Author Archives: http://allisonlove.net/

This short webinar from PsychU discusses the issues that the mentally ill face in the criminal justice system. They’re often bullied, serve longer sentences, and are more likely to commit suicide than other inmates are. They also discuss the link between homelessness and incarceration and refer to the “revolving door” cycle that they face because […]

Mental Illness is often misrepresented in film and TV, but this video highlights some of the ones that got it right. Crazy Ex Girlfriend makes the top of the list by capturing Borderline Personality Disorder and her struggle to get a diagnosis to finally begin treatment. Rachel finishes law school and finally lands a dream […]

Benny and Joon is a sweet, romantic comedy about siblings who lived together and try to deal with Joon’s mental illness. The movie does not specifically state what Joon’s diagnosis is, but I would guess that it was schizophrenia judging by her behavior. Benny struggled with providing the care for her that she needs because […]

I have worked on a digitally enhanced research essay this semester on the topic of colonial hysteria (more commonly known as conversion disorder today), and how the symptoms were viewed as signs of bewitchment in the Salem Witch Trials. You can CLICK HERE to view my essay.

This informative video discusses how fear, power, and control can impact your mental health and cause whole communities to believe in delusions. It discusses how it appeared throughout history as well as throughout the twenty first century. There’s also connections with totalitarianism, propaganda, and mass psychosis that I found to be really interesting. It released […]

This TikTok gives a brief overview of the historical hysteria diagnosis and demonstrates how problematic it was. If a woman displayed any signs of being hormonal or emotional, they were seen as having a mental illness. The fact that it wasn’t removed from the DSM till 1980 is shocking!

For my digital essay, I will begin with some background information about the Salem Witch Trials for a paragraph or two and then introduce some theories that historians have for what caused the strange, medical symptoms in the young girls that sparked the witch panic. I will then explain the history of hysteria, what the […]

This short video provides some background knowledge of the events leading up to the Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692. When young women began to have “fits” and behaved strangely, Puritan doctors deemed that there was no medical reason for their ailments, so they must be under a witch’s possession. Their symptoms included seizures, hallucinations, pain […]

Here is the link to my project proposal and bibliography on the topic of Colonial Hysteria.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/haunting-portraits-disturbed-female-patients-12198741 I found some vintage images of women in 19th century asylums that demonstrate what Hysterical and Anorexic patients looked like back then. Since we are learning about women in asylums this week, I thought that some cool visuals would be an interesting contribution.