genius loner,” Peña says. “These portrayals not only stigmatize, but they also ignore the everyday resilience of people managing their mental health challenges. I’ve worked with countless individuals who are thriving with therapy and support, and it’s their stories that rarely make it to the screen.”
professionals and individuals with lived experiences to ensure characters are nuanced and relatable. Consulting experts, as Peña suggests, can add depth and realism to narratives that might otherwise fall into harmful tropes. Fixing how mental illness is portrayed in Hollywood might sound like a lofty goal, and let’s not kid ourselves—not every screenwriter is interested in
Improving portrayals of mental illness on screen can (and should) start with collaborating with
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