How Contemporary Disney Film Can Be Used for Mental Health Teaching in Schools: A Case Study of Inside Out (2015)

Abstract

Mental health disorders can be a burden on both patients and the National Health Service. With the majority of lifetime mental health problems emerging in childhood and the prevalence of childhood mental illness increasing, the need for effective mental health education is more important than ever before. This project explores a novel educational concept: 'edutainment', to see if it has use in mental health education. This project provides a quantitative coding analysis and a qualitative artistic analysis of two contemporary Disney films, Winnie the Pooh (2011) and Inside Out (2015) for ICD-10 depression symptoms. It aimed to answer two questions: do these films provide an accurate representation of depression, and can they be a useful resource for teaching mental health and developing emotional awareness in the classroom? This analysis found that these films do provide accurate representations of depression, in line with ICD-10 guidelines, and thus, could be useful in education. This project highlights a need for accurate mental health education resources and suggests that film may be an effective way to do this. 2