Mental Health Takes Center Stage in Television

What do these television shows have in common? They have been nominated for, or have won, awards for portraying mental illness in television with realism.

As author Diane Wild explains in her beautifully written  article, themes of mental health are broadening the scope of television. She tells us that "television pilots in contention for the upcoming season include NBC's Legally Mad, with Kristin Chenoweth as an attorney with flashes of psychosis, and FOX's Maggie Hill, whose title character is a heart surgeon with schizophrenia. Canada’s Showcase recently ordered Shattered, a 13-episode series starring Callum Keith Rennie as an ex-detective with dissociative identity disorder."

Research has shown us that there is great power in using television as a tool for change. I look forward to watching these shows and hope they will bring light and compassion to mental illness.