Smcm m4 mh presentation 1-27_19

1. Movies for
Mental Health
ST. MARY’S COLLEGE OF MARYLAND
January 27, 2019
@artwithimpact
#Movies4MentalHealth
L’Oréal McCollum, Facilitator

2. Here’s the Plan
• Quick Introduction
• Setting the scene together
• Mental Health
• Stigma
• Watch and discuss films
• Panel of students and resources
#Movies4MentalHealth

3. Brought to you by…
Monthly short film competition.
Campus workshops.
Global community.
#Movies4MentalHealth

4. Where were you right before
coming to the workshop?
#Movies4MentalHealth

5. Heads Up
• Mental health is personal – YOU are the expert on
your own experience
• Public space – no confidentiality
• It’s okay to feel!
• Films and conversations might be triggering
• Please take care of yourself however you need,
including asking for help
#Movies4MentalHealth

6. Mental Health
#Movies4MentalHealth

7. Mental Health
• Mental illness
• Mental wellness
#Movies4MentalHealth

8. Some movies and tv shows that
show mental illness…
Crazy Ex Girlfriend
United States of Tara
13 Reasons Why
Girl Interrupted
Haunting at Hill House
What Dreams May Come
Split
Unbreakable
Silver Linings Playbook
IronMan 3
My Mad Fat Diary
A Million Little Things
#Movies4MentalHealth

9. Characters with mental illness
are portrayed as…
White
Horror/Thriller movie types
Misrepresenting illnesses/ identifying person with
illness
Labels, mostly negative
Women more often portrayed
More prone to violence/threat to others
Disregard spectrum aspect of mental functioning
Simplify symptoms and illness experiences
Don’t show healing, no hope
Therapy is quick and easy or therapy never works
#Movies4MentalHealth

10. Stigma vs.
Stereotype
#Movies4MentalHealth

11. Stigma
•A judgment or stereotype that is:
• Always negative
• Always untrue
• Can be internalized
#Movies4MentalHealth

12. How does stigma feel?
Degrading
Condescending
Angry/Frustrated
Invalidating
Hopeless
Isolating
#Movies4MentalHealth

13. A to Z
By Fenny Wang and Karishma Antia
AWI Winner, July 2017
#Movies4MentalHealth

14. Discuss in groups of three…
• What did you think?
• What did you feel?
#Movies4MentalHealth

15. What did you think? What did you feel?
Thoughts
• assumed person eating was
female
• happy to hear there was an
eating disorder hotline
• soup was an interesting
option - comfort, low calorie
• good that the words
expressed feelings
• each bite brought up
different thought/feeling
Feelings
• sad that the feelings are
secret
• uneasy w stop-motion
• empathy increased watching
film

16. How did the filmmaking
techniques help tell the story?
perspective increased empathy
lighting and colors were dark then went to black - but
led to hopeful call
empty bowl = felt emotionally empty
stop motion made us feel uneasy and also helped us
see step-by-step
#Movies4MentalHealth

17. The Letter
By Brian A. Ross
AWI Winner, October 2016
#Movies4MentalHealth

18. Discuss in groups of three…
• What did you think?
• What did you feel?
#Movies4MentalHealth

19. What did you think? What did you feel?
Thoughts
• hearing his thoughts was
impactful
• don’t truly know how it ends
• romanticized view of suicide
• was his loss a break-up or
death?
• his idea of planning perfect
suicide didn’t work -not seeing
reality
• Connected through their mutual
loss (dog, tattoo)
Feelings
• really rough, felt really
immediate
• overwhelming

20. Why don’t people get help?
Don’t want to admit they need help
No hope that help with help you
People don’t want to believe they need help, don’t
value themselves enough to believe they deserve help
Vulnerability - fear of opening up
Hard to access services
Bad advice in the past
Lack of family support
Barriers affect different groups -cultural differences
Scared to say it out loud
#Movies4MentalHealth

21. Little Elizabeth
By Elizabeth Ayiku
AWI Winner, February 2018
#Movies4MentalHealth

22. Responses and Reactions?
#Movies4MentalHealth
Nice to see hating parts of self normalized - then
accepting and finding peace
Voice in your head is usually looked at as something to
get rid of/bad/negative
Acceptance = change
Satisfying ending
Drove home the point that Elizabeth was not at fault
Impactful without traumatic imagery

23. What can we do?
Talk
Advocate - support people, asking how are
you/listening to answer
Normalize experiences and receiving help
Affirm and validate people without giving advice
Support people without trying to fix them - trust
Communicate what we need from others
Speak up when you hear stereotypes - help
reduce/dismantle stigma
Whatever you do be part of healing/communication
#Movies4MentalHealth

24. Panel
#Movies4MentalHealth

25. Meet the Panel
Saint Mary’s College of Maryland Student Panelists
Cam Kelley
Anna Nelson
Kailey Held
Saint Mary’s College of Maryland Campus Resource Panelists
Laurie Scherer, MS, LCPC-S
Mental Health Counselor & Director of the Wellness Center
Kelly Muldoon, MA, LCPAT, LCPC, ATR-BC
Staff Therapist and Sexual Assault Advocate
Community Resource Panelists
Tammy Loewe, LCSW-C
Behavioral Health Director at St. Mary's County Health Department
#Movies4MentalHealth

26. Stay in touch!
Don’t forget to leave your name
and email on the sign-up sheet!
@artwithimpact
info@artwithimpact.org
#Movies4MentalHealth