Movies and Mental Illness: Using Films to Understand Psychopathology - Softcover

Wedding, Danny; Niemiec, Ryan M.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0889374619 ISBN 13: 9780889374614

Publisher: Hogrefe & Huber Pub, 2014

Synopsis

This popular and critically acclaimed text, using movies to help learn about mental illness, has been fully updated with DSM-5 and ICD-10 diagnoses, dozens of evocative and informative frame grabs, a full film index, Authors Picks, sample syllabus, more international films and shorts.....

Films can be a powerful aid to learning about mental illness and psychopathology for students of psychology, psychiatry, social work, medicine, nursing, counselling, literature or media studies, and for anyone interested in mental health. Movies and Mental Illness, written by experienced clinicians and teachers who are themselves movie aficionados, has established a great reputation as a uniquely enjoyable and highly memorable text for learning about psychopathology. The new edition has been fully updated to include DSM-5 and ICD-10 diagnoses.

The core clinical chapters each use a fabricated case history and Mini-Mental State Examination along with synopses and discussions about specific movies to explain, teach, and encourage discussion about all the most important mental health disorders.

Each chapter also includes: Critical Thinking Questions; Authors Picks (Top 10 Films); What To Read if You Only Have Time to Read One Book or Article; and Topics for Group Discussions.

Other features of the new, expanded edition include:
Full index of films
Sample course syllabus
Ratings of around 1,500 films
Fascinating appendices, such as Top 50 Heroes and Villains, psychotherapists in movies, misconceptions about mental illness in movies, and recommended websites, plus listings of the PRISM Awards for Feature Films and the SAMHSA Voice Awards.

About this title

About the Author

Danny Wedding, PhD, MPH, is associate dean for management and international programs at the California
School of Professional Psychology, Alliant International University. He is the editor of PsycCRITIQUES:
Contemporary Psychology APA Review of Books, the senior editor for Hogrefe s book series on Advances
in Psychotherapy: Evidence-Based Practice, and the coauthor of Positive Psychology at the Movies: Using
Films to Build Virtues and Character Strengths. Wedding lectures widely on international psychology and
the portrayal of mental illness in contemporary cinema.
Ryan M. Niemiec, PsyD, is education director of the VIA Institute on Character, a global nonprofit organization
that advances the science and practice of character strengths. He is a licensed psychologist,
adjunct professor at Xavier University, and an international speaker. He is author of Mindfulness and
Character Strengths: A Practical Guide to Flourishing and coauthor of Positive Psychology at the Movies:
Using Films to Build Character Strengths and Well-Being, and a number of articles and book chapters
on films. He is film editor of PsycCRITIQUES and received a specialization in film studies from Michigan
State University.

Review

This book has a large audience - ... ranging from lay persans wishing to gain an insight into mental health in an easily digestible format through to those formally teaching mental health courses. It can easily be used by non-healthcare professionals or those who would like a light introduction to mental health without having to digest numerous textbooks, or like myself prefer a different way of learning. --Ibadete Fetahu in NursingTimes.net, September 2015

In their masterful and entertaining yet thoroughly well-referenced and academic book, Wedding and Niemiec painstakingly provide detailed descriptions of numerous films, with critical thinking questions, references, and fictional patient evaluations ... and in doing so succeed in highlighting cinema as an effective modality for teaching psychopathology and for intellectually challenging students on psychiatric differential diagnosis and treatment.
The authors use DSM-5 to arrange their table of contents of 16 chapters. Indeed, the reader can effectively use this book to learn the DSM-5. It is an amazing accomplishment that, for even relatively obscure diagnoses, the authors have ready a diversified portfolio of relevant movies.
The 8 appendices are thought-provoking [and] include a sample course syllabus that could serve as an outline to create a successful course to educate students on mental illness, differential diagnosis, and treatment options.
I highly recommend this book to educators, mental health care clinicians, and students. --Matthew A. Becker, MD, University of California School of Medicine, in Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 2015; 76(5):e671

A winning text for students with pedagogical tips for teachers... Movies and Mental Illness allows educators to weave psychological concepts and issues into a format that naturally engages students and facilitates classroom participation from a shared popular cultural perspective. Empirical data supporting the inclusion of popular film in the curriculum indicates watching contemporary movies can facilitate a wide range of learning outcomes... Abstract concepts, including the wide world of psychopathology, can be brought to life and embodied within movies. Movies grab our attention, stay in our memories, and are often our primary tool for developing narratives of the world.
Finding the right film is a daunting and delicate task for teachers. Most instructors don t know where to find the material needed to effectively incorporate this essential media tool. Psychology instructors can now breathe a sigh of relief ... Movies and Mental Illness presents a cornucopia of ideas on how to integrate film as a best practice in the education of students, patients, and the public about mental illness. Wedding and Niemiec s text enables every abnormal or psychopathology instructor to ensure the selected films have been vetted to have maximum positive benefits.
The book is best used as an assigned text in an Abnormal Psychology or Psychopathology course but is also very valuable as a reference book used by instructors to build portions of their own syllabi. [It] is especially helpful for instructors trying to incorporate this pedagogy since it provides sample syllabi and gives instructions on how to integrate the use of film within the standard college semester course.
Movies & Mental Illness serves not only as a resource for academics, but as a psycho-educational resource for therapists interested in utilizing cinematherapy.
Wedding and Niemiec s fourth edition of Movies & Mental Illness will help many psychologists create the ideal learning experience, where students gain an education relevant to their lived experience and clinicians facilitate a client breaking through resistances and reaching their goal. Reviewed by Afiya Mangum Mbilishaka and Linda Berg-Cross, Howard University, Washington, DC, in PsycCRITIQUES (2015);
Movies and Mental Illness, 4th Edition by Danny Wedding and Ryan Niemiec is an extraordinary resource for any educators wishing to illustrate complex mental health issues using the popular medium of film. The writing is clear and enjoyable to read. Although the book is specifically designed for an undergraduate psychology course and even includes a sample syllabus, it can readily be applied to graduate medical education. The book is also a helpful resource for clinicians looking to use film in individual or group patient meetings to encourage discussion and reflection. Movies and Mental Illness, 4th Edition is a welcome addition to any clinician or teacher wanting to use film as an engaging supplement for education --; Matt Martin, PhD, Duke/SR-AHEC Family Medicine Residency Program, Fayetteville, NC, in Family Medicine, vol. 47, October 2015

Edition details

• Publisher: Hogrefe & Huber Pub
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0889374619
• ISBN 13: 9780889374614
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 4
• Number of pages: 455