as somebody who loves horror i would like to talk about the way that horror media of all types has stigmatized psychosis/DID, and is one of the leading factors in the demonization of these illnesses

ill need to start with some history: the trope of “madness” featured heavily in 19th century gothic literature, particularly through the setting of the asylum and a fascination with pushing the mind to its breaking point.

one example is maturin’s "melmoth the wanderer", one of the most significant gothic novels. melmoth himself explicitly connects “derangement of the mind” and criminality, saying, "experience must teach you that there can be no crime into which madmen would not, and +

do not, precipitate themselves; mischief is their occupation, malice their habit, mvrder their sport, and blasphemy their delight". another example is lewis’ "the monk", where homic/de is attributed to one being “driven to madness”.

madness in the earlier era of the gothic meant anything that deviated from a “normal” mind, and could include a number of things which were considered to be the result of social or personal faults (think hysteria).

as psychiatry developed, the label of madness came to be applied to people who had biologically “regressed”, having lost the evolutionary ability of reason. the general public, as well as doctors, saw these people as nothing more than beasts,

subhvman creatures that needed to be isolated from civilization. a quote from foucault’s "madness and civilization" encapsulates the attitude that horror has always held toward these people: “a certain image of animality haunted the hospitals of the period. madness borrowed its +

face from the mask of the beast. those chained to the cell wall were no longer men whose minds had wandered, but beasts preyed upon by a natural frenzy… the animality that rages in madness dispossesses man of what is specifically human in him; not in order to deliver him over +

to other powers, but simply to establish him at the zero degree of his own nature”.

the gothic fascination with asylums and their patients was in part because of this; they embodied the uncanny in that they were removed from “normal” society in every way.

not only were asylums like fortresses which were physically remote, the people confined in them were looked at as abnormalities that were mentally isolated from the nature of "normal” people.

"the tell-tale heart" also creates an explicit link between madness & vioIence. its an example of the concept of "monomania”, which in 19th century psychiatry contrasted with total insanity and made the distinction between an "isolated derangement” in an otherwise “normal” mind.

another short story by poe is “the system of doctor tarr and professor fether”, where the narrator visits an asylum which allows its patients the freedom “of persons in their right minds”. this results in the patients rebelling and taking control of the asylum, before locking up

and harming the staff. as it is technically dark comedy and not horror, it mocks delusions while reinforcing the supposed need for strict control of unstable people.

beginning in the mid-1700s and continuing well into the 1800s, a popular vacation activity for americans was “madhouse visits”. visitors would pay money to observe patients in psychiatric facilities like exhibits in a zoo, and, like zoos and similar tourist attractions, often

left with postcards. this was very popular in poe's time (even dickens toured several while in america and documented it), and readers of his stories likely would have gone on these visits themselves.

themes of alienation, vioIence, mental instability, and otherness are staples of gothic horror, and subsequently, horror overall. there is also a preoccupation with the fear of losing control of yourself, and the real demons being internal.

the genre also overwhelmingly focuses on the criminaIIy insane, creating a subconscious association between madness and criminal behaviour in the general public.

movies such as halloween, split, session 9, the ward, dont look in the basement, dogura magura, a tale of two sisters, and many more link psychosis/DID with vioIence. these movies show mentally ill people as unstable aggressors, using the illness as the primary horror element.

in this way, horror uses people with psychosis, DID, & similar disorders as a scapegoat for society’s fears when there needs to be an “other” onto which these fears can be projected.

by following the victims, the audience empathizes with them and in turn fears the potential danger presented by people with these illnesses.

film is not the only medium that is guilty of this. modern horror novels, video games, and tv shows demonize these illnesses just the same. just google “asylum horror book” and you'll find an endless list

games like outlast, the inpatient, silent hill: origins, fran bow, and angels of de4th either employ psychiatric patients as antagonists or utilize mental illness and asylums to create their horror atmosphere.

another issue is how many of these films follow a “sane” person who is mistakenly committed to a psychiatric facility, and no one believes them when they say that they dont belong there.

while this is often used to emphasize that the real danger is the doctors and the system itself, there is still a clear distinction between the “normal” protagonist who is trapped and the "abnormal” patients who do belong there.

the perverse fascination media has with sensationalizing psychosis and psych facilities is the modern day equivalent of the aforementioned "madhouse visits”. rather than watching patients like zoo animals, people get their entertainment from watching fictional ones on a screen.

dont get me wrong, im not saying that all of these films/books/games are automatically bad and should be avoided (although some definitely should be), personally i love a lot of them

but its hurtful to see how a genre that i love so much has been consistently preoccupied with pushing a narrative that puts people like me in danger, especially considering that many people will consume this type of media unaware or will recognize it but not care.

aside from fictional content, these misconceptions abt people with psychosis/DID/etc is further cemented by the way we are presented in the media. generally, most people wont encounter these issues in their daily lives except for when someone becomes vioIent and makes the news.

because of the prevalence of themes of madness as something frightening in entertainment, this is a dangerous combination. reports in the news and fictional stories about these disorders inform each other

someone who watches a lot of horror films will be exposed relatively often to stories that portray psych0t/c people as dangerous, and may not think anything of it

however, when they are then presented with real stories on the news that reflect what they have seen on tv, these fears are likely to become genuine, which contributes to the stigma against us.

many people either do not know anyone who experiences psychosis or who has DID, or do not know that someone they know has it. unless they go out of their way to learn about the reality of these illnesses, these types of stories may be the only exposure they ever have to it.

on a mostly related note i also have this thread https://twitter.com/felixvrse/status/1386539005509001217