1. Movies for
Mental Health
Cal Poly Pomona
March 12, 2019
Facilitator: Natalie Patterson
@artwithimpact
#Movies4MentalHealth
2. Brought to you by…
Monthly short film competition
Campus workshops
Global community
Mental Health Services Act (2004)
1% tax on people earning >$1m/year
20% to prevention and early intervention
#Movies4MentalHealth
3. Meet your facilitator
Poet & Teaching Artist
Natalie Patterson
#Movies4MentalHealth
Natalieispoetry.com @Natalieispoetry
4. Here’s the Plan
• Setting the scene together
• Mental Health
• Stigma
• Watch and discuss films
• Panel of students and resources
#Movies4MentalHealth
5. Where were you right before
coming to the workshop?
#Movies4MentalHealth
6. Heads Up
• Mental health is personal – YOU are the expert on
your own experience
• Public space – no confidentiality
• It’s okay to feel!
• Films and conversations might be triggering
• Please take care of yourself however you need,
including asking for help
• Photography - If you don’t want to be on IG, let me
know. #Movies4MentalHealth
8. ● Mental illness Mental wellness
(things that get in the way of living your best life) t((things that help us be our best selves)
#Movies4MentalHealth
Life Stressors
9. Can you think of any movies or tv
shows that show mental illness?
• Silence of the Lambs
• The Machinist
• Silver Linings Playbook
• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
• Atypical
• The Good Doctor
• Bates Motel
• Psycho
• Thirteen Reasons Why
• Still Alice
• Luther
• The Bodyguard
• Jacob’s Ladder #Movies4MentalHealth
10. Characters with mental illness
are portrayed as…
• Villains
• Dangerous
• Outcasts
• The main character
• Sympathetic/Sad
• Highly intelligent/brilliant
• Sensitive
• Artistic
• Unhinged
• Awkward
• Dramatic
• Difficult
• Unpredictable
#Movies4MentalHealth
14. A Short Film
About Anxiety
By Lily Rose Thomas + Stephen Isaac-Wilson
AWI Winner, July 2018
#Movies4MentalHealth
15. Discuss in groups of three…
• What did you think?
• What did you feel?
#Movies4MentalHealth
16. What did you think? What did you feel?
Thoughts
• Relatable
• Thought about coping
mechanisms
• Agreed with the film
commentary but thinks that
there could be more positive
dialogue
Feelings
• Anxiety inducing
• Chills
• Anxious at first but then felt
calmer at a certain point
• Felt a connection with the
person who spoke about
feeling anxiety when eye
contact is made on the
street.
• Empathy
• Overwhelmed by flashing
images and dialogue
17. How did the filmmaking
techniques help tell the story?
• Racing images and dialogue
• Music
• Limiting the view of the audience (camera
angle: vertical; felt confined)
• The actors used portrayed anxiety
• Bathtub scene
• Limited camera angle made it more personal
• Switch between docustyle and “IRL” scenes
#Movies4MentalHealth
19. Discuss in groups of three…
• What did you think?
• What did you feel?
#Movies4MentalHealth
20. What did you think? What did you feel?
Thoughts
• Liked the glimmer of hope to
hold onto
• Reminded of past depression
and resilience
• Liked this film over the first as
depression symptoms are more
common
• Impressed with film techniques,
quality and dialogue
• Liked how film was split in three
parts which is representative of
depression. Eg: good days/bad
days
• Liked the symbolism (e.g.
intro/outro shot)
Feelings
• Impressed
• Melancholy because
character/film maker is so
young
• Feels a lot slower; captured
by dialogue and film
technique
• Hopeful
21. Why don’t people get help?
• Because sometimes you don’t realize you need help. Or people pick up
on the “signs”.
• Fear of judgement. Feeling of being “less”.
• Getting help carries its own stigma, esp seeing a therapist.
• Ourselves (psych our own selves out).
• Cultural
• Sexism (men can have a harder time seeking help because it’s not
culturally acceptable)
• Sexism (expected of women; historically psych has been unfair to
women; undermining feminist ideals)
• “I can do this/handle this by myself”
• “It’s everyone else’s problem”; shifting the blame
• Fear of medication (or being overly medicated)
• Past negative experiences (medication, therapy, self-care, etc.)
• Financial barriers (help is not accessible to everyone; meds are costly)
• Help can be less accessible to adults with no support systems
• Don’t know where to start. Therapy? Psychiatrist? Who knows.
#Movies4MentalHealth
23. Responses and Reactions?
#Movies4MentalHealth
● “Sees souls without souls” resonated
● Long hug felt genuine. Warm feelings.
● Liked how the film transitioned to a positive tone.
● Enjoyed seeing narrators passion through the lens
● Liked the emphasis of finding personal passions
● Thought about how we go through the motions of life which leads us to missing being in the
moment and finding happiness in day-to-day.
24. What can we do as a community and
as individuals to promote mental
wellness?
• Stop making fun of people who are “different”. Talk to people as
individuals.
• Make therapy more accessible to EVERYONE.
• End stigma (starting with ourselves; speak up!)
• Sharing our experiences.
• Wear green ribbons to promote mental health awareness. Opens up
dialogue.
• Stop using language that trivialize mental illness (“I’m so OCD/ADHD”).
• Teaching children and youth about mental illness to normalize
• Keep the dialogue going to end stigma.
#Movies4MentalHealth
26. Meet the Panel
Lani Elliott
Cal Poly Pomona Student
Lideth Ortega-Villabos, Ph.D.
Psychologist at CAPS
Indira Singh
Student Health & Wellness Health Educator
Rimmi Hundal
Director of MHSA and Ethnic Services at
Tri-City Mental Health Services
#Movies4MentalHealth
27. Stay in touch!
Sign our email list to stay connected
@artwithimpact
info@artwithimpact.org
#Movies4MentalHealth
