Vidhika Gadia Mass Psychogenic Illness (MPI), also known as mass sociogenic illness is defined as the rapid spread of illness signs and symptoms affecting members of a cohesive group, originating from a nervous system disturbance involving excitation, loss, or alteration of function, whereby physical complaints that are exhibited unconsciously have no corresponding organic etiology” (Bartholomew, 2002). In other words, it involved the spread of symptoms of illnesses through a certain group or population where there is no organic or environmental cause for the symptoms. It differs from delusions as it involves physical symptoms. For the standard psychiatric nomenclature, mass psychogenic illnesses are under the general heading of “somatoform disorder”, and are subcategorised as “conversion disorder” or “hysterical neurosis, conversion type” (Bartholomew, 2002).   Two types of mass psychogenic illness have been defined, the first being ‘Mass Anxiety Hyste...

Vanshikaa Savla Darren Aronofsky's ballet psycho-melodrama “Black Swan” is a work of art, often appreciated by professionals for a relatively accurate representation of schizophrenia. It depicts an intense combination of backstage rivalry and single-minded professionalism in pursuit of a successful career. The film’s protagonist, Nina, played by Natalie Portman, is shown to drift slowly from being a focussed, driven dancer to surrender to a loss of sense of reality. This blog post will elucidate how Black Swan is an effective depiction of the onset and depiction of the life of a schizophrenic. Nina Sayers lives in Manhattan in a small, mildly cramped house with her mother, Erica, who claims to have given up her career to raise her daughter. She wants to live her own dreams of being the lead dancer for ‘Swan Lake’ and pushes her naïve daughter to the extremes in terms of routine, diet and lifestyle to be able to achieve this role. After finally landing the rol...

Vyoma Vijai Blog Post 3 ‘Made in Heaven’ is a popular Indian web series created by Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kaagti and was launched in March 2018. The show gained a lot of attention in the first few days of it coming out. It is a bold show that focuses on marriage practices in the rich and elite class of Delhi. The show focuses on the social issues and practices that are often not spoken of or are kept closeted. These issues include homosexuality, dowry, molestation and other questionable Indian customs. The story follows the lives of multiple characters at the same time. The two most important characters are Tara and Karan who run a wedding planning agency.   Tara is married to a rich industrialist whose name is Adil and her best friend in the show is Faiza, played by Kalki Koechlin. This essay analyses Faiza’s character and her role in this web series. Faiza is a complex character to understand. Her actions make it hard for the viewers to decide whether th...

Aryaman Singh There are many acts which cause emotional turmoil in human beings, and suicide happens to be one of the most devastating. The loss of a loved one is a painful experience, but people suffer a unique sorrow when the loved one in question takes his/her own life. According to the World Health Organisation, approximately one million people die from suicide every year, representing a mortality rate of 16 per 100,000 or one death every 40 seconds. WHO predicts that this number will rise to one death every 20 seconds by 2020. Suicide is now among the three leading causes of death among those aged 15-44 (both male and female). Another alarming statistic is that suicide among the youth is increasing rapidly, to the extent that this group is now at the highest risk in a third of all countries. It’s safe to say that suicide is a serious public health issue that demands thorough study and analysis in the name of prevention. The etiology is not completely understood yet due to the...

Tishara Rajagopal Popular culture serves as units of insights into the attitudes, and beliefs of a population. It differs across geography, decades, and age groups. Much like the appropriateness of using blackface in theater, or how television has developed to stop using sexuality as a punchline. Mental illness representation in pop culture is continually growing; it is worth exploring as a reflection of society, parallel to research in the field. This article presents music through genres and decades, and its varying projections of suicidality: as an object of glorification, or its role in campaigning against the act. Further, I analyze existing research on the impact it has on young audiences. A highly debated cultural phenomenon is violent media and its correlation with suicide, especially in younger populations. Adolescent suicide nearly tripled from the 1950s to the 1980s in America (Butcher, 2013). This sparked the consideration of music, specifically those that discus...