Breakdowns Breakthroughs

CONFRONTING MENTAL HEALTH STEREOTYPES AND STIGMA THROUGH FILM

Beginning in the early days of Hollywood, the film industry has reflected the psychological and social issues of the day, playing out our deepest dreams, nightmares, failures, and successes on the wide screen.  Though not always accurate, the portrayals can significantly affect people’s perceptions of the social realities around them.  Stigmas concerning mental illness, mental health, and the relationships between differing cultures can be reinforced or dispelled by these films, depending on how they are represented and understood.

Beginning September 4, 2007, an interdisciplinary collaboration between the East Carolina University Department of Psychology, the School of Communication, the ECU Honors program, the Office of Co-Curricular Programs and Cultural Outreach, and the ECU National Broadcasting Society will address these issues in a film and discussion series open to the campus community and the public.  Exploring a range of topics including depression, social anxiety, prejudice, cultural and ethnic conflict, and various phobias, the series will examine the role of film in portraying mental illness and mental health.  Counselors, therapists, clients, and mental health advocates in the health community and students in all related areas of study are especially encouraged to attend and participate.

A classroom component of the series will be offered to ECU Honors students and taught by Bernard Timberg, Department of Communications (Ph.D., University of Texas-Aiustin) and Nate Vietor, Department of Psychology, (Ph.D., University of Houston). Honors students enrolled in the course will prepare materials for showings and facilitate discussions.  Mental health professionals from the university and the community will deliver brief remarks following films.