This Show Is Making *Me* Crazy

NiroZ Says:

After reading this http://neurocritic.blogspot.com/2009/06/foxs-new-show-mental-should-be-put-away.html, I wasn’t a big fan of it.

Tony Says:

I watched the first episode. I felt it made mental illness more of a quirk than a disease. It put a human face on the sufferer, but did not adequately convey the distress the illness causes. It gave the impression that medications rob the patient of some aspect of his life. There was a passing comment about trying a different med to avoid that, but that was said very quietly. Was it implying that the patient would rather be ill than lose his artistry? Sort of. But at what cost: being plagued with hallucinations and delusions? He is living in a lot of distress, but he can paint! So things are better now. Right? Everyone lives happily ever after! Typical Hollywood ending that avoids reality.

Brandy Says:

This show kills me! IT KILLS ME! It’s so glib, so uninformed– and, naturally, it’s going to spread its misinformation to the already misinformed public. What psychiatrist would dare take a floridly psychotic schizophrenic off meds? Seriously. Who the hell are the writers consulting? Ugh! So many, MANY flaws; so little time.

Naomi Says:

I hated it. I do not know a single schizophrenic that would make the trade-off this patient allegedly made. And how precisely was he cured? By inhaling chalk dust?

Kristin Bell Says:

Oh I know. I’ve watched 2 episodes now and it is just HORRIBLE! Who in the hell is writing this garbage??? If they made up shit like this about other “groups” of people, no one would stand for it. Seriously, this show is dumb and keeps getting worse!!! I hope it gets pulled.

markps2 Says:

I’m schizophrenic and the trailer I saw here looks good to me.

Jeanette Says:

The show Mental should be yanked off the air as soon as possible. NAMI has also asked people to give their opinions. Unfortunately, some did give a positive review, but the last comment of those who gave negative reviews was written by a mother and shows the power of the media (for some people anyway). After watching the first episode, her 38 year old son decided to stop his medications too because “he wanted to be ‘free’ just like the man in the show.”

Tom Says:

To give this show a positive review you have to be crazy.

Gabriel... Says:

Crappy special effects and bad acting, it might be better animated… the good news is Fox is bringing back Futurama, so there is some good in the world.

The Neurocritic Says:

Thanks for the link, NyroZ. I’ve recently posted a review of the third episode. It completely misrepresents transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and uses laughably literal plot devices.

Yay for Futurama!

family member Says:

Just what the world needs – more mentally unstable people going off their meds and more “preventable tragedies” (check the website for this). The show is probably written by an “unchecked” “untreated” “off their meds” person that has bipolar. It would make sense since during mania the delusional thinking starts “i’m free”. . . and then the bipolar takes on a new twist of that which resembles schizophrenia. . .

family member Says:

Pretty cool trick though – getting irrational WITH someone when they are irrational instead of trying to be rational when there’s no way they will be.

Joe Says:

It is disturbing that viewers may be led to believe that the empathetic concern and extensive involvement in a hospitalized patient’s well being is typical or that the physical environment replicates that typically found on psychiatric wards. I can’t assume to speak for all my many friends who have been hospitalized but there seems to be general agreement that hospitalization usually involves meds, beds, milieu, sometimes ECT and a few desultory groups tossed in under the guise of promoting Recovery & Wellness.

The character with schizophrenia would be considered by too many professionals to be the perfect mental patient. He begged to go back on his medication, was scared out of his wits that absent medication compliance he would lose both his housing and the job he held for ten years – moving boxes from one position to another. Such employment has been represented to me as evidence of “successful long term placement”, “meaningful community integration”, and the development of a new sense of “meaning and purpose.”

The show likely overstates family involvement where too many patients find that their families will not take them upon discharge out of fear for their safety, the belief that the patient will be safer in the hospital, in the hope that by refusing to take their family member back alternative housing will be provided, and/or the family has abandoned the patient. (I attended a meeting at one of our state psychiatric hospitals where half of the 500 patients could not be discharged for want of housing in the community. Senior staff pled for “loving families” to shelter their “loved ones” thus facilitating discharge. Sadly, most had been abandoned by their families as evidenced by the fact only 25% received at least one visitor over the course of a year.)

Having watched only the first episode, I say let the show run its course. I likely won’t watch it. I’ve experienced the reality and have learned from the shared experiences of my peers.

Polly Says:

I think the doctor is totally mental and should be locked up in a psych ward–just what the psych world needs a crazy naked maverick who can save us all. Can you say trite, cliche, stereotype, lame?