History Main / TheMentallyDisturbed

* Commonly, we're reminded in ''Series/DoctorWho'' that the Doctor is 'mad' or 'a madman', particularly in the Creator/StevenMoffat era, which made the description of the Doctor as a 'madman in a box' one of its {{Catchphrase}}s. Like everything else about the Doctor, his actual mental health state is heavily [[EraSpecificPersonality Era Specific]], and the tone with which it's depicted goes up and down from kooky comedy-madman antics, to reasonably well-researched PTSD and/or depression, to ObfuscatingInsanity, to KnightTemplar BlackAndWhiteInsanity, to being a NightmareFetishist, to [[AGodAmI having a god complex]], to genuinely being unable to understand human faces, or to [[CloudCuckooLander just wearing silly clothes and making puns at the monsters]]. On top of this, a few of the actors playing the Doctor [[CreatorBreakdown had real-life mental health issues which they allowed to inflect their performances]], though this was likely for personal color rather than an attempt to play the Doctor as actually being mentally ill.

* On ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'', Mike has "[[SplitPersonality multiple personality disorder]]" that is pretty much PlayedForLaughs and a LovesMyAlterEgo-styled LoveTriangle involving Anne Maria and Zoey. It takes a much more central role in ''All Stars'', where [[spoiler:a new personality is revealed, who takes over Mike's body completely and becomes the BigBad.]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'', the Ice King suffers from an Alzheimer's-like dementia and hallucinations; and while it's usually PlayedForLaughs, ([[CerebusRetcon especially in the beginning]]) he has some truly heartbreaking moments. The Ice King's condition [[spoiler:is due entirely to his magic crown messing with his mind. His 'hallucinations' are also implied to be him actually seeing into other dimensions due to the crown. In one episode his sanity was ''immediately'' restored when the crown was temporarily depowered.]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Samuel Cartwright identified [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drapetomania drapetomania]], a common mental illness among 19th century American slaves that irrationally compelled them to run away from their owners. He recommended treatment by flogging. It should be noted that this idea was widely mocked even at the time; Cartwright's contemporaries noted that, as European indentured servants would also run away, clearly the disease was European in origin and had been introduced to Africa by slave traders.
* In the Soviet Union, being a dissident was considered a sign of mental illness, as well -- and was used as a thin veil for torture in mental hospitals, disguised as "treatment."
** Not only in the Soviet Union; Hitler's first euthanasia victims were 28 mental patients, while the United States likewise sometimes classified non-conformity to various legal requirements as mental illness -- and subjected victims to similar treatments, despite later being proven wrong.
** Oppositional Defiant Disorder is a real diagnosis that is often misapplied to any child with behavioral problems, just like ADD is often misapplied to any child who gets bad grades.
* Any term used to describe the mentally disabled gets used as an insult. Retard (from retarded) is merely the best known in a long line of these -- "moron", "imbecile" and "idiot" were once medical terms (with idiot being the most severe form of retardation, followed by imbecility, then morons). People, mostly on the internet, often use autistic as a synonym for social ineptitude, or say someone has ADD when they have trouble focusing. This process is known as the euphemism treadmill, and is inevitable, due to the human love of simile, metaphor, hyperbole, and insult. However, disabled activists are still trying to educate people about the harmfulness of these terms, as many people use them out of ignorance rather than prejudice.
[[/folder]]

This prejudice contributes to the mentally disturbed being {{Acceptable Target}}s for the most merciless cruel humor and parodization. This pertains to sociological stereotypes that most people will tend to [[UsefulNotes/VictimBlaming blame on the victims of misfortunes]], in order to take credit for their own ''good'' fortune, rather than owning it up to plain luck of the draw (often because luck runs out, and this means that it's only a matter of time for them).

See also: InsaneEqualsViolent, FunnySchizophrenia, CategorismAsAPhobia, BlackAndWhiteInsanity, AcceptableHardLuckTargets. If ''fans'' think a character has a mental disorder, it's a case of DiagnosedByTheAudience.

** The Royal Tart Toter and Lemongrab, as well. Tart Toter is senile and schizophrenic, and Lemongrab was [[WordOfGod intentionally]] written to come across as [[AmbiguousDisorder (among many other things)]] severely autistic.

Except for extreme cases such as [[TheSchizophreniaConspiracy paranoid schizophrenia]], or conditions with sympathetic social connotations (Down Syndrome; severe autism), there is a tendency in media to regard mental disorders as some kind of put-on or character flaw that is amusing at best and annoying at worst (not that the extreme illnesses are exactly treated like cancer-victims; in fact, they can be treated ''worse'' than milder forms). The two most "comical" conditions are [[SuperOCD Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder]] and [[HollywoodTourettes Tourette's Syndrome]], both of which can be significant, sometimes disabling problems in real life.

* Canadian television series ''Series/{{Cracked}}'' deals with a team of police officers and psychiatrists assembled to deal with crimes involving the mentally ill--whether as perpetrators, victims, or witnesses. Main character Aiden Black is himself suffering from symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and undiagnosed anxiety and mood disorders, stemming from his involvement in two fatal shootings, and as such has a great deal of sympathy for the victims of mental disorders. In the main, the show treats the mentally unwell as people, with a strong emphasis on treatment; one Season 1 episode, "No Traveller Returns", focuses on Aiden and resident psychiatrist Daniella Ridley having to make the case to a review board that [[ImAHumanitarian cannibal]], murderer, and paranoid schizophrenic Mandar Kush is fit for release from the mental ward he has been in for the past eleven years. They turn out to be entirely right--Kush has not had an episode in a decade, deeply regrets what he did, and is looking to make amends and reintegrate into society.