In just one year, nearly 58 million Americans are diagnosed with a detectable mental illness (Mental). This number does not account for all of the people who are too ashamed to speak up about their illness because of the stigma around mental health. People with mental health problems say that the stigma around mental health usually just makes it harder to for them to recover. It is everyone’s responsibility to work towards ending the stigma around mental health to help lead us to positive change (Kellar).
Mental illnesses are health conditions that usually involve changes in one’s thinking, emotions or behavior. Mental illness affects many everyday tasks, some as simple as just getting out of bed or socializing with others. A few common mental …show more content…
Many heroes have experienced events in their lives that have caused negative effects to their mental health that pushed them to become who they are. One great example of a positive outlook on mental illness can be seen in the movie Big Hero 6. Big Hero 6 shows the mental health of a fourteen year old named Hiro Hamada. At the beginning of the movie, Hiro’s brother is killed and Hiro spirals into a deep depression. Later, Baymax the “health care companion” is introduced and he instantly tries to diagnose what is wrong with Hiro. At first Baymax does not realize that Hiro does not have a physical illness until he explains that it was not like that. Baymax acknowledges fact that Hiro was not alright and still needed support, even though it can’t necessarily be seen. Instead of brushing him off, Baymax searches the internet to find tips on how to help someone who is grieving and find ways to support them. He then calls all of Hiro’s friends and informs them of the situation. If the stigma around mental health continues, children might shy away from getting help if they should ever contract a mental illness in the future. Being exposed to characters and stories that accept mental illness as normal may help children later in their …show more content…
Patrick O’Connor has been doing everything he can to keep the superhero therapy method alive starting with his sessions. He found that talking about heroes not only got the children talking about hard subjects but it had them excited for their next session. When he first started in 2010, he was only using Batman and Robin as an example for the foster care children he was helping but he has slowly branched out to incorporate the other heroes such as: Spiderman, Steel and Hawkman. With every comic book he read, he kept a “comicspedia” on the different challenges each hero faced such as being forced to face their fears, losing a loved one, or being considered an outcast. Patrick found every way he could possibly spread the idea of superhero therapy. In 2015, Patrick O’Connor, and a few other licensed psychologists, held a panel at Comic-Con called “Geek Therapy: How Superheroes Empower Us All” where they explained to over 300 people how comic books can be used to treat mental illnesses. Several months later, O’Connor ended up teaching a course at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology called Geek Culture in Therapy
Mental illnesses are health conditions that usually involve changes in one’s thinking, emotions or behavior. Mental illness affects many everyday tasks, some as simple as just getting out of bed or socializing with others. A few common mental …show more content…
Many heroes have experienced events in their lives that have caused negative effects to their mental health that pushed them to become who they are. One great example of a positive outlook on mental illness can be seen in the movie Big Hero 6. Big Hero 6 shows the mental health of a fourteen year old named Hiro Hamada. At the beginning of the movie, Hiro’s brother is killed and Hiro spirals into a deep depression. Later, Baymax the “health care companion” is introduced and he instantly tries to diagnose what is wrong with Hiro. At first Baymax does not realize that Hiro does not have a physical illness until he explains that it was not like that. Baymax acknowledges fact that Hiro was not alright and still needed support, even though it can’t necessarily be seen. Instead of brushing him off, Baymax searches the internet to find tips on how to help someone who is grieving and find ways to support them. He then calls all of Hiro’s friends and informs them of the situation. If the stigma around mental health continues, children might shy away from getting help if they should ever contract a mental illness in the future. Being exposed to characters and stories that accept mental illness as normal may help children later in their …show more content…
Patrick O’Connor has been doing everything he can to keep the superhero therapy method alive starting with his sessions. He found that talking about heroes not only got the children talking about hard subjects but it had them excited for their next session. When he first started in 2010, he was only using Batman and Robin as an example for the foster care children he was helping but he has slowly branched out to incorporate the other heroes such as: Spiderman, Steel and Hawkman. With every comic book he read, he kept a “comicspedia” on the different challenges each hero faced such as being forced to face their fears, losing a loved one, or being considered an outcast. Patrick found every way he could possibly spread the idea of superhero therapy. In 2015, Patrick O’Connor, and a few other licensed psychologists, held a panel at Comic-Con called “Geek Therapy: How Superheroes Empower Us All” where they explained to over 300 people how comic books can be used to treat mental illnesses. Several months later, O’Connor ended up teaching a course at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology called Geek Culture in Therapy