The film festival “AUSNAHME|ZUSTAND” (State of Emergency)—Do feature films and documentaries on mental health reduce stigma and influence help-seeking attitudes?
Abstract
The study aims at evaluating the impact of the Germany-wide film festival “AUSNAHME|ZUSTAND” on social distance and help-seeking attitudes of the adolescent audience. The festival, on the subject of mental health, was staged for the second time, aiming to give a podium to the topic mental health and to inform and entertain an adolescent audience that has not been in close contact with the subject before. A pre-post test was carried out to look for the effect of feature films and documentaries on social distance of the audience towards people with mental illness and on the change in help-seeking attitudes. A total of 532 young people with a mean age of 15.6 were questioned during the film festival in Leipzig. As the results show, the effect on the viewers׳ social distance and their help-seeking attitudes strongly depend on the content of the feature films and documentaries. Two films improved attitudes – one both social distance and help-seeking, one only help-seeking. One film increased social distance, and two films did not affect either outcome. Age, gender, and knowing someone with mental health problems also turned out to be decisive factors influencing the development of social distance and help-seeking attitudes. Feature films or documentaries about mental illness can reduce social distance or influence help-seeking attitudes, but effects strongly depend on the particular film.
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Some findings suggested that older adolescents tended to feel more comfortable with people with mental health issues.
“Some findings suggested that older adolescents tended to establish to feel more comfortable with people with mental health issues [83] and had less help-seeking fears [40].”
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- Authors
- Conrad, I., Schulze, B., Corrieri, S., Heider, D., Schomerus, G., & Riedel-Heller, S. G.
- Affiliations
- Leipzig University (DE)
- University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (DE)
- Universität Greifswald (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Conrad, Ines
- Venue
- Psychiatry Research
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2014-12
- Volume
- 220
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 1043-1050
- ISSN
- 0165-1781 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2078532835
- Cited by
- 22
- References
- 37
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 2 · 2017: 2 · 2015: 1
- FWCI
- 1.48
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychiatry Research (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health Treatment and Access
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Literature and Literary Theory › Media Influence and Health
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Health Information Management › Film in Education and Therapy
- Keywords
- mental health stigma, help-seeking attitudes, social distance, film festivals, feature films, documentary film, adolescents, mental illness, media influence, film content, age and gender differences
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Attitude to Health, Mental Disorders, Female, Germany, Humans, Male, Mental Health, Motion Pictures, Patient Acceptance of Health Care, Psychological Distance, Young Adult, Social Stigma
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