Mental Health Charity 'Mind' to review Hollyoaks Episodes.

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Marianne_321

30-07-2015

Originally Posted by Scrabbler:
“It's great that you can differentiate between reality and fiction. Not everybody can, for people who do have mental health issues its a safe assumption that not all of them are capable of rational thought. Plus, there are idiots out there who will think if a soap is making a mockery of mental health issues its alright for them to do so too.

I haven't seen the episodes so cannot comment on the content, but it's good that they will be reviewed by Mind. maybe that will give the production team help to portray storylines like this effectively.,”

The thing is the soaps do employ researchers & as far as I was aware the actress Steph Waring who plays Cindy did see the charity 'Mind' as research for her character suffering from Bipolar.

The problem is that even with researchers Hollyoaks seem to go their own way. The producers instead of trying to give viewers a better understanding of the illness have sensationalised. Many young viewers have tweeted how hilarious Cindy was & that is not the right message!!!

kitkat1971

30-07-2015

Well said.

Whilst it might seem like a joke to them, if even just one person with depression, bi-polar or otherwise gets somebody, a school or work colleague, relative, neighbour mocking them by asking when they're going to put their wedding dress on and run through the street or start groping them then it has done damage. Especially if it causes the depressed person to feel worse about themselves or relapse in some way.

kitkat1971

30-07-2015

Originally Posted by Marianne_321:
“The thing is the soaps do employ researchers & as far as I was aware the actress Steph Waring who plays Cindy did see the charity 'Mind' as research for her character suffering from Bipolar.

The problem is that even with researchers Hollyoaks seem to go their own way. The producers instead of trying to give viewers a better understanding of the illness have sensationalised. Many young viewers have tweeted how hilarious Cindy was & that is not the right message!!!”

Again this is right.

I do,'t know if it has happened in this case but i know a few years ago Holby city ran a very inaccurate portrayal of the procedures for a transplant. They'd consulted the organ donor Register who gave them notes about the script saying it was sensationalist and might scare people but they were ignored. People did complain, several people notified the Organ donor Register they wanted to come off the list for fear the same could happen to them.

Now you could argue these people are stupid, they should have know it was fiction but each one of those people that wanted to come off the list had the potential to save several lives with their organs should the worst have happened to them.

So, it's damaging and shows that some shows, even medical shows that put actual Doctors names on their end credits will over rule the facts to 'improve' the story and some viewers will think it is real, partly because said over ruled medics names appear on the Credits.

As for the actors, has it occurred to anybody that Waring might have complained and been over ruled herself?

sderr123

30-07-2015

Storylines about mental illness can have their funny moments. I don't really think anyone is suggesting you can't have fiction simply for fiction's sake on a soap. I personally don't mind people acting generically mad or crazy, or having fictional illnesses or diseases. Its fiction if you want to play with that to the max fine. The problem is when you are saying this is a real mental illness and giving it a clinical name and then not treating that with respect or making it the butt of a joke.

kitkat1971

30-07-2015

Originally Posted by sorcha_healy27:
“Soaps don't need to reflect real life really when it comes go stuff like getting a job or moving house country etc it even returning from the dead . However when it comes to social issues such as mental health, rape, sexuality etc they should so everything in their power to reflect reality.”

Just constantly agreeing with other posters but this.

Most things it is okay to use dramatic license with such as the examples you've given. Some things like serious illnesses or Police procedures for Rape are too important to play around with.

It is impossible for them to please everybody simply because everybody with for example, bi-polar will have had slightly different experiences but they do have a social duty and responsibility to be as accurate as they can with such serious subjects.

kitkat1971

30-07-2015

Originally Posted by Deschanel:
“There's a difference between being able to laugh at yourself and being made the joke. It's disappointing to read that someone with bipolar doesn't think it should be portrayed in a more realistic manner. But, I accept that's how you feel, so fair enough.

I think your underestimating just how influential soaps and similar things can be. People believe what they read in the tabloids b/c they feed into people's subconscious feelings on an issue, and the same is with social issues on soaps. Some viewers may have outdated misconceptions about bipolar (or not understand it), and watching a portrayal like Cindy's story could feed into those misconceptions. Cindy just looks freaking crazy who needs to be put in a straitjacket, and that's not the kind of impression that viewers should be left with. It reinforces the idea that people with mental health issues should be avoided and shoved into the psych ward.”

Again really well said.

I suspect that their defence will be that they showed Cindy coping for several months and they are now trying to demonstrate the dangers of coming off Meds because a sufferor thinks they are 'cured' or doesn't like the side affects.

But that isn't really good enough.

lady_xanax

30-07-2015

Originally Posted by TeganRhan:
“I think you're doing some of the youngsters a bit if a disservice there lol. As for soaps claiming they do a lot if research into these things and all that (another posters comment, hard to double quote on iPhone) that's because people demand everything be so serious all the bloody time. We've a mental illness, not a sense of humour deficiency. You do know a lot of comedians a with this condition make far worse jokes/story's/what ever about it. Hollyoaks is a soap, it should t be treated with anymore "seriousness" than in the night garden.”

Comedians with the condition make jokes about it because it's satire, not because it is inherently comic. Of course some people with the condition will find it funny but others will hate it- and people who experience bipolar secondhand may also have an opinion. Hollyoaks does do stories in the media about social awareness so it definitely markets itself as catering to the youths in a more serious way.

sderr123

30-07-2015

Originally Posted by lady_xanax:
“Comedians with the condition make jokes about it because it's satire, not because it is inherently comic. Of course some people with the condition will find it funny but others will hate it- and people who experience bipolar secondhand may also have an opinion. Hollyoaks does do stories in the media about social awareness so it definitely markets itself as catering to the youths in a more serious way.”

I think this is the issue. HO purposely markets themselves in the media as raising awareness about social issues. They issue press releases and such. Thus they have the responsibility to treat the issue seriously. If they wanted to do some comedy about a mother mad for lust over her daughter's boyfriend that's fine, just don't pretend to be depicting a real condition.

lady_xanax

30-07-2015

Originally Posted by sderr123:
“I think this is the issue. HO purposely markets themselves in the media as raising awareness about social issues. They issue press releases and such. Thus they have the responsibility to treat the issue seriously. If they wanted to do some comedy about a mother mad for lust over her daughter's boyfriend that's fine, just don't pretend to be depicting a real condition.”

Exactly. Sienna is crazy in a comedy way and clearlynot meant to be seen as serious.

vkmax

31-07-2015

its a soap where gangasters rule villages and murderers walk around freely - a far worse example than mis portrayal of mental illness. NOBODY takes it seriously nor have they ever done.

Doctor Bench

31-07-2015

Originally Posted by kitkat1971:
“I agree about the sense of humour, have just said similar on my last post. An accurate portrayal probably will include some 'funny' moments. But it is about balance, showing all of it including the very serious side which they did better last year. Yes, there were comic moments with her hallucinating about Rhys but it was also shown to be very dangerous and upsetting for her and included her living in a Squat for weeks during a depressive episode.

Joe wicks in EE years ago who had another disorder which for the life of me i can't remember the name of now was one example of it being done well. There were, without a doubt comical moments, him wrapping himself up in tin foil and accusing Grant of being The Devil of Xmas dinner were both intentionally darkly amusing but the much more serious, difficult elements for him and his family were also shown.

Balance as i say.”

Joe Wicks had paranoid schizophrenia.

Leeah

31-07-2015

What a joke!

dee123

31-07-2015

Originally Posted by TeganRhan:
“Right as someone with bipolar all I've to say is this. It's a soap not a documentary. If anyone bases their beliefs off what they've seen on a soap they're a flipping numpty. As such I really don't give a hoot what HOs is doing, only that it's a rather dull story line.”

You're completely entitled to your wrong opinion.

kitkat1971

31-07-2015

Originally Posted by Doctor Bench:
“Joe Wicks had paranoid schizophrenia.”

Thanks. It came to me in the middle of the night x

lolly-licker

31-07-2015

There are spectrums of bipolar, and I guess we need to be educating people to look out for all aspects of it, but at the same time, Cindy's storyline is a sham. It started out well, but this whole making her a sexual predator, cougar type woman, for laughs, then having her chase after Jason in a wedding dress. It makes me really angry.
I've been on the dark side of another person's bipolar, and it was terrifying. Not a laugh a minute, not cringey, just the darkest moments of my life. So while I tried to tune in to HO for the first time in a while yesterday, the whole soap has gone downhill.

From a soap that used to triumph on issues (Hannah's bulimia, Zoe's stalker), what is this piece of crap? I know it's the forum go-to to diss HO now, but it's not a shadow of what it used to be. Birkwood has messed up again.

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