Abstract
DEAR SIR,
Gabbard's review of the use (or overuse?) of psychotherapy and psychiatrists in Hollywood cinema[1] was highly interesting, and entertaining, and again raises the suggestion that Freud's contribution to the 20th century zeitgeist and cinema in particular was the equal of his contribution to the advancement of modern medicine. Coming from a necessarily North American perspective, Gabbard has not mentioned Australia's own contribution to this field, with movies such as Cosi, filmed and set in a Sydney mental health facility, the recent film Lantana, and not least the international hit Shine, which touch on the light and dark sides of mental illness and psychiatry.
The coverage of mental health issues in the media in general has possibly never been greater than now, and the recent release of the Hollywood blockbuster, A Beautiful Mind, about a brilliant mathematician who has schizophrenia, may also help to educate the public, and aid the reduction of stigma surrounding poorly-understood and often frightening conditions. But Gabbard touches on another point in his feature, saying that ‘Hollywood is thoroughly confused about the difference between psychiatrists, psychoanalysts, psychologists,…’. I would submit that many sections of the public, including the media, also share this confusion. For example, in recent current affairs features on mental health, with regard to the Australian refugee crisis, on both the radio and TV the terms ‘psychiatrist’ and ‘psychologist’ were seemingly used interchangeably when referring to the same person. The onus is on the professions to ensure such errors are addressed-though the roles of psychiatrists and psychologists often overlap, it is a disservice to both if the public remains confused. The naming of hospital or university departments ‘Department of Psychological Medicine’, possibly for euphemistic or stigma-reducing reasons, may perpetuate this confusion and surely in the longer-term only serves to perpetuate the stigma around a term like ‘psychiatric’.
P.S. I would like to point out a spelling error, possibly a typo, in another ‘Psychiatry and the Arts' feature, ‘The Man Who Sued God and Therapy’ [2] Billy Connolly's surname is spelt with the ‘o’, not the ‘e’. I am assured that the Great Scot, often (unfairly) accused of having verbal diarrhoea, does not have problems with his vowels.