New film The Voices and Louis Theroux’s BBC documentary reinforce the stereotype that people with schizophrenia are dangerous
It is argued that no publicity is bad publicity when it comes to raising awareness of an issue. But recent portrayals on people living with schizophrenia casts some doubt on this theory. The Voices, a black comedy starring Ryan Reynolds, currently in cinemas, has drawn fierce criticism from mental health campaigners. The movie portrays a murderer who is instructed to kill by the voices in his head, more specifically his talking cat. This film joins a long line of inaccurate and misleading film portrayals – who can forget Alphabet Killer; The Butcher Boy; Me, Myself and Irene; or Psychosomatic to name but a few?
At the same time as this film airs in our multiplexes, the BBC is broadcasting the latest documentary from Louis Theroux – the second part of a two-part programme airs on Sunday. It explores life in an Ohio state psychiatric hospital, where inmates have been declared innocent of crimes by reason of insanity and are being held until declared safe both to themselves and wider society. One of Theroux’s main subjects, Jonathan, who is diagnosed with schizophrenia, killed his father. Another, Judith, who is diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, refuses to acknowledge that she stabbed a woman on a bus.
If enough people treat you like a lost cause, then sooner or later you end up believing it.
Related: As a nurse I don’t feel equipped to treat patients with mental health problems
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