The Effect Mental Health Portrayals in Television Shows Have on Viewers

The goal of this study was to research the connections between portrayals in television shows and real-life people with mental health conditions. In addition, another purpose was to conclude whether my initial thoughts, which include believing a minimal numbers of TV shows contain any positive effect on viewer mental health, were supported. Misperceptions about mental health, including a justified feeling to hide mental conditions, judge others for theirs, or use it as a way for humor, are often given in television shows when mental health is included in the story (Smith, et al. 2019). I created a blog that revolved around the mental health depictions of a TV show and noticed there was difficulty among viewers to realize the mental health portrayals among the characters. My final hope for this study was to have a better understanding of viewer connection to the portrayals of mental health in shows and how it affects them