Egyptian drama and its relationship to shaping public awareness towards psychotherapy

Latif Zaki Sedhom, George

doi:10.21608/jkom.2024.379695

Egyptian drama and its relationship to shaping public awareness towards psychotherapy

Author

George Latif Zaki Sedhom

Faculty of Media Production, Galala University

10.21608/jkom.2024.379695

Abstract

This research aims to study the role of Egyptian drama in shaping the public's awareness of psychotherapy. The study used the quantitative and qualitative approach, where a field study was applied to a sample of 250 individuals from the Egyptian public, to know the public's perceptions of psychotherapy through dramatic works. The focus was on two dramatic works, "Take Care of Zizi" and "The Seventh Itch", in addition to holding focus groups with specialists in the field of psychotherapy, Egyptian families and university students. The study reached several results, the most important of which is the success of modern dramatic works in representing the mentally ill as suffering from a psychological problem, but he is able to work and adapt with others. In recent years, Egyptian drama has also been able to form a more accurate and realistic mental image of psychotherapy in the minds of the masses. The majority of the respondents were also able to identify the correct psychotherapy method in the dramatic works of the study sample. The dramas in the study sample also succeeded in reflecting a positive mental image of psychotherapy, as 87.2% of the respondents believed that they succeeded in making them accept the idea of resorting to psychotherapy when necessary. The study recommended the necessity of taking into account scientific accuracy in discussing mental illnesses and methods of treating them in dramas and avoiding stigmatizing the mentally ill as crazy.

Keywords

References

Aguiniga, Donna M., Elissa E. Madden, and Karen T. Zellmann. 2016. “An Exploratory Analysis of Students’ Perceptions of Mental Health in the Media.” Social Work in Mental Health 14(4):428–444.

Ahmed, Nermine Ibrahim. "Mental Illness in Egyptian Cinematic Films." The Arab Journal of Media and Communication Research, Article 4, Volume 2021, Issue 32, March 2021, Pages 162-213 (2021).

Ansara, Y. G. (2019). Trauma psychotherapy with people involved in BDSM/kink: Five common misconceptions and five essential clinical skills. Psychotherapy and Counselling Journal of Australia, 7(2).

Barber, S. J. (2020). The applied implications of age-based stereotype threat for older adults.Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 9(3), 274-285.

Battle, A. (2020). Pass the Popcorn, Let's Watch ER: A Study on the Portrayal of Mental Disorders on the Primetime Medical Drama (Doctoral dissertation).

Cambra Badii, I. A., & Baños, J. E. (2018). Un médico con autismo en la televisión?: Enseñanzas de The Good Doctor.Revista Medicina Cine 14: 273–83.

Cameron, J. (2019). Fictional portrayals of therapy affect attitudes toward mental health treatment.Proceedings of GREAT Day, 2018(1), 26.

Davies, G., Spencer, J. & Steele, S. (2005), “Clearing the air: identity safety moderates the effects of stereotype threat on women’s leadership aspirations”. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88(2), pp.276-287.

Dieffenbach, D.L. & West, M.D. (2007). Television and attitudes toward mental health issues: cultivation analysis and the third person effect. Journal of Community Psychology, 35(2), 181-195.

Ertekin, E., Ergun, B. M., & Sungur, M. Z. (2015). Misconceptions and myhts about cognitive-behavioural therapy among psychiatrists and psychiatry residents/Psikiyatristler ve psikiyatri asistanlarinda bilissel-davranisci terapi hakkinda mitler ve yanlis bilinenler. Anadolu Psikiyatri Dergisi, 16(1), 60-65.

Harvard Health Publishing. 2019. Antisocial Personality Disorder: What Is It? Harvard Health Publishing. March 2023 Available online: https://www.health.harvard.edu/a_to_z/antisocial-personality-disorder-a-to-z

Hossni Mohamed Nasser, “Uses of Computers in Media Research”, The Egyptian Journal of Media Research, (Vol. 8, August-October 2000) p. 20.

Hoyt,C. & Murphy, S. (2016). “Managing to clear the air: Stereotype threat, women, and leadership”. Leadership Quarterly, 27, pp.387–399.

Ibrahim, Mona Ahmed Mustafa. (2014). “The portrayal of psychiatry in some Egyptian films presented by television and its relationship to the mental image among a sample of adolescents.” The Journal of Childhood Studies, Vol. 17, No. 64, pp. 73 - 104. Retrieved from http://search.mandumah.com/Record/834028

Johnson, Jessie M. Quintero and Julius Riles. 2018. “‘He Acted like a Crazy Person’: Exploring the Influence of College Students’ Recall of Stereotypic Media Representations of Mental Illness.” Psychology of Popular Media Culture 7(2):146–163.

Jouini, E., Karehnke, P., & Napp, C. (2018). Stereotypes, under confidence and decision-making with an application to gender and math. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 148, 34–45.

Latimer, P.، 2019 May 19, Battling the myths and stereotypes of psychiatry, https://troymedia.com/health/battling-myths-stereotypes-psychiatry/. Retrieved 27 April 2022

Leistedt, S. and Linkowski, P. (2013). Psychopathy and the Cinema: Fact or Fiction? Journal of Forensic Sciences 59(1), 1-8.

Lopera-Mármol, M., Jiménez-Morales, M., & Jiménez-Morales, M. (2022). Aesthetic Representation of Antisocial Personality Disorder in British Coming-of-Age TV Series. Social Sciences, 11(3), 133.

Maiorano, A., Pillan, S., Cristofalo, D., Ruggeri, M., & Lasalvia, A. (2018). Evaluation of an educational intervention for reducing mental health stigma in media professionals. Evidence-based Psychiatric Care ;vol (3), 49-57

Maiorano, A., Lasalvia, A., Sampogna, G., Pocai, B., Ruggeri, M., & Henderson, C. (2017). Reducing Stigma in Media Professionals: Is there Room for Improvement? Results from a Systematic Review. Canadian journal of psychiatry. Revue canadienne de psychiatrie, 62(10), 702–715. https://doi.org/10.1177/0706743717711172.

Parrott, Scott. (2020). Media stereotypes about mental illness: The role of the media in nurturing and mitigating stigma. Media Stereotypes: From Ageism to Xenophobia, Publisher: Peter Lang p240 – 255

Shalahuddin Qusar, M. M. A., Hossain, R., Sohan, M., Nazir, S., Hossain, M. J., & Islam, M. R. (2022). Attitudes of mental healthcare professionals and media professionals towards each other in reducing social stigma due to mental illness in Bangladesh. Journal of Community Psychology, 50(7), 3181–3195.

Steel, S. & Aronson, (1995). “ Stereotype threat and the intellectual test performance of African Americans”. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69(5), pp.797-811.

Stringer, H. (2016). Therapy on camera. American Psychological Association] Monitor on Psychology, 47(11), 44-48.

Stuart, H. Media Portrayal of Mental Illness and its Treatments. CNS Drugs 20, 99–106 (2006). https://doi.org/10.2165/00023210-200620020-00002

Swart, J.(2016). Psychopaths in film: Are portrayals realistic and does it matter? In The Criminal Humanities: An Introduction, 1st ed. Edited by Arntfield Michael and Danesi Marcel. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, pp. 74–98.

Withers, M., Jahangir, T., Kubasova, K., & Ran, M. S. (2022). Reducing stigma associated with mental health problems among university students in the Asia-Pacific: A video content analysis of student-driven proposals. The International journal of social psychiatry, 68 (4), 827–835. https://doi.org/10.1177/00207640211007511

Yang, Y., Tang, L., & Bie, B. (2017). Portrayals of Mental Illnesses in Women’s and Men’s Magazines in the United States. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 94 (3), 793-811.

Yassin, Marwi. (2019). The Stereotype of Mental Illness in Television Drama and Its Relationship with Dramatic and Social Stigma Among Egyptian Youth: A Field Analytical Study. Journal of Mass Communication Research “JMCR”, 51(51- Part 2), 397-472.