Movies for Mental Health

MassArt, WIT, Emmanuel College at MCPHS

November 3, 2016

@artwithimpact

#Movies4MentalHealth

Here’s the Plan

I. Quick introduction

II. Set the stage together

III. Watch short films & discuss them

IV. Make it personal with our panel

Brought to you by

• Monthly short film competition

• Campus workshops

• Global community (blog, IG, Twitter, FB)

Heads Up

• Mental health is personal - YOU are the

expert of your own experience.

• This is a public space - not therapy.

• We’re here for connection, questions and

creating change!

• Films might trigger big emotions - that’s OK!

• Please ask for help if you need support.

Some movies that show mental illness:

Shutter Island

Silver Linings Playbook

Ordinary People

A Beautiful Mind

Sybil

One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest

King of Hearts

Characters with mental illness are portrayed as:

“Crazy”

Multiple personality disorder

Weak or helpless

Unstable

Depressed

Suicidal

Isolated

Lost

Brilliant & Exceptional

What is mental illness?

Brain releases different things (such as

chemicals) or doesn’t release enough

Not a choice

It can make you feel … or not feel at all

Sometimes it’s environmental

Sometimes it’s hereditary

Sometimes it’s both!

Chronic or temporary

Painful (physical and emotional)

Mental health vs. mental illness?

Mental illness = extremes; mental health

more day-to-day ups and downs

Mental health can be a result of how you

treat or deal with mental illness

Can take a lot of skills to maintain

You feel like you have a lot of choices when

you’re mentally healthy

Sense of acceptance and well-being (self

acceptance)

Anosognosia

By Leesa Kim

AWI Winner, January 2016

What is stigma?

Generalization or stereotype

Taboo

Ignorance and fear

Always negative

How does stigma feel?

Isolating

Dehumanizing

Restrictive

Hurts

Helpless

Embarrassed

Unfair

Patronizing

Makes you feel abnormal

The Letter

By Brian Ross

AWI Winner, October 2016

In groups of three

• What did you think?

• What did you feel?

What did you think? What did you feel?

Thoughts• Easy to get caught up in feeling

your negative feelings; important to

look up in the world

• Juxtaposition between the act and

the beauty – the music, how

meticulous he was, the house, etc.

• He was really caring about other

people (e.g., worried about how

people found him) – but not taking

care of himself

• Romanticizes it a little bit. And

things never happen that quickly …

makes it un-relatable.

• In both films it took another person

to pull them out of it. Connection.

FeelingsHurt – very powerful

Felt frustrated; wanted him not to kill

himself.

Sense of humor to both of the films –

striking. Sense of humor about the

suffering … and a sense of relief with

the connection.

The humor speaks to the multi-

dimensionality of the human

experience.

Core

By Ashlen Harkness

AWI Winner, November 2016

In groups of three

• What did you think?

• What did you feel?

• What have you learned?

What did you think… feel… learn?

ThoughtsCool that she mentioned

that even though the

memories are fleeting

she can recognize them

as triggers

Could be a good

resource for people who

don’t experience anxiety

– to build understanding

People use the anxiety

very lightly –

demonstrates the

seriousness of it

Had a feeling of

ambiguity and

ominousness that

portrays panic attacks

FeelingsMade us feel anxious;

an amazing visualization

of what a panic attack is

and how it feels

Just looking at it makes

you experience it with

her – gives you anxiety

Would have turned it off

if she had been

watching it alone

New InsightsWhat would it be like to

not be able to turn it

off??

People don’t realize that

there can be physical

symptoms – not always

recognized

Often with anxiety

connection doesn’t

actually help

A Film About Love

By Dale John Allen

AWI Winner, November 2015

In groups of three

• What did you think?

• What did you feel?

• What have you learned?

• What will you do?

What did you think… feel… learn?

ThoughtsHe was comfortable with the

mania, and said he

missed it. He has new

feelings that are

unfamiliar to him.

Clear expression of the

connection b/w

depression and anxiety.

Triumphant for him. He’s in

the process of

overcoming something.

Loved the idea of

personifying the illness.

Shows the ambivalence and

conflict.

InsightsStigma bending b/c

he wanted it – felt

like he was killing

a part of himself.

Portrays a sense of

self-hatred and

admiration.

Sadness in losing

a part of yourself.

FeelingsThe fidgeting made me feel

fidgety and nervous …

the way he was feeling.

Was the saddest of the

films – felt a real

heaviness in her heart.

Felt so hopeless. I have

to kill the only man that

made me feel good and

now I’m left with this.

Hopeful – I’m killing a part

of myself in order to

love myself in a

different way. A new

take on how people feel

toward their mental

illness.

What can I do?

Meet the Panel

• Brianna Fabianek - Emmanuel College Student

• Brianna Florio - MassArt Student

• Kylie Alexander - WIT Student

• Brenda Hawks - Director and Licensed

Psychologist, Emmanuel College Counseling Center

• Brandon Erdos - Psychiatrist

• Kim Irving - LICSW, Department of Mental Health

AWI Ambassadors

• You’re invited! Continue the conversation, be

a leader!

• Join the AWI Ambassadors FB group and

connect with students across North America:www.facebook.com/groups/awiambassadors/

• Blog, be a juror for the film competition, run

campaigns, and much more!

Thank you for coming!

• Contact us:

– info@artwithimpact.org

– Follow us!

– Submit a film!

http://www.artwithimpact.org/contest