A group of actors sit in a circle in the middle of the stage. They are here to do the table discussion for an upcoming production. The usual questions are asked. How does your character interact with this character? How long have you known each other? Was this your first serious relationship? But this table discussion has some very specific questions that these actors must answer. How does the protagonist’s mental health condition affect your character? How are we going to address this condition with respect? How can we make this person seem real?

In our current culture there are a number of different movies, tv shows and theatrical productions that focus on the topic of mental health. However, the representation tends to lean toward the worst cases of mental illness. Morningside’s on-campus personal counselor Bobbi Meister says that they tend not to show that mental health is a spectrum. Not everyone with a certain diagnosis will exhibit all the signs of the worst case that is usually portrayed in entertainment media.

The genre in which these stories are presented also have an impact on the success of their representation. Horror movies, such as Friday the 13th and Psycho, are the worst for furthering the stigma because the murderer is a “crazy person” when in reality most people with a mental illness are not violent.