1. Movies for Mental Health
University of Toronto
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
2. 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
3. Brought to you by
• Monthly short film
competition
• Campus workshops
• Global community
(blog, IG, Twitter, FB)
4. Tag us on Twitter, win a prize
• Follow @artwithimpact
• #MoviesForMentalHealth
• #Strategies4Strength
Our favorite pic posted + tagged by the end
of this workshop wins an AWI tote bag!
6. Some movies that show mental illness:
• Twelve Monkeys
• Rain Man
• Goodwill Hunting
• Psycho
• One Flew Over the
Cuckoos Nest
• Girl Interrupted
• Silver Linings
Playbook
• Homeland
• I, Robot
7. Characters with mental illness are portrayed as:
• Unstable
• Manic
• Crazy
• Vulnerable
• Unpredictable
• Disconnected from
a social world
• To be feared
• Highly intelligent
8. What is mental illness?
• Anything that disrupts mental wellness
• Any deviation from proper mental health
function
• Anything that hinders your ability to
perform day to day
• Anything that affects your enjoyment of life
9. Mental health vs. mental illness?
• Having coping skills
• How we relate to the world around you –
people, things
• Social/cultural expectation to how we
define wellness
• ‘Normal’ – will change other’s perceptions
of you
10. More Than a Mental Illness
By Emma Spiekerman
AWI Winner, May 2013
11. What is stigma?
• Shame
• Stereotypes and prejudice
• Seeing things from one perspective
• Lack of understanding, or
misunderstanding
• Thinking of differences instead of
commonalities
• Isolating, causes a disconnect
12. How does stigma feel?
• Isolating
• Lonely
• Hurtful
• Not accepted
• Suffocated
• Disempowered, voiceless
• Exhausting – explaining
• Limiting
• Scary
• Feel defined by that one thing, misunderstood
14. In groups of three
• What did you think?
• What did you feel?
15. What did you think? What did you feel?
• Illustrated challenges involved
with seeking help, you feel the
sense of responsibility to her
children
• Showed that you are your own
worst enemy - the dialogue in
your head, like quicksand
• Sense of conflict – she wanted
help, but lots of barriers, taking
away her voice
• See moments of elation,
breaks in the film where she
has help and seems optimistic
to get help
• Film elements made you feel
what she was feeling – blurry,
sad confused, asking lots of
questions
• Lonely
• Feeling Tired, correlation
between physical and mental
health
• Guilty and scared as a single
mother
17. In groups of three
• What did you think?
• What did you feel?
18. What did you think? What did you feel?
• Incredibly powerful, honest
and moving
• Depressing to see someone
in that position, you want to
do something and help
• Often times we cannot help
what is going on around us
• Stigma – internal struggle,
it’s not easy to stop
• How long a day is in the life
of the protagonist
• Accurate portrayal of
someone who is painfully
aware of what’s going on
• Felt exhausted for him
• A sense of restlessness,
never felt a sense of ease
• Empathy for the character,
internal monologue, wanted
to engage with him and
almost wanted to
experience his anxiety
along with him
• Felt a kinship with him
20. What did you think? What did you feel?
• Definition of mental health can
be so different and vary in
different communities
• Similarities to Latin American
communities, views of
depression as taboo and not
something you speak up about
• Powerful, shows a struggle a
lot of people don’t see
• As someone working in social
work, was conscious of the
people being trained to treat
marginalized communities: is
there enough help for them in
these students being trained?
• Felt angry that there is a
lack of representation for
some communities
22. Tag us on Twitter, win a prize
• @artwithimpact
• #MoviesForMentalHealth
• #Strategies4Strength
Our favorite pic posted + tagged by the end
of this workshop wins an AWI tote bag!
23. Meet the Panel
• Emmanuela, student
• Allison Leblovic, M.Ed, Disability Counsellor,
Accessibility Services
• Dr. Silvia Tenenbaum BEd., MEd, EdD,
Registered Psychologist, Health and Wellness Centre
• Darlene Coppins, Project Lead, Campus Addiction
Groups, LOFT Community Services
• Dejan Bozin, Partners for Mental Health
Community Booths:
• Katie & Chelsea, Healthy Minds Canada
• Kate, Good2Talk
24. Thank you for coming!
• Contact us:
– Natalie Daley: natalie@artwithimpact.org
• Follow us!
• Submit a film!
http://www.artwithimpact.org/contest