6 Mental Illness Myths Hollywood Wants You to Believe
Mental illness is one of those issues that not even smart people have a good grasp of. So we probably shouldn't be surprised that Hollywood's treatment of it is about as informed and respectful as showing up drunk to a stranger's funeral and crapping in the casket.
From serial killer movies to sappy mental hospital dramas, Hollywood uses mental illness as a convenient plot point, often forgetting to do even five minutes of Googling on the subject first. As a result we get things like...
#6.
The Magic Key/Instant Cure
On the Season 6 premiere of House, our hero discovers that a catatonic patient is constantly staring at something in the nurses' office. Anyone without House's keen intellect would've assumed that "something" was a ham sandwich, but House discovers that it's actually a music box which, when played, brings this particular patient back to the land of not pissing on herself in the corner (keep in mind this is something the staff has failed to notice for years, but Hugh Laurie spots in a single goddamn day).
But it's not just in medical dramas. We've seen this in pretty much all of the Hannibal Lecter movies (figuring out the one thing that makes the killer an insane murder machine allows the cops to predict who, when and where he'll strike next) and in every film where the primary villain gets talked out of his psychotic master plan by a hero that "understands" him.
Hell, that's even the ending of Spider-Man 2: Spidey talking Doc Ock out of his murderous insanity. "You're completely right, Spider-Man, I did say that people need to let dreams go sometimes. To Hell with my dead wife and everything else that I've lost, I'm totally pulling this fusion reactor on top of myself to save the lives of all the people I was hell-bent on vaporizing mere seconds ago."
In the medical community, this phenomena is known as "complete and utter whale shit" [citation needed], but in Hollywood it's call it "the magic key."
"Just stick this in your crazy hole and we'll unlock the sanity!"
See, Hollywood is convinced that sometimes there is just one specific thing that has to be discovered in order to cure a person of their shoelace-eating lunacy--or at least unravel the mystery behind it--long-term treatment and medication be damned.
Why It's Bullshit:
Simply put, psychology is not a game of Jenga, wherein one crucial block can bring down the entire tower of mental illness. No one factor made the person snap, and shoving one thing back into place won't make them whole. If it did, this mental illness stuff would be easy.
In the real world people with severe personality disorders are about as predictable as the weather, and so far the fact that we all know what causes lightning hasn't helped us figure out when and where it's going to strike with any kind of certainty.
For instance, think about all those cinematic serial killers brought to justice by the cunning insight of a psychological profiler. In real life that shit only leads to arrests about two percent of the time. The linked Malcolm Gladwell article took a comprehensive look at serial killer profiling and found that it's nothing more than cold reading - a parlor trick utilized by old-timey magicians and psychics to con people into thinking their mind was being read. People want to believe that Sherlock Holmes and his modern day incarnation, Dr. House (or Ben Matlock for you high-brow types) really exists. In reality, the only cases of successful psychological profiling were heavily doctored by the profilers themselves to make their predictions seem more accurate.
"And here's where I'll tell them the killer's address instead of screwing up everyone's lunch order like I actually did!"
#5.
A Day With a Crazy Badass Shall Cure Them All
There's seemingly one person in every silver screen mental hospital who's there either by choice or because the squares on the outside couldn't deal with how "real" they are. See Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest; Angelina Jolie in Girl, Interrupted; or Michael Keaton in The Dream Team. Once they get inside, the rebellion starts small--screwing with the staff, shaking the other patients out of their passivity and generally doing things that in any other situation would brand you a totally disruptive penis.
Like this.
Whether it's by getting them to refuse to take their medication, taking them on an unsupervised adventure through the city or getting one of them laid, the rebel does more to help these poor nuts in one day than all their doctors and nurses with their fancy big city book learning have done in years.
Why It's Bullshit:
This isn't just idiotic, it's insulting. It plays to that stupid Hollywood notion that decades of schooling and experience with thousands of patients means nothing compared to one tough guy ready to give them a good old fashioned kick in the pants.
Tough guys.
See, if you could really break somebody out of a psychological shell with a single unsupervised trip led by a gruff tour guide in a leather jacket, we would fucking do that. That's way easier than what we're doing now.
But it's not the implied insult toward the mental health profession that makes this so irritating. It's the implication that in each crazy person, good mental health is lurking about one-inch beneath the surface, ready to be cured in a couple of days. So when somebody raised on these movies actually runs into an actual mentally ill person, they can't help but wonder why they don't just get over it already.
"You all need to stop being such GODDAMN LUNATICS."
#4.
Electroshock Treatment is a Savage, Primitive Treatment
According to movies like One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, Shine, A Beautiful Mind and Changeling, electroshock treatment (electroconvulsive therapy or ECT) is the equivalent of treating testicular cancer with thumbtacks and a crescent wrench.
A bunch of savagely indifferent doctors strap some poor bastard down and try to shock the crazy out - leaving the victim docile, slightly charred and with a bucket of fried chicken where their brain used to be. The portrayal of ECT is so overwhelmingly negative that it frequently gets picked last for kickball, behind Nazis and child molesters.
Go ahead and get in kids. It's not like he's got an ECT machine in there.
Why It's Bullshit:
In reality, ECT works and it's safe. It's painless and has the same level of risk as general anesthesia, and has been used successfully for years to treat depression. Patients who undergo the treatment typically find themselves more engaged, more active and altogether happier people.
See? Look how happy he is.
The only negative thing is that they have to keep getting the treatment to stay healthy. And as for the screaming, struggling patient being dragged down the hall to the electroshock room? Unless the patient is catatonic and their life is in immediate danger, ECT can only be administered with informed consent.
See, Hollywood always leaves out the part where the doctors sit down and carefully explain the benefits and risks of ECT to their patient so a rational decision can be made. Then they drag them down the hall to shock their balls off.
Actually, a disassociative fuge state creates Hollywood-style amnesia perfectly. It requires emotional trauma, though, not physical head trauma...
ReplyOh man, I swear I do not like being the word police, not something I usually do. First off great article, as someone heavily touched(not in the fun way!) by mental illness both in myself and my family I can really appreciate Hollywood bullshit being exposed. Just a fun little tip for speaking about someone with a mental illness or any sort of illness or disability is to try separate the person from their disorder. So instead of saying "a depressed woman" or "a disabled boy" you could say "a woman with depression" or "a boy with a disability". Seems so small but making sure people are perceived as their own person with many other qualities, and that their label is a separate entity can go a long way in making society more accessible and open minded. So uh yeah...that's my annoying little lecture.
Replyi am in school to be a psychologist, and one of the first things you are told in gen.psych is that psychology used to be about experimentation- causing damage just to see what happened- and modern psychology is about alleviation- fixing the problems. doctors today dont just poke around in your brain just to see what happens; they also dont just zap you to see what happens- believe it or not there are a s**t ton of laws regulating what you can do when testing. it sounds like everyone here who has had a negative experience with ECT [during an era where it wasnt used as a punishment, mind you, so in the last 20 years or so],that there is a good chance their experience is a case of coincidental correlation. Perhaps these people got worse, not because of the treatment, but because they got worse and are still on the same downward slope that they already were on? ECT is usually used after all options are exhausted: the client doesn’t respond to medication or any kind of psychotherapy, and just continues to decline. It is not a painful procedure because you cant feel it, like someone said. Yes you can have side effects, and they can range from mild to severe, (what procedure doesn’t?) but you do not feel the procedure as it occurs. Do you feel every synapse in your brain ever millisecond it fires? No.
ReplyBoth psychopaths and sociopaths are slang terms that are both outdated names for anti-social personality disorder. The definition of psychopath is more closely related to anti-social personality disorder with features of malignant narcissism, while sociopath is just regular anti-social personality disorder. They are extremely similar bc both lack empathy and remorse and show disregard for others. However, there are a few differences that do stand out.
First of all, look at the words. Socio means society, and society means other people. Sociopaths are have been treated poorly by society and are outcasts. Now look at psycho. Psych means having to do with the mind, meaning it is more likely they were born that way and have always loved sadism. Psychopaths are born; sociopaths are made.
Psychopaths tend to be more obsessive and want to control every detail of their surroundings. Psychopaths do tend to be more charming and social; they will form what to others looks like normal relationships, but there is no actual meaning or empathy there; other people are just their means to an end. Psychopaths will blame everyone but themselves for their actions; they will admit to their wrong doing, but it isn’t their fault. Psychopaths are WAY less obvious than sociopaths, and are caught less frequently. Psychopaths are more usually those who dabble in fraud, theft, etc. something that requires intelligence and careful planning. Murdering Psychopaths meticulously plan out their crimes sometimes years in advance; they don’t usually do it spur of the moment.
Sociopaths on the other hand are less obsessive, and more rash in their decision making. They are more impulsive, and have a harder time keeping a job and other things organized; they are more at the mercy of society. They are anti-social and are not as charming; they don’t usually have many relationships at all. They are not always successful, and usually have menial jobs. They are usually caught because they are quicker to aggression and more reckless in their planning than sociopaths. When caught, Sociopaths usually deny their crime, and will lie to protect themselves.
So they are the same thing essentially, except psychopaths use others for their own benefit, and they think they are the most brilliant people ever for what they do. They pride themselves. Sociopaths just don’t give a shit. I guess I would say that Hannibal lector is a psychopath, but buffalo bill is a sociopath. Regardless of what label you give them, though, these people are near impossible to fix, especially those that are narcissistic. You can’t teach empathy.
One last thing that I find interesting… There are probably WAY WAY more examples of people having bad reactions to psychotropic medications than ECT. I bet most of the people who are against ECT are ok with drugs, but the side effects are way more abundant and likely than ECT. So why aren’t you crusading against them? Everyone needs to do more research about how the brain works and what the statistics are before getting on a soapbox.
The fun thing about soapboxes is that you have an easier time picking their pockets of delicious tootsie rolls while they are distracted by their demonstration of their ability to soliloquize.
Not to second guess the portrayal of ECT, but in "A Beautiful Mind," John Nash was treated with insulin therapy. I don't know how it's supposed to work, but I just saw the movie the other day, and he wasn't being hit with any electrical leads, or the two nodes they always show on the temples. The doctor in the movie did, however, say that the "Insulin Treatments" were to be done five days a week for ten weeks. He was being forced into diabetic convulsions.
ReplyAlso, the movies didn't do a good job of covering the background of Lecter. In the book, "Hanibal Rising", Hanibal was basically being kept as unfed livestock, along with his sister. Additionally, his symptoms were only likened to sociopathy. In the book, his unlce (The guy who died defending his Japanese wife's honor, which was not covered in the movie) had Hanibal tested by a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist determined, albeit only through visual observation and without the benefit of a CT scan, that little Hanibal had suffered from mental trauma, malnourishment and meningitis, all at the same time. This caused the neural pathways between his left and right hemispheres to die. I can't remember what the name of this condition is, but it normally doesn't lead to Hanibal Lecter type abilities. In the books, it made him a pissed off master of multitasking. If I remember right, when the book was written, there was only speculation that the condition could exist, so the author had to guess as to what that would make Hanibal capable of.
Sounds like split-brain syndrome, but it had been studied for some 30 odd years by the time the first novel was released in the eighties.
I love all these people who believe they know sociopaths. If you know a REAL sociopath, they wouldn't tell you they're a sociopath, and you would be trying to avoid them at every turn. They would be abusing your trust every five seconds, charming you, then suddenly ripping you apart. They wouldn't recognize their lack of conscience as "sociopathy" and if they did, they would consistently lie about it to keep your trust. They can fake emotion, yet still do whatever the hell they want. It is impossible for a true sociopath to make an emotional connection, because they don't have the emotional capacity for it.
Reply... and let's not forget the one thing a sociopath can never do; seriously ask themselves the question, "Am I a sociopath."
I work in the mental health field and I used to be friends with a Sociopath. He was charming, intelligent and a pathalogical liar. He would lie about everything and it got to the point where I couldn't believe anything he said. He also had an obsession with destroying society and starting from scratch in a post-apocalyptic world. Fun guy.
For #1: 50 First Dates did an AMAZING job. I was so cynical through the whole showing. I said to my friend at one point, 'Of course they're going to Hollywood it up and give her her memory back.' And when they didn't I was stunned (and thrilled!)
Reply*Memento
Reply:( sorry
While I agree with the pick-and-choose amnesia theory, I also think you're confusing retro- and Antero- grade amnesia.
ReplyI take less issue with one flew over the cucoo's nest, mostly because it was set back in a time where ECT was less safe or regulated. although nowaydays it IS a very viable treatment and has been proven to work on some of the tough cases
Very interesting. ETC is a rarely used procedure thou. They only do it when the patient has been tried with literally every other treatment, and STILL tries to kill themselves. Amnesia mostly wipes out particular things. For instance you wake up after a stroke, but can't remember what happened or why you are there. If anybody wants to hear about some really awful mental issues read "The man who mistoke his wife for a hat". There is literally a guy in this book who does just that (real guy,by the way), because his brain cannot recognize what something is unless he is told or if he touches it, really sad. Anyway there are a lot of stories about patient with mental issues in the book; quite fascinating.
ReplyIt helps if you get written content from either the patent or their relatives before you give ECT since the patent tends to forget what happened. My grandmother was given ECT and only found out when her daughter told her. It cured her depression, all right. Turned it into white hot rage against the quacks who claimed she had consented and didn't have a scrap of evidence to back it up.
ReplyThe same sort of stigma with electroshock therapy is attached to lobotomies. Both treatments are highly regulated, can be incredibly effective, and are only used as last resorts (after therapy, medication, etc.). Just saying the words, though, brings to mind images of callous doctors abusing their power and patients for no reason.
ReplyIt's always a shame when people take abuses (often grossly exaggerated ones) from decades before and assume that nothing has progressed since.
Lobotomies? Seriously? Give me a link that shows they are more humane than they used to be and I'll believe you. Until then I'm going with what I saw on the History Channel (Icepick, Eye, Stir)
@AndStephRaw: My guess is they were thinking psychosurgery (removal of specific portions of the brain)--which is not a lobotomy.
I love #5, I have BPD and I know a lot of others with it that were so insulted by Girl, Interrupted. I like it as a film but it's rather insulting to those of us the live with the illness every day.
ReplyAnd yet, I have two psych profs who've used it.
There is something wrong with all of this. I actually know psychopaths who are definitely more interesting and articulate than anyone else, and also, I do actually think that psychiatric institutions are about turning brilliant people whose hypersensitivity has rendered them neurotic or excessive into boring vegetables because they want everyone to fit into some dull prescription of human behaviour; and I have this on extensive personal experience. There is no doubt in my mind but that issues of mental health are dealt with incorrectly and the real problem lies with the pathologising of creativity itself, so I'm not too fussed when a film like 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest' comes out because a) it's true - psychiatrists have admitted that it is 98% accurate and b) I am very similar to Jack Nicholson and this kind of crap is always happening to me, and for identical reasons, so I am personally jubilant to see the glassy horror transmitted to screen. Movies haven't explored this (and I mean 'this' in all its connotations) in sufficient detail or nearly extensively enough (in my opinion). While not everything said in this article in false, but it is boring, and being boring is the problem.
Reply Hide All See All 3 RepliesHe doesn't know. He's never been on the other side. It's easy for him to side with medical professionals, because he doesn't know any better. And maybe he can't.
Since when does personal experience (anecdotal;therefore subjective and potentially dubious) equal actual research based on much greater numbers of cases? The fact that you equate yourself with a lead character in a movie is also not likely to lead others to take you seriously. Mind you, you seem to be taking yourself seriously enough all on your own.
This is incorrect, people who are actually in mental institutions are there for a reason. Let's look at a condition like bi-polar or schizophrenia. They can barely function without medication. It doesn't make them dull or boring, it lets them live their lives. People with bi-polar who DON'T get treatment, often end up killing themselves. The people forced into mental institutions are there because they threaten to kill someone, of run naked in the street, or exhibit behavior that is so abnormal, they are considered a threat to themselves or others. This type of post simply infuriates me, because it is based on ignorance of mental health issues. These people need help, and that's okay, it is nothing to be ashamed of. I knew a patient, he had schizophrenia, and was forced into a mental hospital, the reason? He was making deep gashes into his body because 'God had spoken to him, and told him he neede his blood'. He heard a voice in his head, and did what it said, after getting therapy and getting on medication, he is a happier more productive person, ANd is so grateful to the doctors and nurses who helped him get there. Sorry I kinda went a little nuts with this but, it's really important for people to understand that these conditions need to be managed with medication and therapy because they can be disabling. It's not just being 'eccentric', the families
Of these people, and the people who suffer from these conditions can tell you that it is very serious.
I always wondered about Dory. She obviously has no short term memory, but how long until she can remember something. She had to hang out with marlin for days before he started being memorable to her. A truly sad existence.
ReplyI find it surprising that schizophrenia and psychosis aren't mentioned more in teh article- I mean yeah, maybe someone who was psychotic might see satanberry crunch, but it's far more likely that they will think others can hear their thoughts, or that they have magical healing abilities, or that they are responsible for natural occurrences.
ReplyPsychosis is another one of those things that even a cracked article doesn't get right.
not to mention that the words schizophrenia is often used to describe dissociative identity disorder. schizophrenia is more of someone hearing someone elses voice in their head. those with did ARE the other voices.
Hey Geoff, while I would agree with "Pizza Hut sucks," I find it upsetting that you would equate a food worker with sociopath. Sociopaths turn up everywhere.
ReplyActually, Electroconvulsive shock therapy is dangerous and if extensive, can cause permanent brain damage -including memory loss or retrograde and anterograde amnesia. A few years ago, I met a homeless elderly man who talked about his wife's memory loss after going through years of ECT, not sure if it was because she suffered severe depression or schizophrenia, but it was sad to hear that her treatment was receiving huge electric shocks to localized parts of her brain. :/
Reply Hide All See All 3 RepliesWas that supposed to be sarcastic or what?
If it was sarcasm, I need to adjust my sarcasm detector.
If not, you're a-- silly person.
The memory loss is usually temporary, and related to how long the treatment goes on. It is a small price to pay for curing people who are either extremely suicidal or psychotic.
I was in a mental asylum for a couple months, and my roommate had electroshock some years before. He said a segment of his life (6 months) he did not have memories for. But it cured his depression until he started Chantix, then he had to start over with the electroshock.
because no source is as accurate as a homeless elderly man...
Glad someone finally mentioned that ECT = punishment is crap in real life.
ReplyUm first off, ECT/EST can have REALLY messed up side effects, and I am more inclined to believe THAT is the result than it makes people better. I have never had it but I personally know three people who have. One regrets that she ever did it as he has a myriad of physical problems now. One continued to be just as messed up and psychotic after numerous treatments, and the third also ended up with memory problems and significant headaches.
Reply Hide All See All 3 RepliesSecond, I know two sociopaths. Well one who was actually diagnosed, and one who has overwhelming evidence to support that she is one and I am just guessing. That being said, I was in a relationship with one, and she could be very charming and slick when it suited her and her needs. She was overly cruel, showed very little emotion, and was highly intellegent. I mean I guess she could be the exception to the rule, but that was my experience with her. In the end she screwed me over worse than any person I have ever come in contact with, and NEVER showed any remorse because (according to her, in her own words) she "Used me to get to a better place in life" and did not regret a single action because she never saw WHY she needed to or HOW she hurt me. Of course, I did not find out about her actual diagnosis until long after she split leaving me with a rent I couldn't pay. Bitch.
I agreed with the first two or three lines you said, but I'm not sure how your horrible past with your ex results in her being a sociopath. Everyone throws psychological labels around without knowing their severity. :/
Sounds more like you're trying tp push someone's personality orders away with the excuse of "ETC did it."
ETC isn't a magic "cure all" treatment. If it was, we wouldn't have people with mental problems.
a few studies have shown that approximately 1 in 4 people is sociopathic on some level. teenagers overwhelmingly test as sociopaths because of the way their brain works- this is why there is such a debate about when a teenager should be held accountable for crimes as an adult. not every sociopath is dangerous, homicidal, or unable to function in social society, but they are still sociopaths, which, by nature, are completely lacking in sincere empathy, and very good at manipulation, which they barely have any conscience, if any at all, about using against another person. chances are, you probably have been in close contact with a sociopath, and it might be that ex who used you or that friend who mooches off you and then tells you to go f**k yourself when you stop buying their charming catch-you-next-week act when you ask for the rent money. his ex had very distinct sociopathic traits, which he laid out, and which he probably recognized from dealing with people he already KNEW to be sociopaths. so i'm more inclined to say that everyone throws OUT psychological labels with obviously just as little knowledge of their possible validity as people who throw them around.
ReplyI love Jenga...