School of Psychology

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The portrayal of Schizophrenia: A Content Analysis of Ethiopian Commercial movies
(AAU, 2021) Ababu, Abinet; Habtamu, Kassahun (Dr
This study investigated the portrayals of schizophrenia in Ethiopian commercial movies in a view to expose their depiction of the causes, symptoms, treatments, and stereotypes of schizophrenia. Movies produced in Amharic language, with at least one character with schizophrenia and released between 2008 and 2021 were analyzed. Two raters independently analyzed the causes, symptoms, treatments and stereotypes of schizophrenia using a coding guide and coding sheet. Of the 18 movies watched, six movies were selected fulfilling the criteria set a priori. The qualitative content analysis showed that Ethiopian commercial movies depicted traumatic life experiences as the main cause of schizophrenia. The symptoms were found to be primarily positive symptoms of schizophrenia including auditory hallucination, delusion and disorganized behavior and speech. The treatment was found to be a romantic support followed by a social support. The movies depicted people with schizophrenia as dirty, violent and crazy as major stereotypes. The findings of this study indicate that in Ethiopian Commercial movies there are half truths about the causes, symptoms, and treatments of schizophrenia