Mental Health TV Narrative Affects Relevant Help-Seeking Intentions

What is it about?

College students who watched a TV drama storyline portraying symptoms of bipolar disorder, its effects, and successful management of the mental health issue reported higher intentions to seek help and greater vulnerability to symptoms for themselves and others in comparison with those who watched a fact-based public service announcement delivering the same message. Viewers’ identification with the main character with bipolar disorder played an important role in increasing their perceived vulnerability to symptoms, which in turn lead to greater intention to seek help from mental health professionals. Their intention to help others seek help was also predicted by a serial mediation path from identification with character with bipolar disorder, to perceived vulnerability to symptoms, and to perceived vulnerability of close other(s).

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Why is it important?

From a public health perspective, there are many barriers to mental health treatment (e.g., low mental health literacy, age of initial onset, and stigma), entertainment-education narrative mental health messages embedded in popular TV drama have the potential to reach more individuals and enhance help-seeking behaviors. This study examined the effectiveness of such narrative message and the potential mechanisms underlying the its effectiveness.