Representation, primarily understood as ‘presence’ or ‘appearance’ with an implied
visual component, is a critical concept in the cultural milieu. Conceived as images,
performances, and imitations, representations propagate through various media:
films, television, photographs, advertisements, and other forms of popular culture.
As such, representations of mental illness perform a pivotal role in framing
perceptions about the mentally ill. These representations influence and shape
public perceptions about the illness. This essay aims to analyze how mental
illness is perceived, represented, and treated in popular culture and medical
discourses. In so doing, the essay lays bare the ideologies and the symbolic codes
that undergird these representations and the consequent stigma confronted by
the mentally ill. Taking these cues, the essay close reads popular representations
of mental illness in movies, newspapers, advertisements, comics, and paintings
and the articulation of stereotyped images of the mentally ill in a medical
discourse which externalize madness in distorted physiognomic features. In so
doing, the essay exposes the negative implications of these representations on
the personal and social lives of the mentally ill and negotiates the significance of
personal accounts of mental illness experience as a means of reclaiming their
identity