Studies have shown that the media people are exposed to hugely affects them and that changing television or newspaper attitudes directly affect changing attitudes among the general population. Both LGBT issues and mental health issues, for example, have benefited strongly from smart media portrayals that have sought to bring to light these issues in a more realistic, and less stigmatising, way.

Mental illness has a history of being portrayed in a very demonising way and only recently has it entered mainstream awareness and open public discussion. One of the most blatant examples of where the media has failed to represent mental illness honestly is through the association of mental illness with violence. Many horror films feature an antagonist whose motives are explained by their inherent craziness, and suggest that their violent behaviour is a direct result from their mental illness, as seen in ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ and ‘The Shining’, to name a few.

Newspaper reports of violent tragedies are also another time when mental illness is represented as a dark motive for the perpetrator’s actions. It is widely believed that people with mental illnesses are more likely to be violent, a seriously misleading idea. The vast majority of people who commit crimes ARE NOT mentally ill, and people with mental illness are far more likely to be the victim of violent crime than the perpetrator of it.

The rise of the internet has helped highlight the need for media literacy, that is the need for increased skepticism and the ability to analyse and respond to media in an informed and thoughtful way, and therefore be less likely to be influenced by negative media stereotyping. In recent years, public discussions about mental health have helped to increase awareness in a more positive way. In the last general election, the Labour party detailed their approaches to mental illness in their election policies. Many celebrities and famous politicians, business leaders and artists have openly discussed their experiences, which has boosted public understanding of illnesses such as depression, OCD, bipolar disorder and PTSD. However, misrepresentation in visual media is still rampant.

 

A key pitfall of current misrepresentation in television is to introduce a mentally ill character whose mental illness makes them cute and ‘quirky’, as with the character ‘Cassie’ from ‘Skins’ (“I didn’t eat for three days, so I could be lovely”), and thus romanticising it. Cassie is made out to be more mysterious and alluring because of her anorexia and her ‘dark, self-destructive side’. Tumblr is the social media platform that comes to mind when you think of the romanticisation of mental illness, re-blogging images which idolise mental illness is a common occurrence, particularly with self-harm and suicide, showing it as an expression of the tortured artist archetype and failing to recognise the seriousness of the issue. https://www.flickr.com/photos/kelseyweaverphotography/sets/72157641294062935/

Despite these negative examples, media representation of mental illness has come a very long way in the last ten years, and writers and directors increasingly seek to portray them accurately, often consulting with psychiatric experts and people who experience the mental illness in question in order to show a realistic and responsible depiction of mental illness. More successful and realistic film and television portrayals include ‘My Mad Fat Diary’, ‘A Beautiful Mind’, and ‘Silver Linings Playbook.’

 

In ‘My Mad Fat Diary’, Rae’s panic attacks are shown for the horrible and intrusive experiences that they are. When the screen is scribbled black in nightmarish Lizzie-McGuire-esque illustrations, you know there is nothing beautiful about what is happening here. The dream sequence that reveals the extent of her self-loathing for her body where she zips off her fat suit to reveal a petite and gorgeous girl underneath hits hard and the image of her imagined skinny self dragging the fat suit down the stairs and burning it is appropriately uncomfortable to watch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfuxnx163qU

 

‘My Mad Fat Diary’ doesn’t romanticise mental illness or try to suggest that Rae’s self-harming makes her tragic and mysterious. When Finn fancies Rae, he does so because she is smart and funny and cool and caring and her mental illness has nothing to do with it. What I like about ‘My Mad Fat Diary’ is that, generally, Rae’s experiences are grounded and believable. Her mental illness is a long-term thing, and her experiences of therapy both in hospital and through her sessions with Kester are shown to be positive ones.

I would like to see more representations of mental illness in a realistic and long-term way. The radio series ‘Voices of an Illness’ (http://bill-lichtenstein.weebly.com/voices-of-an-illness-series.html) provided first-hand accounts of living with a long-term mental illness and featured people who worked in a multitude of fields. I would like to see more documentaries and shows about people living with mental illness and leading successful, fulfilling lives with careers they can be proud of.