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It’s difficult to get people to talk about touchy feely subjects, like health problems and mental disorders, in comfortable environments. However, talking to the general public on TV is generally a step beyond that no comfort zone.
Psych Week on Discovery Health brings some of the more willing sufferers out into the open for others to watch from May 2 to May 7. This week most likely ties into May as Mental Health Month, which began in 1949, according to Mental Health America.
According to a news release on prnewswire.com, Psych Week is the “first-ever week long programming event dedicated to mental health.” It has episodes discussing severe anxiety disorders, uncontrollable anger or rage, dissociative identity disorder, schizophrenia, addiction and obsessive-compulsive disorder and bipolar disorder.
The fact that it’s the first weeklong TV event discussing mental health issues that severe is almost saddening. Society and culture has made it taboo to talk openly about struggles like mental disorders, though it does seem to be getting better. Some people still may fear losing their jobs or even friends, relationships and respect if they talk about their mental disorders.
I think it’s a benefit to society to have these types of mental disorders honed in on to create more awareness, but the program is also focusing on severe cases from what I can tell and possibly will make these disorders seem scary.
I haven’t seen the shows yet, since the first one airs on May 2, but I’m hoping they don’t show only people with severe forms of these disorders and who can’t handle them correctly. Everyone handles disorders differently, so that would be an unfair view. There are also less severe forms of certain disorders that may be more common. As a side note, just because a person can’t handle a disorder as well, that doesn’t make them a bad or scary person or incapable of living a normal life.
Some disorders might be actually very devastating and scary in a way for the people (and surrounding persons) dealing with them, but if the program focuses on this and almost encourages fear, that isn’t helping others without disorders become more accepting and willing to work with others who are having problems.
I’m also concerned that people will be watching the shows for the shock value and not necessarily for awareness. However, like I said previously, it could bring a lot of needed awareness to these issues, since mental disorders are not covered as often as they could be in the news. The shows might in some way make people more comfortable about their disorders as well, since some people at least are talking about it on TV.
The news release does address some of the goals of awareness and the balance between severe and common disorders, in the words of Laura Michalchyshyn, president and general manager of Discovery Health:
"Discovery Health is putting an unprecedented emphasis on mental wellness, presenting an unfiltered look at a variety of rare and common mental disorders through the eyes of the people who live with them.
With Psych Weeks's six premiere programs and expansive online offerings, Discovery Health hopes to defuse preexisting taboos and raise awareness for mental health, while also providing our audience with information and resources to help improve their own lives."
One thing I do find interesting is that depression is not a focus, though bipolar disorder does have its own episode. Bipolar disorder is also called manic depressive disorder or manic depression and is considered a mood disorder like depression.
Many people have depression, so including depressive disorders might have been more effective if Discovery Health was trying to create more awareness and acceptability of mental disorders. I think more people can identify with depression versus some of the more severe versions of other disorders that will be focused on, which brings me back to the issue of shock value and sensationalism. At least people can generally identify with some forms of anxiety, addiction and anger, which a few episodes will feature.
Sources:
http://health.discovery.com/tv/psych-week/episode-guide.html
http://www.nmha.org/go/may
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/psych-week-on-discovery-health-opens-the-dialogue-on-mental-health-91593624.html
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I was able to watch two pre-screenings of Psych Week. These two episodes were Born Schizophrenic: January’s Story and My Strange Addiction.
In Born Schizophrenic, the episode focused on January, a young girl who was diagnosed with child-onset schizophrenia. This is considered a rare and unusual disorder. January had several symptoms, like imaginary friends who told her what to do. She would also kick, hit and bite, try to choke herself and even tried to throw herself out of the window.
A psychiatrist talked a little about schizophrenia, though there was more of a focus on the rare disorder. Hers also appeared to have a low prognosis, and there didn’t seem to be much hope for her to have a normal life.
In my opinion, there could’ve been more of an emphasis on the fact that people with a later onset are more likely to show improvement with treatment. However, there was some talk of the possibility of January improving, even with her early onset.
In My Strange Addiction, there were four different people who had different types of addictions. Some of them were considered to have obsessive-compulsive behaviors. The focus on addictions seemed more relevant, since these are more common than child-onset schizophrenia.
The addictions were shopping, tanning, running and chalk-eating. The first three seem almost logical, since society puts a lot of emphasis on materialism and outer beauty. However, these people obviously took these behaviors to a more obsessive level and many were in danger financially or health-wise.
I think the addiction episode was more useful than the child-onset schizophrenia episode, since at least people can relate to addictions and might be compelled to seek help if they think they have a problem. Only one person in the episode seemed compelled to stop the addiction by seeing a psychologist, so there could have been more of an emphasis on how people with mental disorders or borderline mental disorders need to be invested in their mental and physical health more. Most of the people didn’t seem to think they had a problem and continued their harmful behaviors.
May 1, 2010 - 7:31pmThis Comment