Mental Health In Literature, Part 3

Mental Health Training

Our previous session discussed how literature and the media manipulated public opinion and shaped people’s beliefs and behaviours.

Today, we have a closer look at Fake News. The Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Spectrum and a book reflecting the counterculture movement and challenges the traditional values, institutionalisation and incarceration in the 1960s.

Can you guess what it is?

Propaganda has historically shaped public opinion by disseminating information or ideas to promote a particular agenda and ideology. It often involves emotional appeals, censorship, and distorted presentation of facts.

Propaganda often involves:

• Deliberately disseminating information or ideas to promote a particular agenda or viewpoint.
• Using emotional appeals.
• Censorship.
• Selective presentation of facts to control public perception.

Today, fake news continues to manipulate public opinion.

Fake news is often compelling because it taps into people’s emotions and pre-existing beliefs. It plays on people’s fears, biases, and desires, making it easier for them to be swayed and believe in the false information presented.

Some evidence suggests that instilling a new positive belief is more effective than rescinding an existing belief in correcting false beliefs. This is because humans tend to hold on to their beliefs, even if proven wrong.

By introducing a new positive belief, individuals may be more inclined to accept the correction as it aligns with their need for cognitive consistency.

Therefore, instilling a new positive belief may be a potentially more effective method for correcting false beliefs.

Fake news continues to manipulate public opinion today by tapping into those emotions and pre-existing beliefs.

Previous examples include Pizzagate, which manufactured ‘news’ that Hillary Clinton ran a child-sex ring, or the Bowling Green Massacre.

Even saying Pope Francis endorsed Donald Trump for president, and the list continues.

We had previously considered Annie Wilkes's behaviour in the psychological horror film “Misery”. Was there evidence pointing to her alleged anxiety disorder?

Organising a collection of porcelain figurines alone is not enough to diagnose someone with either an obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) or obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

While both disorders involve obsessive thoughts or behaviours, there are distinct differences between them, which are available in the training section of mentalhealthtraining.info for your perusal.

For example, individuals who have Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder (OCPD) are preoccupied with orderliness, perfectionism, and control.

However, organising a collection of figurines alone does not necessarily indicate obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD), as many people enjoy organising and arranging their possessions without it causing significant distress or impairing their daily functioning.

Cameron Diaz told Good Housekeeping magazine she is a “neat freak” who has to have everything in its place.

This is in contrast to the retired soccer player David Beckham, who said in a Netflix documentary he must have everything in “perfect symmetry” and spends hours cleaning the house after his family has gone to bed.

Within obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) individuals may exhibit a strong need for order, perfectionism, and rigid adherence to rules or schedules. They may feel distressed if their environment is disorganised or chaotic.

Learn More Understanding Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: A Comprehensive Guide