Using Mental Health Films in Educational Programmes

THE mental health of an individual is the most important factor in & success in coping with life in present-day civilisation, and he is acut^ aware of this. Because of fear to see mental weaknesses in themselves, ipe.. bers of the general public are resistant to the consideration of psychiatj', problems. Yet they have a deep curiosity to find out more about me# mechanisms and their possible introspective application to themselves. AccoU" must be taken of this in any programme designed to educate the public 0 mental health matters. For several reasons film provides a most useful medium for these activity. It is viewed in a captive group, so that the individual, whilst being influent both by the content of the film and the attitude of his fellow-audience, c3(still deal personally with his individual impressions and reactions. This elern?n of group participation has a heightened value over, for example, televisi0 presentations or published articles. t Our two main senses are sight and sound, and film makes its impaC. through a combination of these at a time of exclusion of all other stimul1' Furthermore, film can transcend time and space, so that events separated ove. many miles can be realistically brought together, and developments over year can be compared at the same moment of time. , By the process of identification, film has a strong emotional appeal, afl, this can be turned to good value in affecting the attitudes and standards 0 an audience. It should be remembered, however, that the local culture-patte^ plays a strong part in this, and a film with a setting which reflects values a^ an approach to life elsewhere, such as a film made in the U.S.A. present in this country, will have a limited impact, and may even cause a resistaflc to be built up to the message it contains. Presentation of films This falls under two headings?the mechanics and the general setting. actual physical arrangements for a film show deserve much more attenti^ than they usually get, as the impact on the audience is easily affected D-distractions. At the present time it is virtually only necessary to think in ten? of 16 mm. sound projection, and there are very many suitable machines aval'' able either locally in relation to a hall or on hire from nearby cine dealefS; Most of these have an excellent performance, but the best of them will sb?vV a poor …