Videos about mental disorders

November 7, 2019 9:24 AM

I'm prepping to teach abnormal psychology to undergrads, and want to find some videos about various mental disorders to show. What engaging, short to mid-length (<30 min) videos have helped you understand a mental disorder in a new way?

Abnormal psych covers basically all of the DSM mental disorders- anxiety, depression, PTSD, psychotic disorders, personality disorders, neurodevelopmental disorders, insomnia, substance use disorders, etc.

I'd prefer something that's not explicitly made to be shown in a classroom. Clips from TV or movies are okay as long as I can access them without too much trouble.

posted by quiet coyote to Media & Arts (17 answers total)

There are sooo many great examples out there, but the first one that popped into my head is a CNN clip of Anderson Cooper experiencing the internal experience of auditory hallucinations that many psychotic disorders present with. I can't link at the moment because I'm on mobile, but if you type "Anderson Cooper hallucinations" into YouTube, it should show up.

Another clip that comes to mind is Lin Manuel Miranda's portrayal of someone in a manic state on the tv show House. After working with manic patients for years, I thought it was pretty true to what I've seen.

I'll add more later if I think of any others!
posted by carlypennylane at 9:53 AM on November 7, 2019

possibly some of the Special Books by Special Kids videos, which are very intro-level interviews with neurodiverse and disabled people.

and i just recently came across Dr. Russell Barkley's talks about ADHD. this short one's part of a lecture but frames ADHD in a really clear and easy to understand, obvious, handle-able way.
posted by gaybobbie at 9:56 AM on November 7, 2019 [2 favorites]

Dan Harris had a panic attack when he was being filmed live as a news anchor. I'm sure you can find footage of that.
posted by crunchy potato at 9:56 AM on November 7, 2019 [1 favorite]

Don't know if this is too didactic for you, but the National Center for PTSD has a number of videos about PTSD and its treatment that might be worth exploring.

This is veering into treatment rather than strictly an example of a disorder but there was a....I think it was a section of a podcast, maybe? Called "my lobotomy" and it was really fascinating.
posted by Bebo at 10:06 AM on November 7, 2019

Cecilia's Life with Schizophrenia (Living with Hallucinations) (9:23)
posted by komara at 10:07 AM on November 7, 2019

Living Well with Schizophrenia is a great YouTube channel! I also second Special Books by Special Kids.
posted by Mouse Army at 10:19 AM on November 7, 2019

This video on anosognosia has helped me understand the reality of some of my students who struggle with mental illness.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 10:38 AM on November 7, 2019 [1 favorite]

During the Michael Jackson “this is it” movie there is a moment where you can clearly see him revert to some child-like ego states. Not diagnosable per se but very clearly a switch in his typical personality as a coping mechanism.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 10:56 AM on November 7, 2019 [1 favorite]

There are two movies about Tourettes that I know of. The one I saw was Twitch and Shout, about how adults live with it, and then there's also Twitch and Shout about a camp specifically for kids who live with this disorder.
posted by jessamyn at 11:01 AM on November 7, 2019

This TEDx talk (I'm not sick, I don't need help!) by Dr. Xavier Amador does a great job of explaining how real a delusion can feel to someone in psychosis.
posted by fiercecupcake at 11:39 AM on November 7, 2019 [1 favorite]

Oops, sorry, that is the same link hurdy gurdy girl posted -- I did not realize it at first since they did not use the name.
posted by fiercecupcake at 11:39 AM on November 7, 2019

For OCD in my Abnormal Psych class, I used to show either this episode of True Life from MTV ("I Have OCD") or an episode of a show from A&E called "Obsessed" (the episode would vary, looks like some are online and others are not). "Obsessed" was interesting because it also covered panic disorder and some impulse control disorders, and there was one episode (that doesn't seem to be in the wikipedia episode guide, unfortunately) that had a really interesting profile of a woman whose obsession was collecting masks, vis a vis a more traditional OCD type of profile. It made for a good discussion afterwards of what makes an obsession pathological and the diagnostic criterion of personal distress or dysfunction.
posted by Fuego at 1:50 PM on November 7, 2019

There's really great ones on DID by user DissociaDID. Can't get you a link on my phone I'm afraid.
posted by lokta at 2:30 PM on November 7, 2019

Third rec for Special Books by Special Kids channel content:
Daniel Living with Schizoaffective Disorder
posted by D.Billy at 4:56 PM on November 7, 2019

There have been a few previous question along these lines, such as this one and this one. Those should get you started on the personality disorders. As Good As It Gets includes Jack Nicholson with some signs of OCD.
posted by salvia at 5:41 PM on November 7, 2019 [1 favorite]

I'm not huge on calling developmental differences "abnormal" ... but I love this video from the 80s (?) demonstrating differences in joint attention between a child with down syndrome, a neurotypical child, and a child with autism. The statements in the voiceover do not reflect current understanding of autism (including the fact that children can have both down syndrome and autism), but the clinician at the end has it right. So the video actually represents a good oversight of the evolution in understanding.
posted by schwinggg! at 7:09 PM on November 7, 2019

Around 38:00 there is a very illustrative interview with someone with anorexia in this video.
posted by unstrungharp at 10:04 PM on November 10, 2019