Assignment 3 Mental Health in Movies
1. Overview
This assignment will give you an opportunity to apply your knowledge and critically think about mental health
disorders in a movie of your choice.
1.1 Assignment Submission and Grading
Write (paste) your text under 2. Assignment Submission by clicking on Write Submission. No attached files
will be accepted. Please do not post your assignment in the 3. Add Comments field.
The assignment will account for 5% of the course grade (for a maximum of 5 points). A grade will be given to
the final product, which is to be submitted directly on Blackboard. The grading will be based on whether all
components of the assignment are present, and the accuracy of the information.
This assignment can be completed as an individual or as a small group. If you complete this assignment as a
group, each student has to submit their assignment separately (not as a group).
2. Movie
Pick a movie of your choice and watch it. Keep track of the questions in section 3. to be answered for
your reflection paper. You can find a list of movies with mental health themes here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_disorders_in_film
3. Reflection Paper
Write a reflection paper about the following questions. In your reflection paper text,
please use the same headings and numbering for each of the three parts of the paper outlined below.
1. Introduction and Overview
a. Briefly introduce your movie (i.e., what movie you watched, what it was about, what mental health topics or
mental disorders it portrayed in what characters, etc.)
2. Comparison of Movie Portrayal of Mental Disorders with Textbook
a. Describe three scenes of the movie involving a portrayal of a mental disorder and compare these portrayals
with the content of the textbook. For example, describe the symptoms (behaviours, thoughts, feelings, etc.)
portrayed in the movie and compare/contrast them with descriptions of a specific mental disorder in the
textbook.
b. For each of the three comparisons, describe how you think the portrayal is consistent/not consistent with the
information in the textbook (please note: for some scenes the portrayal may be accurate in some way and
inaccurate in other ways at the same time describe this).
3. Mental Health in Movies
a. What three themes have emerged from your comparison (section 2. above)? For example, themes can be
principles like mental illness stereotypes, exaggeration of symptoms, false information or sensationalism
etc. Come up with your own themes.
b. What are three consequences of these themes and the portrayal of mental health problems in movies for
individuals and society at large (e.g., what is its impact on popular views about mental health, myths,
misunderstandings, stigma, willingness to seek mental health services, etc.)?
