Reference no: EM133674691

Assignment:

Please engage in substantive dialogue below (give positive feedback and follow-up question):

What did you think of Shutter Island's portrayal of psychiatrists and other mental health care professionals? Do you agree that psychiatrists are "demonized" (Hopson) in fiction? What evidence do you have to support your response?

After watching the film, I actually enjoyed watching it I particularly like psychological thriller films. The ending, I wasn't expecting, but it totally through me into a loop! In the film, can see Teddy, who Leonardo plays, having hallucinations from the beginning and quite frequently throughout the movie. These moments really show how he's in between a delusional world and reality at the same time. His wife, Dolores, appears to him at points in the film as well as his children. There are also moments of trauma from being a veteran of WWII and how his mental health is still being impacted.

The psychiatrists in the film were quite negative. When Teddy and his "partner" Chuck were first entering the institution where the patients were, Dr. Cawley explained to them how the institution would conduct these "treatments" on the patients without them knowing the extent of what was happening to them. One of these would be that they would submerge the patients in ice baths to the point where they would go unconscious or even die.

In Hopson's article, there is a point mentioned where, historically, psychiatrists have done permanently damaging treatments or "cures" on vulnerable patients. However, in fiction, psychiatrists are often portrayed in a negative light, in movies in particular, as "evil psychiatrist" characters. This portrayal is quite dangerous, as it can lead to scrutiny and suspicion from the public. Hopson makes the point that psychiatrists must work to mitigate the harm this portrayal in movies and fiction is causing.