- Saw an episode of Lip Sing Battle, featuring singer Vishal Dadlani and Shaan. In one of the performances, the theme was that of a psychiatric hospital. It began with an opening act of Vishal sitting on an electrocution chair and others who were portraying patients were laughing and behaving inappropriately while being dressed shabbily and poorly groomed.
- This show is watched across India, by millions of people. For an ignorant lot ( which is the majority), it can further reinforce the stigmata of mental health that ANYONE with psychiatric problem or ANYONE seeking help for a mental health problem is socially inept, inadequate, wacky, crazy and insane in the mind.
- This is far from reality because this commonly used portrayal, very badly and superficially points to that of Disorganised Schizophrenia or Severe Intellectual Disability, which is just one and relatively uncommon out of many diverse kinds of mental health problems. More rampant and prevalant are anxiety, depression, suicide, personality problems, addictions, phobia, etc in all age groups and NO, they do not look and behave like above portrayal at all. Most of them are working professional or students who have usual life struggles as any other normal person.
- Electroconvulsive therapy is wrongly portrayed as being barbaric in media which infact is one of the most effective treatments in particular indications, proved time and again by research.
- Nevertheless no one should have the right to ridicule, use as an entertainment source, a highly debilitating and unfortunate illness which real people actually suffer from, along with their caregivers. It is immoral and unethical to say the least. It also hampers the efforts of people who are working to create awareness.
- Such portrayals are so common in every media and our general conversations that they have build a strong screwed up schema and attitude about mental health. Because of this majority of people don't seek help and continue suffering because they don't want the LABEL of being a mental misfit.
- There should be a censorship on miscontruction of mental health which is so important, prevalant and relevant recent times. Celebrities, media houses should be all the more responsible about accurate reporting.
- Especially when we have a news of suicide everyday, we as a nation have almost 14 percent of population suffering from some form of mental illness and we have one of the highest suicide rates, we should be the last ones laughing and getting gratification at the expense of somebody's suffering. #mentalillness #stigma #mediaportrayal
