Mental Illness and ‘The Babadook’ Spoilers ahead for The Babadook, Hide & Seek, and Shutter Island.. Think about what scares you: Spiders? If one was to weigh up every single film featuring mental illness, the vast majority would be horror films. Reference to Ed Gein is also found in Psycho and The Silence of the Lambs. The world in … As the title hints, one of the main characters in Psycho has a mental illness, most likely Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), which was brought on by a previous trauma. A scene from "A Beautiful Mind" courtesy Universal Pictures. 8 Movies That Got Mental Illness (Mostly) Right | The Mighty The Best Psychological Horror Movies to Mess with Your Head It's not just about being bold enough to address the subject, but also that the best movies about mental illness represent it in the right way. "Even though it’s a kids movie, Inside Out is one of my favorite movies about mental health. This character is thought to be inspired by the true story of Ed Gein, a notorious serial killer. 7 Movies That Capture The Hallucinatory Horrors Of Schizophrenia. Kevin crawls on walls and “The Beast” looms over the movie. Have Fun at the Movies, Just Remember They’re Fictional Portrayals. Linking violence to mental disorders like this can misinform both avid horror fans and casual viewers. So, how is mental health portrayed in horror movies? Horror movies are bad for mental health: If you love watching horror movies, the psychological impacts of a haunted film on your brain will be distinct in case if you don't love watching horror movies. These portrayals are hardly flattering. Whether you love or hate the movies on this list, they are worth a watch this Halloween. In contrast, protagonists are seldom portrayed as having some sort of mental illness. Most of the time, when a character in a horror movie has a mental illness, they are either the villain or at the very least, negatively represented. Yet, when seeking a good scare from our screens, it’s important to keep our mental health in mind too. It is time for Horror films to stop using mental illness as an easy escape route – for good. View. Mental illnesses do not define people; they are only a part of them. It’s A Helpful Distraction For some people with anxiety, horror movies provide tangible fears where they can focus their minds. Disney+ Monthly. This character is thought to be inspired by the true story of Ed Gein, a notorious serial killer. Although fictional movies are not documentaries, and usually what is depicted as a mental illness is not entirely accurate for poetic justice reasons, there are a few films that do educate and raise awareness about such a delicate topic. With that said, let’s take a look and see which mental illness makes for the best horror movie. Travel Movies Books Food Other. I love horror films. When you think of horror movies and mental health, these two terms usually don’t work in harmony. Horror movies became a safe haven and a place where I could forget about the real horrors in my life. The presentation of the institution in this film likens it to a corrupt asylum from the 1800s. Consequently, viewers are willing to accept psychosis as his drive to murder to “alleviate their own fears” rather than understand him as someone who seemed “normal” but was not (Derry 23). A popular horror movie of 2016 was “Split,” directed by M. Night Shylamalan, which focused on a man living with dissociative identity disorder who abducts three girls. After being placed in a mental health facility, he breaks out and begins terrorizing his hometown. View. Through violence, usually, even though people with mental health problems are statistically no more violent than the average person. The way they expressed the complexities of thought, emotion, memory, and growing up was pure genius." Kaufman also wrote cerebral films like… People casually use the word “asylum” or “loony-bin” to describe mental institutions which provide much-needed care. Horror cinema’s engagement with mental illness has evolved tremendously from the 20th to the 21st century. These same representations appear in horror films, and mental health patients are insulted by their representations in the media. Horror movies play on one concept: the unknown, the unexpected, the invisible, the uncertain, the inexplicable, and what we all project into that space. I’m not ashamed of that, yet saying it still feels like a slightly dirty confession. This film’s well-known portrayal of mental illness might help explain why so many horror films rely on mental and behavioral health as a plot point. Killer clowns? $6.99 /mth. Horror movies and some characters mimicked at Halloween can carry worrying sterotypes of mental illness, writes Snita Ahir-Knight With Halloween upon us, let’s talk about horror. If you have a phobia or other mental health condition, deliberately engaging with something that scares you can help prove to yourself that you can handle it. In a study by George Gerbner, it was determined that 5 percent of 'normal' television characters are murderers, while 20% of 'mentally-ill' characters are murderers. That being said, the following seven classic films are still worth watching. The real horror of mental illness is the pain it inflicts on the person with the disorder. https://screenrant.com/movie-character-inaccurate-mental-illness-portrayals People with mental illnesses are not the violent, dangerous individuals often depicted in films – they are ordinary people who have an active role in society. Films like Shutter Island, Psycho, and Split are popular examples of mental illness being used as a surprise twist or explanation for why a character is violent: they’re just ‘crazy’. Read This: 10 Real Things That Can Crawl Inside You And Are Scarier Than Any Horror Movie after dark Alice In Wonderland Syndrome Alien Hand Syndrome Anasognosia Body Integrity Disorder Capgras Delusion Cotard Delusion Creepy Creepy Catalog Dromomania Face Blindness Horror Lesch-Nyhan Syndrome Mental Illness Morgellons Disease Neurological Disorders Prosopagnosia … Make a List Browse Lists Search Lists Leaders Help / Contact Newsletter. Mental health does not have to be scary at all, and it’s important to differentiate between fictional portrayals of these serious illnesses and the real thing. The term “mental illness” covers a broad spectrum of maladies. Both of them have used their combined knowledge of mental illness, psychology and love of film to come up with 6 of the most popular movies that get both the science and the realities of mental illness wrong. Mental Illness in Horror Movies. Mental illness wasn’t a popular topic in kids’ movies or shows at the time – Thomas the Tank Engine wasn’t trying to work through gloom and mania each morning. Caligari was not the first film to portray mental illness and violence as being intertwined—that distinction probably goes ... “madman”, “crazy”, and “psycho” abound. Many of these movies center on the freakishly paranormal, the stuff too spooky to think about during everyday life. How do inaccurate depictions in horror movies stigmatize mental illness? Unlike drama (e.g., What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest), the dialogue in horrors tends to be limited, with much of the screen time spent building atmosphere and tension. The main character in Halloween, Michael Meyers, is shown committing violent acts at a very young age. Explanation & more movies like it. Oftentimes in suspense or horror movies the villain is seen as an antagonist, a violent, evil genius with mental illness that is rampant beyond the help of doctors. People casually use the word “asylum” or “loony-bin” to describe mental institutions which provide much needed care. A list of movies that I may use for a project in my abnormal psychology class. While he is a supernatural entity in the movie, he was once a violent human criminal. Her ordeal only truly begins when a man who has been stalking her for years has seemingly followed her and is now posing as an orderly at the institute. Below you'll find the films that do. And unlike comedy, there is no lighthearted or self-deprecating relief (e.g., What About Bob?, The Fisher King, Little Miss Sunshine). Whilst some studies show that ‘body chemistry’ can change with personalities – the need for glasses and changing handedness have been reported – Split takes this much further. However, some movies are lauded for dispelling stereotypes and providing insight into mental illness. These movies — many of which can be watched on streaming services like Netflix, Hulu or Amazon Prime — can evoke some powerful responses in viewers who may see their own struggles accurately represented on screen for the first time. Horror Movies and the Exploitation of Mental Illness. In the same way horror movies have exploited mental illness, so have former asylums, like Pennhurst. That depictions of ‘madness’ have been dominated by horror films is revealing of the film industry’s historic insensitivity about mental health, writes Arwa Haider. If one was to weigh up every single film featuring mental illness, the vast majority would be horror films. 9 Great Films That Explore Mental Illness. The one commonality among most serial killers is that they suffer from mental illness. The main plot of the film (without spoilers – … Utilising mental illness as a scape-goat, portraying the affected as ‘monstrous’ and stigmatising mental institutions does not just make for a ‘thrilling’ movie but has real-world consequences. Those who are mentally ill are typically the bad guys, and there isn’t much commentary on actual mental health issues humans face. A young woman ‘accidentally’ agrees to be sectioned for a day in Unsane, which turns into a week after she grows agitated at being confined. A slasher and cult classic, Texas Chainsaw Massacre stars the mentally ill character Leatherface. Whether or not someone is diagnosed with a psychological disability, we have to remember that that person still has hopes, quirks, insecurities, and dreams. But when the main villain is human, these movies often rely on exaggerated mental illness symptoms as shorthand for “evil.”. 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