A qualitative study exploring South Africans' perceptions of mental illness portrayed in films

Abstract

The present study sought to understand how a sample of South Africans perceive mental illness from the movies they watch. Mental illnesses are usually not portrayed accurately in films, providing people with incorrect information. Consequently, the public does not have accurate knowledge about mental health; and the majority of mental health literacy (MHL) studies are done internationally. Few have been done in South Africa. Data was collected was via individual semi-structured interviews, which were online due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Three people aged between 20 and 26, and were South African, who had not done a psychology course, were interviewed. The results, post-thematic analysis, showed that the participants did not have much knowledge about mental illness, some, however, had a better understanding than others. Participants stated that they believe that an individual’s understanding of mental illness, from what is portrayed in films, is dependent on age, education and resources, particularly within South Africa. Furthermore, participants used stereotypical words/terms to explain mental illness, even if they were not consciously aware of it. The findings have implicated that films do influence people’s perception of mental illness, and it is recommended that future studies look at people of different educational levels and ages.