I'm Hannah, and I'm a writer
“The over-emphasis on having a romantic relationship as a cure for your mental health issues is where the RomCom-Dramedy gets it wrong. The ending of the movie makes it seem like all of the mental health problems that two main characters have instantly washed away because they are now in a relationship.”
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-Veronique on rtor.org on why Silver Lining’s Playbook is harmful for people suffering from Bipolar I disorder
“Hollywood loves twists, and mental illness is one of its favorite plot devices for spinning a story in a new direction. But people with schizophrenia don’t normally have visual hallucinations where they see the human players in their delusions represented before them. And they certainly don’t get driven around in cars by them, like we see the hallucinatory Charles doing in one scene.”
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-Jay on rtor.org on why the depiction of the mathematical genius in A Beautiful Mind has been sensationalized for viewership
“There’s a new movie out about a person with DID. It’s a thriller/horror movie…do I ever scare you?”
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-A patient’s email to their psychiatrist Dr. Garret Marie Deckel on rotr.org, who warns that the film Split stigmatizes the disorder and may affect people living with it
“You wouldn’t think a movie set in a mental health hospital could be a comedy. However, this well-crafted film tells the story of 16-year-old Craig (Keir Gilchrist) who checks himself into a psychiatric ward because of his depression and suicidal ideation. He ends up staying in the adult unit because the youth wing is under renovation. The hospital is not a scary place and the patients are not portrayed as “mad” or “insane”—it’s a safe place where people struggling are getting help, and using humor as a relief from the serious conditions that brought them there.​
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-Laura Greenstein on nami.org about why It’s Kind of a Funny Story depicts a psychiatric unit may be more comical than any real-life scenario, but helps to normalize the fact that sometimes people need this level of care.
“In Fight Club, the narrator has a split personality. That’s not how multiple personalities work.”
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-Auntie Meme on cracked.com on why those with dissociative identity disorder don’t just wake up and realize they’ve been living as another person, like in Fight Club. Amnesia and fugue states do happen, but what you see in movies is writers combining them to suit their narrative.
“The film gave Nina the ballerina a cocktail of disorders, including anorexia, bulimia, cutting, and obsessive-compulsive disorder, then had her descend into psychosis. The problem is that they’re incompatible conditions. People with psychosis lose touch with reality. Those with anxiety disorders like OCD and anorexia are too in touch with reality.”
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-Auntie Meme on cracked.com on how in Black Swan, Nina suffers from a host of conditions, even though real people don’t have them all at once.
“Hannah develops OCD due to the stress of writing her book. Many cases are not so severe, and self-harm is likely to take place indirectly during an inability to stop a compulsive behavior that interferes with life, which is seen in Hannah’s Q-tip incident in the series.”
-Nancy Mramor PhD, a clinical psychologist who specializes in media and pop culture, on why Lena Dunham’s portrayal of OCD in Girls gets a nod for the more devastating realism of OCD.
"The film documents his descent from a promising young athlete to a full blown heroin addict. This movie reminds us that drug and alcohol users come from all walks of life, regardless of how talented or privileged one may be. Addiction does not discriminate. It is our duty to become educated on the various ways we can prevent and treat drug and alcohol dependency. These efforts should be practiced regardless of race, age, sexual orientation, or social status."
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-An anonymous blog post on neveralonerecover.com about why the movie The Basketball Diaries gets the struggles of addiction right
“How many times has someone described a moody person as ‘bipolar’? Many of us don't know the severity of this disorder and could really benefit from seeing Shameless's interpretation of this disorder. Monica and Ian go from being elated and motivated in strange matters to being bedridden and unresponsive. Through Ian, "Shameless" shows the bipolar is hereditary and that it those who are bipolar should not feel embarrassed for having it.”
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-Brianna Riede on The Oddessey Online discussing why Shameless gets the depiction of Bipolar I disorder right.
“So many TV and movie villains are portrayed as charming ladies’ men. Even Water White’s sex life improves after he starts cooking meth. There’s the Joker, Dexter, Patrick Bateman, Billy Loomis, Walter White. The truth is, antisocial personality disorder causes a laundry list of symptoms that make a person impossible to be in a relationship with."
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-Auntie Meme on cracked.com on why the charismatic psychopath is everywhere in movies and TV. He won’t, however, stay charming for long. The Joker is one good example, but Walter White and Dexter are other good visualizations of the stereotype.
“Playing them as honestly as possible was very much the objective from the beginning. The tone is meant to be very grounded and real, so you have to be very grounded and real with whatever subjects you’re dealing with. So there was no glossing this over. It was really an exploration of a survivor and her healing, to the degree that she does, in facing those demons quite literally.”
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-Showrunner Melissa Rosenberg in a quote to the LA Times about Jessica Jones’ depictions of abuse, rape and PTSD.
“The television show is based on a book and, as a viewer, it's impossible not to empathize with the real and fictional Rae. There is no manic pixie dream girl version of her.”
-Nicky Idika on popbuzz.com on why in My Mad Fat Diary, Rae's story is about recovery and the different ways mental health issues can impact your relationships.