It’s finally October! Which means “spooky season” has officially begun. With all the joy this time of year brings, there are also not-so-great aspects of Halloween. Firstly the cold! Get ready to bundle up as the weather will most likely dip towards the end of the month. Please remind your friends that wearing a Native American headdress, “Mexican costume,” or even dressing up as Cleopatra is offensive, and not okay! And, lastly, as TV is saturated with horror films and psychological thrillers it is essential to understand the importance of the misrepresentation of mental health.
For years there has been an underlying stigma of people suffering from mental illness. In an essay titled “The Psychopathology of Cinema: How Mental Illness and Psychotherapy are Portrayed in Film” writer Lauren Beachum further elaborates on this stigma. Those suffering with mental illnesses are discriminated against in employment, housing, and are often socially alienated. Beachum writes, “The stigma attached to mentalillnes impairs the opportunities for many people with mental health problems to form relationships, support themselves, or contribute to their communities, and makes them less likely to comply with treatment.” This already rampant discrimination in society coincides with the portrayal of mental illness in media.
The movie Split released in 2017 as a psychological thriller was criticised for its portrayal of Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). DID is often referred to as Multiple Personality Disorder, which occurs as a result of experiencing trauma at a young age. In order to protect the brain from this trauma, there is a creation of another identity, or identity called an alter. Split’s main villain is a man named Kevin with DID, who kidnaps three girls. Kevin’s “evil” alter who resembles a monster eventually kills all the girls except one, who is saved because she suffered from abuse when she was younger.
2017 Split Movie Poster
This portrayal of someone with DID is incredibly negative. Psychologists who viewed the movie stated that it would not help people to understand DID, but would only add to the stigma of mental illness associated with violence. Others such as Dr. Sheldon Itzkowitz, a psychologist from New York, stated to Healthline Media, “What concerns me is how the film may inadvertently demonize people who are truly suffering. DID is a disorder that has its etiology in the worst form of human suffering.” DID affects one to three percent of people in the world, so the average person most likely has never encountered someone suffering from this disorder. If Split is the first time DID is introduced to a viewer, it will likely leave the viewer with a false pretense of what living with DID is like.
It is important to take into consideration that writers do not often consult psychologists or even an actual person with the condition before filming. Therefore, these portrayals of mental health are never one hundred percent accurate. The average horror movie typically engages with some form of mental health, and uses it to motivate the villain towards violence. These negative stereotypes affect real-life people who are struggling with mental illness. It affects their ability to live as normal a life as possible, to provide for their family, and to feel accepted in society. It’s not to say we can’t sit down and enjoy horror movies; we just have to be conscious of the dangerous stereotypes these movies portray.