Tag Archives: Hollywood

Halloween and Schizophrenia From Stereotypes and Stigma to Candy

15 Monday Oct 2018

Posted by in bipolar, caregivers, hope, mental illness, schizophrenia, stigma, Uncategorized

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I love October it is the first month after summer where days start to get cooler, nights longer and there are all of those great flavors like pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, and maple. As a kid, October held one of my favorite days at the end of the month, Halloween. But that was long before I had the diagnosis of schizophrenia.

Now Halloween marks the most stigmatizing and stereotyping day of the year for people with a severe mental illness. There are straightjacket costumes, the horror films, the haunted asylums, and many other cultural favorites that make it look like those of us with a mental illness are terrifying, monstrous, and the places we go for treatment are houses of horror.

People have become more and more aware of how costumes, mascots, names, etc. are offensive to certain groups over the years. Look at the campaigns to get the Red Skins to change their name, and the pushback on Hollywood to hire transgender actors to play transgender roles as well as Asian actors and other POC to play roles intended for them. All good, every bit of it.

Many groups have experienced a tide of change about their identities, but that wave has not included severe mental illness. There has been a great deal of public acceptance of anxiety and depression, those two disorders have made it into the mainstream in ways schizophrenia has not. I have seen little shift in public awareness or acceptance of schizophrenia, especially in October.

There is hope, though with movies like Netflix’s Maniac, where the main character has schizophrenia and displays many symptoms, but isn’t a monster, a criminal, or even unlikeable. That is a huge change from the stereotypes on many crime shows that write in the killer as someone with schizophrenia.

The history of psychiatric facilities as places that tortured patients with treatments like lobotomies, ice baths, insulin shock therapy, and other stuff of nightmares, almost cements psychiatric facilities with a role on Halloween. The boarded up closed up, and long unused asylums that dot our countryside don’t help as many people and television shows report tales of ghosts and other haunting stories.

I don’t hate Halloween, though. On the bright side, at least it is a night that involves candy, and who doesn’t want to celebrate pillowcases, and plastic pumpkins packed full of sugary treats, especially candy bars that are full-size.

 

 

Netflix’s Maniac From the Perspective of a Person with Schizophrenia

24 Monday Sep 2018

Posted by in hope, mental illness, relationships, schizophrenia, stigma, Uncategorized

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I spent the weekend binge-watching and reading articles written about the new Netflix series Maniac. From Slate to Rolling Stone, none of the writers for the magazines loved it as much as I did and not one of them gave enough attention to, what to me, was the most important, groundbreaking, enduring, and thrilling part of the whole show. The gem I am referring to is, there was a character who has paranoid schizophrenia (like me) and wasn’t a cookie cutter stereotype like almost every other character written into a movie or television show where the writers try to explore one of the most stigmatized and baffling of the mental illnesses.

As someone who has lived with paranoid schizophrenia for over two decades, I wouldn’t say I am an expert, but I do know a thing or two about the disorder that writers usually get wrong, mess up, or rely heavily on worn-out stereotypes like the mass murderer, the genius or the lovable clown.

One of the main characters (Owen) is sensitive, frightened, unsure, intelligent, heroic, courageous and has a sense of integrity and insight into his illness. I have never been more excited or pleased to see schizophrenia on the screen as I was this weekend.

Don’t get me wrong; the writers don’t ignore some of the more troubling symptoms of schizophrenia for example hallucinations, delusions, conspiracies, seeing patterns in random events, and the desire not to take medication. All those details are there, but so is a likable and complex character that people can imagine wanting to get to know it real life.

The show also deals with addiction, borderline personality disorder, loss, grief, and complicated relationships as well as a wide range of emotions. I found it to be a playground of delight for those of us who for whatever reason, through necessity or curiosity, love psychology, therapy and the world of the mind. The scenes are graphic (two are reminiscent of Pulp Fiction) and many are colorful, fantastic and a treat for the eyes.

Maniac is easily my favorite show this year, and it ranks as my all time favorite show that deals in any way with schizophrenia and it may become one of the few shows that I watch multiple times and put on my list of best I’ve seen.

 

Writing Schizophrenia

12 Wednesday Oct 2016

Posted by in heroes, hope, mental illness, schizophrenia, stigma, Uncategorized, writing

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Last night I was binge watching old episodes of Blue Bloods. My husband and I have always enjoyed the cop show mostly because of its focus on family. I don’t think either one of us will see it the same way again after the writers created a man with schizophrenia who had killed a young girl’s family but became stable (and remorseful) in prison after taking medication.

I can’t tell you how many times a very similar character or killer is part of the story on Criminal Minds, and other detective/cop shows. Will Hollywood never tire of the killer with schizophrenia?

In every beginning writing class students are urged to avoid stereotypes because they make writers look lazy and ignorant. Apparently, writers for Hollywood haven’t received the Composition 101 memo, or they think writing in a killer with schizophrenia is just too appealing to the general public to leave it out. I doubt the latter; It’s simply bad writing done by people who refuse to spend ten minutes researching the statistics regarding people with schizophrenia and instead turn to an old and tired story.

I can’t help but think that if the same writers created a stereotypical character from another minority, there would be some outrage on the part of the public (at least I hope so). But with mental illness, and particularly schizophrenia, the outrage seems to be limited to a few blogs and occasionally one of the larger mental health non-profits will have their members write letters.

How would I like people with schizophrenia to be portrayed? Realistically of course and that requires talking to people who have the disease and asking about their symptoms. Do they hear voices? Do they hear voices continuously or only sometimes? Do they suffer from delusions? If they experience paranoia, how does it manifest in their everyday life? What other symptoms do they have, and how do they manage those symptoms?

I have encountered dozens of people with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder, and they can all answer the questions that I just listed. In the disability community there is a saying, “Nothing about us, without us,” and that is how I feel about schizophrenia. If people want to write about it, that is great, but hopefully, they will care enough to do some research to make sure their characters aren’t just the same old stereotypes that are written about frequently now and over the past few decades.

It would be admirable if a few writers would like to do some good, and find out what living with a severe mental illness is like and how difficult it can be without trying to live with the views that they have reinforced over and over again by making us out to be dangerous killers.

We can all agree the pen is a mighty instrument that can be used for the good of others or to harm others. I hope that someday soon in Hollywood, the writers of popular shows will decide to help eradicate stereotypes about schizophrenia rather than perpetuate them. I can only think of one story where the hero has schizophrenia, and it was a blockbuster. The movie is, “Beautiful Mind.”

The success of “Beautiful Mind” should be an indicator that the public is hungry for a different narrative where mental illness is concerned. And the old cliche that says, “there is nothing new under the sun” simply isn’t true especially regarding characters with schizophrenia.

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Netflix And Psych Central

24 Sunday Jan 2016

Posted by in bipolar, mental illness, schizophrenia, stigma, Uncategorized, writing

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I have four things on my mind today.

I watched a movie on Netflix, Neverwas. If you would like to see how Hollywood romanticizes mental illness, I suggest watching this movie. Let me know if you decide to see it. I would love to know what you think.

A series that I watch, Longmire, had an episode with a Native American man who had schizophrenia. The character killed his sister, of course. You can’t get any more stereotypical than the violent man with schizophrenia. They did get a part of the illness right though. The character suffered from delusions of a spiritual nature.  Also it seemed as if the character had a very low IQ which is an inaccurate portrayal of the majority of people with schizophrenia.

Enough of Hollywood.

I am reading a book, Women of the Asylum. It is a book that has over twenty essays, letters, or journal entries from women who lived in an asylum between the years of 1840-1945. I have finished the introduction, and two of the women’s essays. I like the book so far. If you are interested in reading about the history of feminism, psychiatry, and first person accounts of the mental health system, this is the book for you.

I have two new posts up on my Psych Central blog.

One is Treatment Can Be Harder Than You Think.

The other one is The Mentally Ill As Advocates For Each Other.

Disney got it Right, when will we?

21 Tuesday Jul 2015

Posted by in mental illness, writing

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I am not much of a consumer of pop culture. I rarely listen to music (I prefer silence). I don’t pay attention to what is on the bestseller list, but I do occasionally read books recommended or discussed on Facebook by writers in my network. I still own a flip phone, and I don’t have an iPad. I’m not addicted to movies or television either. I watch an episode of Orange is the New Black once a week, and at times I binge-watch the cop show Blue Bloods.  I haven’t been in a theater in over a year. So, when I tell you I watched Disney’s Maleficent this past weekend, please don’t be surprised that I am just getting around to it.

With all that being said, I loved the feminist twist of Maleficent. Sleeping Beauty was not saved by the prince on a white horse she was saved by the kiss of a faerie with a maternal-type love. It was a fantastic twist on a Disney classic. I told my niece, who is seventeen, and watched it with me, that I loved the fact that it was an “older” woman’s love that saved the princess instead of the kiss of a young prince. My niece told me that the movie, Frozen also had a character saved by the true love a woman, and in that case, it was the love of a sister.

As a woman who grew up with almost no other choices than a prince on a white horse, I am so happy to see this storyline change. I am sure the young girls growing up with other examples of true love, and heroines will have a bigger worldview than those of us who were raised that we would someday be swept off our feet by Prince Charming. I know women my age who still seem to be waiting for that prince to arrive so they can have that fairytale wedding and happy-ever-after.

I have been thinking about issues involving women for a very long time, but the movie Maleficent made me really curious about the mental health industry when it comes to both men and women.  In one article I read in the Guardian that women are 40% more likely to suffer from mental illness than men, and women tend to take action against themselves (eating disorders, cutting, etc.) while men tend to take action against their environment (substance abuse and anger problems).

Nearly 1 in 5 women in the United States will be raped in their lifetime according to a New York Times article.

1 in 5 girls and 1 in 20 boys are sexually abused according to statistics. 

I know it isn’t the only contributing factor, but these statistics have to contribute to the higher numbers of women with mental health issues. We know that rape and childhood sexual abuse contribute to depression, PTSD, eating disorders, alcohol abuse, and suicide.

I don’t know how to change the horrifying statistics of child sexual abuse and rape, but I am hoping that if Hollywood continues to give us something besides a damsel in distress and a male to save her, that having examples of women saving women and women saving themselves will help women to be stronger, more independent and will give women positive role models on how to heal from trauma instead of turning on themselves by developing an eating disorder, self-injury, or even suicide.

Of course I wish the trauma that often causes someone to experience mental health issues didn’t exist. Can we work on that, please?

In the meantime, let’s buy products where females aren’t objects or victims and stop supporting magazines that sexualize teenage girls.

Every dollar you spend is a vote for something, please vote for less violence against women and more positive role models for our young girls – their lives may literally depend on it.

Since I Came Out…

22 Friday May 2015

Posted by in mental illness, schizophrenia, stigma

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I don’t know how many weeks ago it was that I came out of the closet about my diagnosis. Twelve weeks? Sixteen weeks?

It hasn’t been long. I assumed a lot of things before coming out. One thing I assumed is that it would be a bigger issue with people than it has turned out to be. Of course, I can’t really tell what people are actually thinking, and it will be some time before I see if they dismiss me in conversations and in other ways, because they perceive my opinions as less now that they know I have paranoid schizophrenia.  I will know more about this with more time and more experiences with the people who now know my diagnosis.

All that aside, one thing that I was very surprised about, was that I don’t absolutely love and agree with all advocates for schizophrenia. I thought that all of the people advocating for the reduction of stigma, more understanding, and better treatment would all be on one happy carriage together heading in the same direction.

Big disappointment, because we are not in the same carriage and we are definitely not heading in the same direction.

There are advocates that push holistic healing of schizophrenia without the use of medications. I have said this before, without medication I would be dead. Dead doesn’t give you the chance to say a treatment isn’t working. Dead is dead, no second chances. I find people who push holistic type treatments on other people to be irresponsible. There is no way of knowing if someone’s schizophrenia is in remission and could spring up at any time bringing voices that are cruel or even dangerous. Remission is not a cure. Remission can turn to active in a day. These advocates also make schizophrenia seem like something you can overcome. I can’t overcome a brain disease. I’m wired for it. Therapy isn’t going to make it go away just like exercise and vitamins aren’t.

There are also advocates that say and use words and phrases that continue to stigmatize people with mental illnesses. Calling each other paranoid schizophrenics instead of a person with paranoid schizophrenia (I occasionally make this slip, but try very hard to correct myself). We are people with paranoid schizophrenia we are not defined solely by our illness.

There are advocates that believe and perpetuate the myths about schizophrenia in their writing. For instance they will have a character who suffers from schizophrenia and have that character want to kill someone. We get enough of that in Hollywood without finding it in the mental health community.

So, I am new to this life as an person who is open and honest about living with schizophrenia and in some ways the surprises have been good, but in other ways, I find that I get angry and want my voice to be heard as loudly as some others, because I think I have something important to say.

If I had a platform what would I say?

Get a good doctor, take your medications, limit stress in your life, surround yourself with love, and compassion, find a hobby, use your mind, take care of your body, and laugh as much as possible at yourself and the situations you find yourself in.  Be bigger than your illness every day, by loving other people or giving something, no matter how small, or seemingly insignificant, to the world. You are valuable. You are loved. You have talent and you matter. As sure as there is water in the ocean you matter to this world you were born into.  One last thing, know you are not alone, even in the most terrifying moments, we’ve been there and made it through, you can too.