Calhoun, Gold Evaluate the Positive Impact of Celebrity Self-Disclosure of Mental Illness
Calhoun, Gold Evaluate the Positive Impact of Celebrity Self-Disclosure of Mental Illness
Excerpted from an article by Jordan Sisson for the Yale School of Medicine Blog, published March 25, 2020.
Celebrity self-disclosure and advocacy of mental health can boost normalization and awareness, and even encourage people to seek help, according to a new paper written by two doctors with Yale connections.
Amanda J. Calhoun, MD, MPH, is a current Yale psychiatry resident in the Albert J. Solnit Integrated Adult/Child Psychiatry program. Jessica Gold, MD, MS, is a Yale School of Medicine graduate and the daughter of Mark Gold, MD, an alumnus of the Yale Psychiatry residency. Together they co-authored the paper, titled “’I Feel Like I Know Them’: the Positive Effect of Celebrity Self-disclosure of Mental Illness,” published in Academic Psychiatry last month.
Calhoun and Gold said there seemed to be a lot of literature surrounding the negative effects of the media on mental health, but not much was being written evaluating the positive aspects and the ways psychiatrists can leverage the media as a tool. They eventually narrowed down that broad topic to celebrity self-disclosure.
…
They explored the positive impact of celebrities sharing their mental health stories, and using their influence and identity. Research has shown that if every person knew someone with a mental illness, stigma would decrease, which Calhoun and Gold say illustrates the benefits of self-disclosure.