Shortland Street's Inaccurate Depiction of Mental Illness
The problem
29 May 2008
LMLM received a media-watch report regarding the negative depiction of Rufus, a character referred to as a ‘psych patient', in two Shortland Street episodes. The episodes are described below:
Thursday 15 May 2008
Rufus, a psych patient, takes Scotty hostage in the ED secure room. Shanti hears that Scotty has been attacked and fears for his safety. Scotty tries to escape from Rufus but fails, and is injured in the process. Meanwhile, Shanti's concern for Scotty becomes overwhelming. She abandons her duties to be with Scotty, leaving Dinesh in no doubt of where her feelings really lie. Shanti is stricken to see Scotty trapped and injured. Their eyes meet and their feelings for each other are confirmed, but Shanti is left terrified that she is going to lose the man she truly loves.
Friday 16 May 2008
Scotty is still being held captive by Rufus. Shanti is beside herself with worry and when Kip arrives, begs him to do something to help Scotty. Kip alights on a plan and plays to Rufus' fantasy about his dead girlfriend. However Kip provokes Rufus and puts Scotty in more danger. Scotty takes charge and follows Kip's lead by assuring Rufus that he knows what it's like to be apart from the woman you love. Shanti is moved by the double meaning in Scotty's impassioned speech and is relieved when his tactics work and he manages to escape from Rufus.
The text above is from the official Shortland Street website. Read the original.
The action LMLM took
On reviewing these episodes we agreed that the depiction needed to be addressed.
Letter 1
LMLM sent the following letter to the producers of the programme.
Dear Sir/Madam,
The Mental Health Foundation has been appreciative of the way Shortland Street has dealt with mental health issues in the past. In light of this were disappointed by recent episodes featuring Rufus, a man who attacked and held hostage a nurse before being forcibly restrained and sedated.
Rufus was portrayed as threatening and violent, thus perpetuating the stereotype that mental illness is clearly associated with violence. The vast majority of people with mental illness are no more likely than other members of society to commit a violent crime. In fact, research has shown that they are more likely to be victims rather than perpetrators of violence. Wide-spread media coverage of rare acts of violence by people with mental illness can feed the impression that the public is at danger and it is an ongoing battle to present the facts and counter this popular misconception.
The storyline appeared to validate the use of restraint and force, and gave the impression that people with mental illness may be a danger to society and should be locked away. A recent report described the profound and detrimental impacts of such experiences on the lives of former psychiatric inpatients. The closure of psychiatric hospitals and move to community-based care for many people has been a major advance; however, the success of community care may be jeopardized by public misconceptions about mental illness resulting in a ‘not in my backyard' attitude. By presenting people with mental illness as a potential danger to society, television and other media may contribute to these popular misconceptions.
The storyline appears to have been a plot device used for shock value and to intensify the drama. It allowed two characters to admit their feelings for one another by creating a classic interplay between monster, hero, and damsel in distress. We feel that using a mentally ill character in this way was exploitative and potentially damaging.
The Like Minds, Like Mine programme has been working for ten years to counter stigma and discrimination associated with mental illness. Significant progress has been made, with measurable improvement in public attitudes and we would suggest that television in general may need to catch up with this shift in thinking about mental illness.
We would very much welcome the opportunity to work with you on future storylines dealing with mental illness, whether this involves providing information about mental illness, facts and figures, or just talking through some of the issues, which are often complex and multifaceted.
Yours sincerely,
Judi Clements
Chief Executive
Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand
Letter 2
We also sent this letter to the editors of several publications outlining our concerns:
Dear Sir/Madam,
The Mental Health Foundation has been appreciative of the way Shortland Street has dealt with mental health issues in the past. In view of this we were disappointed by recent episodes featuring Rufus, a man who attacked and held hostage a nurse before being forcibly restrained and sedated.
Rufus was portrayed as threatening and violent, thus perpetuating the stereotype that mental illness is associated with violence. The vast majority of people with mental illness are no more likely than other members of society to commit a violent crime. In fact, research has shown they are more likely to be victims than perpetrators of violence.
The Like Minds, Like Mine programme works to counter stigma and discrimination associated with mental illness. Significant progress has been made over the past ten years, with measurable improvement in public attitudes, and we would suggest that television may need to catch up in the way it deals with mental illness.
We encourage scriptwriters and others in the media to consider the impact of their work on the many New Zealanders directly or indirectly affected by mental illness, and we would welcome the opportunity to work with them.
Yours sincerely,
Judi Clements
Chief Executive
Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand
This was published in the TV Guide as the "Star Letter" on 5 June 2008.
You too can respond to media coverage that you believe is stigmatising or discriminatory. Visit our Media Watch section for a step-by-step guide on how to make a complaint.
