutter Island, housing the criminally insane. The plot is about a man who refers to himself as Teddy. He believes he and his partner are detectives, on the island, to investigate the disappearance of a patient. He is also in search of a patient named Andrew Laeddis, who Teddy believes murdered his wife. The detective becomes paranoid that the facility is treating the patients unfairly and performing experimental lobotomies. The delusion goes on for several months, Teddy never realizing he is actually a patient, until he is brought back to reality at the climax of the movie. His delusion ends. He realizes he’s a patient for a very short amount of time before he goes back to believing he’s a detective. The delusion starts all over again. Throughout most of the film, viewers see his delusion as a reality, until the twist at the end when it is revealed that he is actually a patient.

In the beginning of The Perks of Being a Wallflower Charlie is a “Wallflower”. He notices things about other people and keeps quiet. He understands things about people that others would jump to conclusions about. He lives in the shadows. As time goes on and his past begins to haunt him once again he meets people that decide to notice him. They are his friends, and the only ones who are willing to accept him as he is. Charlie begins to discover the joys of life from a different place outside of the shadows just as the shadows begin to creep in. If he can keep the shadow of his past away then he can move on, but it's hard to get rid of the past if you see it all around you.

On the other hand, there are movies on mental health that inspire people but there are also many misconceptions in some of these movies. In the comedy movie, “Billy Madison”, casts the well known hollywood star, Adam Sandler. Adam Sandler acts as a man but with a 5-year old mentality. He’s a spoiled man that will never grow up and the viewers of the movie are only watching it for entertainment which there is no problem about it. Though Adam Sandler isn’t assigned to play as a man with a mental disorder, he acts like he does in the movie. Yeah people want to watch a movie for entertainment and that’s okay. What isn’t okay is that the directors of the movie doesn’t explain why Adam Sandler is

In most cases, people who are portrayed with mental illnesses are commonly exhibited as being violent and/or aggressive, but are also frequently depicted as eccentrics, seductresses (in the case of women), self-obsessives, objects for scientific observation, simpletons and/or failures. One or more of these such labels can reasonably be applied to the characters examined in both The Beauty Queen of Leenane and The Holy City... As such, a skewed, and ultimately rather unsavoury, picture of mental illness is often presented to the public. There is plenty of evidence that these pervasive negative portrayals can have harmful effects, particularly effects they might incur through perpetuating the stigma associated with mental illness as well as potentially reducing the likelihood that those with mental illness will seek out the appropriate help. In April 2005, a psychological review put together by Jane Pirkis, R Warwick Blood, Catherine Francis and Kerry McCallum examined the effect of fictional portrayals of mental illness. They made reference to studies that have employed surveys and focus groups to examine the sources of community attitudes towards mental illness, having found that the media in general are perceived as the root of such

Witnessing or experiencing traumatic events are normally followed by stress reactions, but when those reactions continue for longer than a month that is when an individual is diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, typically referred to by its acronym PTSD. Traumatic events include sexual assault, child abuse, domestic violence, near death experiences and a variety of other traumatic events. PTSD is characterized by three main symptoms: re-experiencing the event, avoidance of triggers, and increased arousal (“Symptoms of PTSD”). The novel, Perks of Being a Wallflower, is written in diary format which allows the reader to be exposed to Charlie’s inner thoughts.

In a study conducted by Otto F. Wahl of George Mason University it was concluded that the portrayal of the mentally ill was extremely inaccurate when compared to what mental illness experts uphold.“ … early studies, for example , compared media depictions with the opinion of mental health experts and concluded that ‘ in general , the causes, symptoms, methods of treatment, prognosis, and social effects portrayed by the media are far removed from what the experts advocate.” This shows without the help of experts in character development the mentally ill are seriously misrepresented. Another study conducted by Donald L. Diefenbach and Mark D. West of the University of North Carolina at Asheville to see how television influenced attitudes towards mental illness concluded much to the same. “The study found that the view of mental illness expressed by the mass media was even further removed from health professionals than that of the lay public. “ Once again we see that the lack of professional guidance in the media leads to the flawed depiction of the mentally

Understanding mental illness for the average person can be challenge or even unattainable. Unknown aspects from each individual illness grasps differing urges that are unrelated to the majority of people. The film industry, however, is used as a productive machine of creating empathetic relationships between its audience and the people being portray in the film. A combination of the film industry and the implementation of characters struggling with mental illness delivers a provoking message to an audience of people willing to learn the situations of all people. The movie A Beautiful Mind manages to fulfill the dramatic effects of a film and the realities within an individual suffering through mental illness.

Overall, the movie The Perks of Being a Wallflower tells the story of a teen with significant trauma and depression. It shows how his friends help him through tough times and give him a good high school experience. He finds himself and receives help from his friends, family, and doctors. It shows how mental illness is normal in teens and that it is okay to seek