The Rock & Roll Shrink Radio Show Ep. 25 Pathology Chic & Misconceptions Pt. 2

Tonight’s episode is entitled, “Pathology Chic & Misconceptions, Part 2.” I picked that title because much of our fictional and social media romanticizes and even fetishizes certain mental health conditions, as well as portrays them artistically to feed assumptions which may be more exotic or compelling than the truth about them.

Episode 24 two weeks ago was part 1 of this topic, where we discussed various films (and a couple of TV shows) that portray characters with various pathologies, and how accurate those portrayals were, or were not. Tonight, we will finish up by discussing common non-fictional stereotypes and misperceptions about the same list of pathologies, and then thirdly we will discuss the truth about how those conditions function and appear to outside observers. Cultural and societal assumptions in turn influence our makers of art and media, because art and media deal in known cultural and societal icons and stereotypes to evoke specific desired experiences and reactions.

We will present the topic in three sections. Last week was the first, a list of various diagnoses and movies in which they are portrayed. Tonight, the second section, which is the same diagnoses and notes about societal misconceptions and stereotypes about them (some of which may feed the Hollywood habit of catering to them, instead of to facts.) Third and last, also tonight, we will again cover the same diagnoses factually, and explain how they really work. 

We'll be taking calls from our listeners starting at 11:30 PM EST.