maandag 3 maart 2008

Stigma

Stigma Continues in Hollywood
by Steven H. Hyler, M.D.

June 2003, Vol. XX, Issue 6. Psychiatric Times

Rebellious Free Spirit

Negative stereotypes of patients with mental illness have a long history in Hollywood. Inaccurate portrayals have an important and underestimated negative effect on the perception of people with mental disorders--by the public, legislators, families and patients themselves. In this update of a 1991 presentation given by Glenn Gabbard, M.D., Irving Schneider, M.D., and myself, I will review some of the common stereotypes seen in film and television and discuss several recent films that perpetuate such myths.

Representations of this stereotype are found in film characters such as R.P. McMurphy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), as well as in many of the patients (peripheral characters) in films such as The Dream Team (1989) and The Couch Trip (1988). One of the more memorable recent film characters is Melvin Udall (played by Jack Nicholson) in As Good as It Gets (1997).

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