scholarly journals Depression and the Devil of Hell's Kitchen: Exploring How Mental Illness Is Depicted in Daredevil Comic Books

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zaeem Siddiqui
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Comic Books ◽  
Comic Book ◽  
Illness Narratives ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Depression Symptoms ◽  
Graphic Medicine ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
The Devil

This MRP explores how depression is depicted in Marvel’s Daredevil comic books through multimodal metaphors. It seeks to answer the following research questions: 1) How do the visual, textual, and spatial elements in Daredevil comic books work together to communicate depression? 2) What role does depression play within each Daredevil comic book narrative? A close reading was conducted to analyze how depression was communicated in two Daredevil comic books that explicitly discuss depression. This project found that characters discussed their mental illness experience through chaos and quest illness narratives, using a combination of visual and textual metaphors. Their accounts resembled medical representations of depression symptoms. The depiction of mental illness within the two Daredevil comics suggests that mainstream American superhero comics can both depict mental illnesses in a medically accurate manner and present them as authentic character experiences. This MRP provides a meaningful foundation for future research that explores how mainstream American superhero comics can play a larger role in graphic medicine and mental health communication. Keywords: comics, depression, mental illness, graphic medicine, illness narratives, superhero

scholarly journals Depression and the Devil of Hell's Kitchen: Exploring How Mental Illness Is Depicted in Daredevil Comic Books

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zaeem Siddiqui
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Comic Books ◽  
Comic Book ◽  
Illness Narratives ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Depression Symptoms ◽  
Graphic Medicine ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
The Devil

This MRP explores how depression is depicted in Marvel’s Daredevil comic books through multimodal metaphors. It seeks to answer the following research questions: 1) How do the visual, textual, and spatial elements in Daredevil comic books work together to communicate depression? 2) What role does depression play within each Daredevil comic book narrative? A close reading was conducted to analyze how depression was communicated in two Daredevil comic books that explicitly discuss depression. This project found that characters discussed their mental illness experience through chaos and quest illness narratives, using a combination of visual and textual metaphors. Their accounts resembled medical representations of depression symptoms. The depiction of mental illness within the two Daredevil comics suggests that mainstream American superhero comics can both depict mental illnesses in a medically accurate manner and present them as authentic character experiences. This MRP provides a meaningful foundation for future research that explores how mainstream American superhero comics can play a larger role in graphic medicine and mental health communication. Keywords: comics, depression, mental illness, graphic medicine, illness narratives, superhero

scholarly journals A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis on Mental Illness Symptoms in Spain in the COVID-19 Crisis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Z. Chen ◽  
Stephen X. Zhang ◽  
Wen Xu ◽  
Allen Yin ◽  
Rebecca Kechen Dong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
General Population ◽  
Adult Students ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Total Sample ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Depression Symptoms ◽  
Prevalence Rates ◽  
Pooled Prevalence ◽  
Insomnia Symptoms

AbstractObjectiveThis paper systematically reviews and assesses the prevalence of anxiety, depression, and insomnia symptoms in the general population, frontline healthcare workers (HCWs), and adult students in Spain during the COVID-19 crisis.Data sourcesArticles in PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, PsycINFO, and medRxiv from March 2020 to February 6, 2021.ResultsThe pooled prevalence of anxiety symptoms in 23 studies comprising a total sample of 85,560 was 20% (95% CI: 15% - 25%, I2 = 99.9%), that of depression symptoms in 23 articles with a total sample comprising of 86,469 individuals was 23% (95% CI: 18% - 28%, I2 = 99.8%), and that of insomnia symptoms in 4 articles with a total sample of 915 were 52% (95% CI: 42-64%, I2 = 88.9%). The overall prevalence of mental illness symptoms in frontline HCWs, general population, and students in Spain are 42%, 19%, and 50%, respectively.DiscussionThe accumulative evidence from the meta-analysis reveals that adults in Spain suffered higher prevalence rates of mental illness symptoms during the COVID-19 crisis with a significantly higher rate relative to other countries such as China. Our synthesis reveals high heterogeneity, varying prevalence rates and a relative lack of studies in frontline and general HCWs in Spain, calling future research and interventions to pay attention to those gaps to help inform evidence-based mental health policymaking and practice in Spain during the continuing COVID-19 crisis. The high prevalence rates call for preventative and prioritization measures of the mental illness symptoms during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Offenders with Mental Illness in Prison

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah M. Manchak ◽  
Robert D. Morgan
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Mentally Ill ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Mentally Disordered Offenders ◽  
Prison Management ◽  
Mentally Disordered ◽  
Prison Environment ◽  
Offenders With Mental Illness

This essay describes trends in the number of mentally disordered offenders in prison and the unique challenges posed by them in terms of prison management and service delivery. The essay first explores why persons with mental illnesses are overrepresented in the criminal justice system, then discusses efforts to rehabilitate this population should not take place within the prison environment (and, if they do, what changes in current practices are necessary to adapt to the prison setting). How the challenges posed by mentally ill inmates are managed is also covered, with critical discussions of these strategies. Finally, an analysis of the changes that are needed to improve conditions for inmates with mental illness in prisons is presented, with a description of one promising program for treating these offenders. Suggestions for future research with this population that will help inform and improve prison conditions for offenders with mental illness are also provided.

An Empirical Investigation of Mental Illness, Impostor Syndrome, and Social Support in Management Doctoral Programs

2020 ◽  
pp. 105256292095319
Author(s):  
Adam Pervez ◽  
Lisa L. Brady ◽  
Ken Mullane ◽  
Kevin D. Lo ◽  
Andrew A. Bennett ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Doctoral Students ◽  
Doctoral Programs ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Depression And Anxiety ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Symptoms Of Depression ◽  
Impostor Syndrome

Scholars in multiple cross-disciplinary studies have found rates of mental illness among graduate students exceed the reported averages. Yet mental illness among management doctoral students remains largely unexplored. In this study, we surveyed 113 management doctoral students to ascertain the prevalence of symptoms for two common mental illnesses, depression and anxiety, as well as experiences of impostor syndrome and perceived sources of social support. Empirical findings from the first phase of our research suggest that management doctoral students are at greater risk than the general population of experiencing symptoms of depression, anxiety, and feelings of being an impostor. However, social support from a supervisor and from friends was negatively related to symptoms of depression and anxiety, indicating that these sources can be helpful. In phase two of our research, a thematic analysis of data from structured interviews with nine management doctoral students revealed themes linking impostor syndrome with social support, highlighting that the type of social support may be as beneficial as the source of social support. Recommendations for future research, as well as for students, supervisors, and administrators, are provided.

What’s in a Name? Comic Books and Hockey

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah K. Fields
Keyword(s):  
Supreme Court ◽  
Comic Books ◽  
Comic Book ◽  
Trial Court ◽  
The Real ◽  
Hockey Player ◽  
The Devil

This chapter explores the lawsuit filed by hockey player Tony Twist against Todd McFarlane. McFarlane was a hockey fan who created the comic book Spawn in 1992, a dark, surreal fantasy about a CIA assassin who dies, goes to hell, and returns to earth as an agent of the devil. In 1993, his evil henchman and enforcer, Anthony Twistelli (called Tony Twist) was introduced. The only thing the character and the hockey player had in common was the name and the reputation of being an enforcer, although MacFarlane admitted in notes to the readers at the end of one issue that he named his character after the hockey player. The real Tony Twist sued for appropriation of his image, and the initial jury awarded him almost $25 million dollars in damages. The trial court, though, threw out the verdict, concluding that Twist had not proven appropriation, because it was the use of his name and not his identity. On appeal, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled that Twist's name was part of his identity and that the predominant purpose of naming the character after the hockey player was commercial: the court believed McFarlane hoped to profit from Twist's name and not simply to create art.

American psychiatry in the new millennium: a critical appraisal

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Andrew Scull
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Association Studies ◽  
Scientific Progress ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Rapid Decline ◽  
Genome Wide Association Studies ◽  
Genetic Associations ◽  
American Psychiatry ◽  
The Status

Abstract This article casts a critical eye over the development of American psychiatry from 1980 to the present. It notes the rapid decline of psychoanalysis that followed the publication of DSM III; the rising influence of genetics and neuroscience; the re-emphasis on the biology of mental illness; and the collapse of public psychiatry that accompanied deinstitutionalization. It argues that while genetics and neuroscience have made scientific progress, the clinical utility of their findings to date has been very limited. The fifth edition of the DSM was supposed to base itself on this new science but that proved impossible. Diagnosis remains purely phenomenological and controversial. One of the ironies of research on psychiatric genetics is that has failed to find either a Mendelian origin of schizophrenia and depression or to validate the importance of hypothesized candidate genes. Genome-wide association studies have instead uncovered risk factors for major mental illnesses, but these overlap considerably, and the genetic associations are not dispositive. Most of those who carry these genetic variants do not develop mental illness. The status of psychopharmacology since the mid-1950s is scrutinized, as is the influence of the pharmaceutical industry on contemporary psychiatry, and the implications of its recent decision to abandon work in this arena. The paper concludes with an assessment of the crisis that it contends confronts contemporary American psychiatry: its overemphasis on biology; the urgent questions that persist about diagnosis and therapeutics; concerns about the directions of future research; and its inability to reduce the excess mortality that plagues the mentally ill.

scholarly journals Gaming With Stigma: Analysis of Messages About Mental Illnesses in Video Games

10.2196/12418 ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
pp. e12418 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuela Ferrari ◽  
Sarah V McIlwaine ◽  
Gerald Jordan ◽  
Jai L Shah ◽  
Shalini Lal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
Current Evidence ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Clinical Practices ◽  
Computer Gaming ◽  
Game Elements ◽  
The Impact

BackgroundVideo game playing is a daily activity for many youths that replaces other media forms (eg, television); it serves as an important source of knowledge and can potentially impact their attitudes and behaviors. Researchers are, thus, concerned with the impact of video gaming on youth (eg, for promoting prosocial or antisocial behavior). Studies have also begun to explore players’ experience of gameplay and video game messages about violence, sexism, and racism; however, little is known about the impact of commercial video games in the sharing and shaping of knowledge, and messages about mental illness.ObjectiveThe aim of this review was to identify how mental illness, especially psychosis, is portrayed in commercial video games.MethodsWe performed keyword searches on games made available between January 2016 and June 2017 on Steam (a popular personal computer gaming platform). A total of 789 games were identified and reviewed to assess whether their game content was related to mental illness. At the end of the screening phase, a total of 100 games were retained.ResultsWe used a game elements framework (characters, game environment/atmosphere, goals, etc) to describe and unpack messages about mental health and illness in video games. The majority of the games we reviewed (97%, 97/100) portrayed mental illness in negative, misleading, and problematic ways (associating it with violence, fear, insanity, hopelessness, etc). Furthermore, some games portrayed mental illness as manifestations or consequences of supernatural phenomena or paranormal experiences. Mental illness was associated with mystery, the unpredictable, and as an obscure illness; its treatment was also associated with uncertainties, as game characters with mental illness had to undergo experimental treatment to get better. Unfortunately, little or no hope for recovery was present in the identified video games, where mental illness was often presented as an ongoing struggle and an endless battle with the mind and oneself.ConclusionsThe game elements of the identified commercial video games included mental illness, about which many perpetuated well-known stereotypes and prejudices. We discuss the key findings in relation to current evidence on the impact of media portrayals of mental illness and stigma. Furthermore, we reflect on the ability of serious video games to promote alternative messages about mental illness and clinical practices. Future research is needed to investigate the impact that such messages have on players and to explore the role that video games can play in fostering alternative messages to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness.

scholarly journals Gaming With Stigma: Analysis of Messages About Mental Illnesses in Video Games (Preprint)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuela Ferrari ◽  
Sarah V McIlwaine ◽  
Gerald Jordan ◽  
Jai L Shah ◽  
Shalini Lal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
Current Evidence ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Clinical Practices ◽  
Computer Gaming ◽  
Game Elements ◽  
The Impact

BACKGROUND Video game playing is a daily activity for many youths that replaces other media forms (eg, television); it serves as an important source of knowledge and can potentially impact their attitudes and behaviors. Researchers are, thus, concerned with the impact of video gaming on youth (eg, for promoting prosocial or antisocial behavior). Studies have also begun to explore players’ experience of gameplay and video game messages about violence, sexism, and racism; however, little is known about the impact of commercial video games in the sharing and shaping of knowledge, and messages about mental illness. OBJECTIVE The aim of this review was to identify how mental illness, especially psychosis, is portrayed in commercial video games. METHODS We performed keyword searches on games made available between January 2016 and June 2017 on Steam (a popular personal computer gaming platform). A total of 789 games were identified and reviewed to assess whether their game content was related to mental illness. At the end of the screening phase, a total of 100 games were retained. RESULTS We used a game elements framework (characters, game environment/atmosphere, goals, etc) to describe and unpack messages about mental health and illness in video games. The majority of the games we reviewed (97%, 97/100) portrayed mental illness in negative, misleading, and problematic ways (associating it with violence, fear, insanity, hopelessness, etc). Furthermore, some games portrayed mental illness as manifestations or consequences of supernatural phenomena or paranormal experiences. Mental illness was associated with mystery, the unpredictable, and as an obscure illness; its treatment was also associated with uncertainties, as game characters with mental illness had to undergo experimental treatment to get better. Unfortunately, little or no hope for recovery was present in the identified video games, where mental illness was often presented as an ongoing struggle and an endless battle with the mind and oneself. CONCLUSIONS The game elements of the identified commercial video games included mental illness, about which many perpetuated well-known stereotypes and prejudices. We discuss the key findings in relation to current evidence on the impact of media portrayals of mental illness and stigma. Furthermore, we reflect on the ability of serious video games to promote alternative messages about mental illness and clinical practices. Future research is needed to investigate the impact that such messages have on players and to explore the role that video games can play in fostering alternative messages to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness.

The Joker on the Couch

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Joel West
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Psychiatric Diagnosis ◽  
Comic Book ◽  
Current Medical ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
Current Standard ◽  
Dsm 5 ◽  
Icd 10 ◽  
Alan Moore

Do tests for various mental illnesses work? How reliable are they and how well do they capture what we call “mental illness?” Since the infamous comic book character, the Joker, has often been called a “psychopath,” and this psychopathy is, culturally, conflated with mental illness, how would a model of the Joker be diagnosed using the current standard tools for psychiatric diagnosis? The authors tested this model Joker against DSM-5, ICD-10 and the PCL-R. They then discussed the results of these tests and concluded that the Joker as captured in Alan Moore and Brian Bolland's The Killing Joke is a psychopath according to current medical and psychiatric models. They also discussed issues with the models of mental illness used by these tests.

scholarly journals The abortion and mental health controversy: A comprehensive literature review of common ground agreements, disagreements, actionable recommendations, and research opportunities

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 205031211880762 ◽  
Author(s):  
David C Reardon
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Risk Factors ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Common Ground ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Health Problems ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
History Of ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Time Frames

The abortion and mental health controversy is driven by two different perspectives regarding how best to interpret accepted facts. When interpreting the data, abortion and mental health proponents are inclined to emphasize risks associated with abortion, whereas abortion and mental health minimalists emphasize pre-existing risk factors as the primary explanation for the correlations with more negative outcomes. Still, both sides agree that (a) abortion is consistently associated with elevated rates of mental illness compared to women without a history of abortion; (b) the abortion experience directly contributes to mental health problems for at least some women; (c) there are risk factors, such as pre-existing mental illness, that identify women at greatest risk of mental health problems after an abortion; and (d) it is impossible to conduct research in this field in a manner that can definitively identify the extent to which any mental illnesses following abortion can be reliably attributed to abortion in and of itself. The areas of disagreement, which are more nuanced, are addressed at length. Obstacles in the way of research and further consensus include (a) multiple pathways for abortion and mental health risks, (b) concurrent positive and negative reactions, (c) indeterminate time frames and degrees of reactions, (d) poorly defined terms, (e) multiple factors of causation, and (f) inherent preconceptions based on ideology and disproportionate exposure to different types of women. Recommendations for collaboration include (a) mixed research teams, (b) co-design of national longitudinal prospective studies accessible to any researcher, (c) better adherence to data sharing and re-analysis standards, and (d) attention to a broader list of research questions.

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