History Main / HollywoodPsych

* [[SplitPersonality Dissociative Identity Disorder]] (known as "Multiple Personality Disorder" under the World Health Organisation's classification system) comes in two ways on television: JekyllAndHyde or SuperpoweredEvilSide. It's also ''far'' more common in fiction than in reality. To the point where in reality, it's debatable whether or not it actually exists. The vast majority of first world countries refuse to recognize it as a disorder.

* SuperOCD: This person will lose their shit unless everything's properly organized.

** Anger management is harshly misrepresented in the media, often portraying the idea that anger should never be expressed and that you are a bad person for being angry. In reality, anger management is actually about teaching people to express their [[AngerIsHealthyAesop anger in healthier ways]], learning to utilize that anger for assertiveness, motivation, and passion, as well as learning to be empathetic with others.

** Sandy refers to what she's doing as an "experiment". This does not fit the definition, as it does not have a control group or defined variables.

** Sandy's description of "I observe you while you two act normal" would befit a naturalistic observation. The ''key point'' of this is that researchers must not disturb the participants or their environment. Sandy explicitly tells [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick about the observation, which means the data is incredibly skewed, and later brings them the buckets of sand during the observation.

[[folder: Anime and Manga]]

[[folder: Comic Books]]
* The arc in ''Comicbook/XMen'' where Emma Frost seduced Scott Summers, is a clear case of bad psychiatry (probably an intentional one). Not only was she treating him when she made advances when Jean brought up that her husband was being taken advantage of to Xavier, who has [[InformedAbility been an actual psychiatrist]] for years, he tells Jean she is overreacting and doesn't even consider Emma just might be violating ethics. And as a double blow to actual psychiatry, Scott is now portrayed in a happy relationship with Emma.

* ''ComicBook/XMen Noir'' takes place in an alternate continuity in the 1930s where none of the X-Men have superpowers and Charles Xavier is a psychologist who posits that sociopathy is the next step in mankind's psychological evolution. However, contrary to this, most of his X-Men clearly are not sociopaths, as they are shown to be capable of empathy and deeply caring of other people. The one individual who fits the definition of a sociopath perfectly is Jean Grey: she only cares for herself but is adept at faking emotions and manipulating others. It is made clear that Xavier's professional opinion is not to be trusted either, so the inaccuracies in his assessments are probably intentional.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': Sandy's behavioral psychology "experiment" in "The Fish Bowl" breaks some critical rules.

** Sandy consistently refers to what she's doing as an "experiment". This does not fit the definition, as it does not have a control group or defined variables.
** Sandy's description of "I observe you while you two act normal" would befit a naturalistic observation. The ''key point'' of this is that researchers must not disturb the participants or their environment. Sandy explicitly tells [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick about the observation, which means the data is incredibly skewed.

* ''VideoGame/Persona5 Royal'' introduces a school counselor by the name of Maruki. Most of what he says about psychology is completely false: the "collective unconscious" and "cognitive psience" do not exist, and he uses the word "unconscious" way more than a real psychologist would -- consciousness is not a switch you can flip on and off, there are varying depths of it. He also misuses the terms "sensation" and "perception" (sensing is when you detects something like a smell or a sight, perception is when you make sense of it and figure out what it is). Another notable error comes from towards the end of his Confidant, where he mentions that coming up with a good hypothesis is one of the last things he needs to finish his paper. Any scientist can tell you that making a hypothesis is the second step in the scientific process. These facts are all presented as true in-universe, as well.

** Actually, the popular culture symptoms of 'split personality' tend to actually mesh better with bipolar disorder- the two 'personalities' being the same person in depressed and hypermanic states (and possibly a third when they're neither).
** It's still called such by many people, on TV or not.

* SuperOCD: This person will lose his shit unless everything's properly organized.

* ''Everything'' about ''WebOriginal/JeffTheKiller'' and other creepypastas about MarySue teenage killers. Insanity is never portrayed as a hindrance - in fact, it's the [[PowerBornOfMadness polar opposite]]: insanity makes you charismatic, confident, immune to pain, and more effective in battle (since you're "not holding back"). Psychotic episodes serve as a SuperMode of sorts, instead of making you helpless and vulnerable. Delusions like voices in your head or hallucinations are cool and funny and never stop you from functionally interacting with reality. And of course, you never ''actually'' lose control over your very thoughts and actions. Needless to say, stories like this are written by actual children/teenagers as self-insert fantasies, and psychology is far from the only thing they fail to get right.

* HollywoodPersonalityDisorders

* HeroicComedicSociopath

* HollywoodPersonalityDisorders

* Generally averted in ''Series/TheSopranos''. It helps that creator David Chase has ''had'' therapy.

* TheRainman

* ''Anime/HanaukyoMaidTai''. Grace/Cynthia has a SplitPersonality, with her Grace personality dominant at night and her Cynthia personality in charge during the day. Except one day where Grace takes over their body during a day trip to an amusement park.

One big area where Hollywood really missed the boat is that from the '30s well into the '60s, radical behaviorism dominated psychological research. Researchers attempted to stamp out "mentalism" (that is, the study of consciousness itself) in favor of quantifying behavior. Psychology was ghettoized, and in the US, survived in the shadow of psychiatry (a medical field, ironically enough). This may partially explain the powerful, anachronistic hold Freud has over Hollywood. The Freud of Hollywood is psychoanalysis of the '60s, {{flanderiz|ation}}ed and spun for drama.

* ''Series/StElsewhere'' also managed it with [[http://home.vicnet.net.au/~kwgow/crossovers.html Tommy Westphall]]. Unfortunately, the series finale [[CanonDisContinuity took]] [[{{Hatedom}} it]] [[GainaxEnding too]] [[TheMultiverse far]].

** ''Series/{{House}}'' managed this, with a kid who was totally non-verbal but who House managed to prove was very aware of the world around him.
** ''Series/StElsewhere'' also managed it with [[http://home.vicnet.net.au/~kwgow/crossovers.html Tommy Westphall]]. Unfortunately, the series finale [[CanonDisContinuity took]] [[{{Hatedom}} it]] [[GainaxEnding too]] [[TheMultiverse far]].

* ''Webcomic/MenageA3''
** Visible with Kiley from the moment she says that she is a psychology major. Undergraduate psychology majors don't have the experience or knowledge to do therapy or "fix brains," let alone have licensure, and no one with any body of knowledge about psychology would use the terms [[http://www.menagea3.net/d/20100619.html "fix your brain!"]] or nearly [[http://www.menagea3.net/d/20101102.html call someone crazy]] to their face. Not to mention "[[AllPsychologyIsFreudian Phallophobe?]]" Someone is trying too hard on a subject they're clueless about.\\\
Oddly enough, though, her attitudes and tendencies to act like she knows what she's talking about do approximate how a lot of first-year psychology students do act, so this may be an example of TruthInTelevision, especially since her attempts to "fix" people have mostly only resulted in slight, superficial changes of the neuroses. On the other hand, she also achieves some useful results that basically amount to a psychological version of ArtisticLicenseMedicine.

Further complicating things is the RuleOfCool: if there are multiple versions of a disorder, a writer will tend toward the [[{{Flanderization}} most interesting, dramatic, or visible of them]]. Thus, in fiction, [[LIsForDyslexia all dyslexics can't read anything past a fourth grade level]], [[HollywoodTourettes all people with Tourette's compulsively swear]], and [[TheSchizophreniaConspiracy all people with schizophrenia think demons are out to cover up the truth of global warming]]. Many people, [[RealityIsUnrealistic overexposed to the fictional versions]], are surprised to discover that not only are there milder versions of all these disorders, but the milder versions account for anywhere from 90% to 99% of the people diagnosed with them.

One big area where Hollywood really missed the boat is that from the 30s well into the 60s, radical behaviorism dominated psychological research. Researchers attempted to stamp out "mentalism" (that is, the study of consciousness itself) in favor of quantifying behavior. Psychology was ghetto-ized, and in the US, survived in the shadow of psychiatry (a medical field, ironically enough). This may partially explain the powerful, anachronistic hold Freud has over Hollywood. The Freud of Hollywood is psychoanalysis of the 60s, {{flanderiz|ation}}ed and spun for drama.

* FiveStagesOfGrief: Five stages a person is believed to go through in the development of coping with a misfortune, often imminent death (denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance).

* On the topic of Psychopathy, the term is still used by Psychologists (but not Psychiatrists just to confuse you all) but not in the way that it's used on TV or indeed in any media. Sociopathy however is no longer in use. Currently definitions characterise psychopaths as being narcissistic but interpersonally charming, lacking in emotional depth and in particular empathy and highly anti-social, irresponsible, and impulsive. Please note that psychopaths are completely in touch with reality and are highly rational; this takes a break from many media representations which seem to equate psychopathy with ''psychosis''. When people also speak the word "psychopath" they talk about those "AlwaysChaoticEvil {{Serial Killer}}s", but not all serial killers are psychopaths, nor are all psychopaths serial killers (although you do get psychopathic serial killers e.g. Ted Bundy).

** For the record, the majority of serial killers are indeed psychopaths, and psychopaths are thought to be responsible for something like 60% of all serious violent crime in the United States (though this may be simply from the Hare Checklist, which is fairly accurate but which even Hare admits should not be taken as much more than a guide). That said, this does '''not''' mean that 60% of psychopaths are violent criminals; many of them live completely normal lives. (They are, however, much more likely than the general population to commit white collar crimes and get away with it.)
** Writers, critics, and commentators like to use the word psychopath when they want to emphasize the monster hiding underneath and use the word sociopath when they want to emphasize the normal appearing facade.

** Dyslexia wouldn't even affect typing, since it only causes trouble with reading. If you have trouble writing, that's dysgraphia.
* Bipolar affective disorder (otherwise known as manic depression, a term no longer used by psychiatric professionals) is almost universally depicted as the relatively rare rapid cycling variant, in which the extreme variations in mood take place over much shorter periods - days, or in extreme cases hours, rather than weeks - than is typical; the personality of a MoodSwinger will sometimes be justified this way. Also, it is rarely acknowledged that a person with bipolar disorder will experience the symptoms maybe a few times a year rather than constantly.

* Panic is among the more misunderstood psychological conditions, and an unusually dangerous one to misunderstand. A great many people believe that people are very likely to panic in disasters. Panic is very difficult to induce: One needs a sense of potential entrapment (if people feel themselves to be definitely trapped, they are more likely to go limp), a sense of great helplessness, and a sense of profound isolation (one can have a panic attack in the "safety" of their own home). This is especially dangerous, because it prevents [[ChekhovsGun the dissemination of useful safety information]] and the conduct of useful safety training.

** There is also a lot of confusion between the medical concept of insanity (mental illness to be precise) and the legal concept of insanity. In jurisdictions where its allowed it refers to a person who is unable to differentiate between right and wrong. Serial killers, especially of the movie variety, would never be able to successfully argue insanity as a defense because they are very aware that what they do is illegal (attempts to clean up evidence, hide your trail and evade the authorities are all evidence that you know it's wrong).

** The psychotic disorders, schizophrenia being the most well known, are usually what people think of when they hear mental illness. Mood and anxiety disorders are probably a close second. There are also dissociative, personality, drug related, eating, sleeping, and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_illness#Disorders many other kinds]] of mental disorders.

* LaserGuidedAmnesia, specifically the variant where you repress traumatic memories, causing angst, depression, or other mental problems. To "uncover" repressed memories was popular with psychiatrists in the 1980's and 90's, but is now pretty much seen as a scientifically and ethically dubious practice. Oh, it was also very popular in incest cases. Yeah, therapists actually [[MindRape mind raped]] [[MoralEventHorizon their patients into believing]] that they were molested by close relatives, and then put said innocent relatives in jail.

** According to much print media and the internet, any previously healthy and contented young person can very quickly develop an eating disorder of potentially lethal severity if she (usually girls) see enough pictures of HollywoodThin people of their own gender. While the psychological processes that can lead to eating disorders are by far more complex than the media portrays it, a society that constantly rewards weight loss and punishes weight gain, even far beyond the point of medical advisability, is the leading factor for the high prevalence of anorexia or bulimia today. The pressure to lose weight is there for every woman in the western society and those with low resilience are therefore susceptible to an eating disorder. Other factors include genetic disposition, problems in the family (especially during puberty) or sexual abuse.

* Assertiveness Training in fiction usually plays out as an ExtremeDoormat undergoes Assertiveness Training (usually in the form of hypnosis or reading a book) and he/she will suddenly become either a greedy, self centered, egomaniacal, JerkAss or a raging lunatic with a HairtriggerTemper and end up alienating all their friends. Unlike in real life by the end of the story [[StatusQuoIsGod everything will be back to normal]] with no repercussions for their behavior. Real Assertiveness Training is not at all like that and involves multiple sessions with a trained psychologist. It's about learning diplomatic ways to stand up for yourself and get your fair share, not how to bully others to get what you want.

* ADHD is generally depicted as entirely about AttentionDeficitOohShiny symptoms and hyperactivity. In reality, there are two kinds of ADHD: predominantly inattentive, and combined (or predominantly hyperactive). People who have inattentive ADHD may have some hyperactive traits but are generally defined by daydreaming a lot. (Though, characters like this probably aren't seen as often just because very internal, withdrawn characters don't tend to make for very interesting television.) Another common misconception is repeated even in the name itself: the problem with ADHD isn't inability to focus at all, but inability to ''control'' focus. Because of this it's not uncommon for people with ADHD to ''hyper''focus on certain things to the exclusion of all others for a while, particularly with certain specific special subjects. Finally, one of the biggest symptoms of ADHD that rarely shows up in media is a great deal of difficulty with organizing. Over all, it says something that media depictions of ADHD versus autism tend to be polar opposites (ADHD people being overly energetic and excitable, autistic people being blank and rigid), when in reality most symptoms of ADHD are also present in autism and vice versa, making it quite hard to diagnose between them at times.
* Clinical depression (Major Depressive Disorder), despite being one of the most common mental illnesses, is generally depicted inaccurately. Mostly it is portrayed as a reaction to some trauma or loss, with the person crying a lot and loudly bemoaning their life. In reality there is often no trigger or cause for depression, the person will be plagued by low energy, loss (or gain) of appetite, lack (or way too much) of sleep and be unable to find enjoyment in things.

* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' has Shinji constantly navel-gazing, whining and angsting about his problems instead of actually doing anything about them. Eventually he gets a revelation that only what he thinks about himself matters. That is not how psychology works in the slightest.

* The arc in ''Comicbook/XMen'' where Emma Frost seduced Scott Summers, is a clear case of bad psychiatry (probably an intentional one). Not only was she treating him when she made advances, when Jean brought up that her husband was being taken advantage of to Xavier, who has [[InformedAbility been an actual psychiatrist]] for years, he tells Jean she is overreacting, and doesn't even consider Emma just might be violating ethics. And as a double blow to actual psychiatry, Scott is now portrayed in a happy relationship with Emma.
* ''Comicbook/ArkhamAsylumASeriousHouseOnSeriousEarth'': According to the "[[InformedAbility doctors]]" in this work, ComicBook/TheJoker is not insane (a legal term, that one won't find a mental health professional saying in that context) but Supersane! Yes it's a condition similar to [[HollywoodTourettes Tourette's]]! You know what else? It's a load of bullshit! Creator/GrantMorrison might as well have a physicist claiming that black holes happen because people fart while sleeping because of String Theory. Most interpret this [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools as a way to show that the doctors in Arkham are a bunch of quacks and that they are the reason no one ever gets better in Arkham]]. To elaborate, this "Super-Sanity" is that the Joker remakes himself every day because he finds the flow of modern life too stressful and overpowering. Now, firstly, there is no universally agreed definition of sanity, but generally speaking it is understood by psychologists to be one's ability to function normally in everyday life, and how "normal" you are. So the idea that being ''Super'' sane means that the world is crazy is a contradiction in terms. The second thing is that what the psychologists are describing is actually more like an extreme form of Dissociation, a psychotic break from reality caused by trauma and/or an inability to deal with life's stresses. So Morrison and his shrinks are wrong twice over (assuming, again, that Morrison didn't just intend the doctors to be talking out of their asses). Subsequent writers have occasionally made use of the term "Super-Sanity", as well, though the meaning seems to have shifted somewhat. Usually it just means he's at least slightly [[FourthWallObserver aware of the fact he's a comicbook character]]. Which could, possibly, turn his earlier diagnosis into major FridgeBrilliance. If the Joker knows he's a comicbook supervillain, his behavior actually is perfectly sane. His purpose is to entertain his fans, thus his violent acts and his constant reinventing of his own personality (to keep up with readers' changing tastes) are completely justified. As long as people keep buying and enjoying the comics he appears in, the Joker is, from a sufficiently meta point of view, a perfectly functional member of "society".

* At first, Daredevil villain (and sometimes other heroes' headache) Typhoid/Bloody Mary at least partially averted this; she had a severe case of MPD/DID wherein she actually had different psychic powers based on which personality was "in charge" at the time: each personality is unaware of the other personalities (like in real life cases) and literally don't realize the various abilities they don't use exist. The partial subversion is that she started out working in a brothel, until Daredevil [[NiceJobBreakingItHero accidentally knocked her out a window]] while she and the other working girls were defending a villain he was fighting. This somehow triggered her mental break and her latent powers began to emerge whenever "regular" Mary went dormant (always claiming to have seen the actions the other personalities took while "hiding in another room" or the like). Mental problems do not work that way, but then again we're also dealing with someone who telekinetically makes armor out of kitchen knives when angry, [[MST3KMantra so...]]
* ''ComicBook/XMen Noir'' takes place in an alternate continuity in the 1930s where none of the X-Men have superpowers and Charles Xavier is a psychologist who posits that sociopathy is the next step in mankind's psychological evolution. However, contrary to this, most of his X-Men clearly are not sociopaths, as they are shown to be capable of empathy and deeply caring of other people. The one individual who fits the definition of a sociopath perfectly is Jean Grey: she only cares for herself, but is adept at faking emotions and manipulating others. It is made clear that Xavier's professional opinion is not to be trusted either, so the inaccuracies in his assessments are probably intentional.

* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' fic ''Fanfic/ProperDiscipline'' has D.W. diagnosed with Narcissistic Personality Disorder, with a possible second diagnosis of Histrionic Personality Disorder. D.W. is a kindergartner. Personality disorders typically only start manifesting in early adulthood and are normally only diagnosed in adults. At earliest, they'll be diagnosed at thirteen. Five or six is way too young for a NPD diagnosis.

* Applied in ''Film/TheImitationGame'' to Alan Turing. He's given the familiar traits of Asperger Syndrome - doesn't know what a joke is, poor social skills, excessively introverted and finicky habits. By contrast, the real life man was reportedly quite charming and knew very well how to tell a joke.

* In ''Literature/SixteenThirtyTwo'', king Gustavus Adolphus is afflicted with [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Receptive_aphasia receptive aphasia]] after a hit to the head. This fuels the plot of two-and-a-half books, since the king's inability to communicate makes it impossible for him to rule his country.

** Though Haymitch is an alcoholic, in the first book he very conveniently decides to stay sober only when he needs to be on the condition that Peeta and Katniss not interfere with his drinking when he feels like it. Real alcoholism isn't quite that convenient. Bit better in later books when we see him at least having difficulty sobering up. Many real-life alcoholics do go through periods of sobriety in-between benders so Haymitch's sobriety in itself is not such a stretch. The fact that it happens from one day to the next, on the other hand...
** ''Catching Fire'' describes Annie as hysterical when she's reaped for the 75th games, without going into any sort of detail. This is enough to have Katniss think she's completely insane. Later in ''Mockingjay'', we meet Annie and Katniss seems to think she's just a little quirky, though she occasionally covers her ears with her hands for no apparent reason. In real life, a person covering their ears that way would imply that they are hearing things that aren't there. Being that this isn't a one off (she does it "occasionally") it's a pretty big alarm bell for a psychotic disorder not otherwise specified. So apparently Katniss was right the first time, though at the point in ''Mockingjay'' when Katniss actually meets Annie, she herself has become even more psychologically damaged, either allowing her to relate better to Annie's "quirks", or deciding that she has no right to judge. This change in opinion also happens after her friendship with Finnick develops, whereas before she'd never met him. Her defense of and possible friendship towards Annie might be a result of that, seeing her more the way Finnick sees her rather than how the majority might.
** Hijacking. [[spoiler: The way Tracker Jacker venom works in the first book is somewhat questionable]], but in Mockingjay it really doesn't make sense as a conditioning tool. For one, the brain really doesn't work that way. Conditioning is an unconscious mechanism that can't be manipulated into a deliberate response the way the book describes. This is why the CIA stopped trying to do this in the first place. For another, the part of the brain that controls fear is so separate from your memory that it's unlikely that a drug designed to affect the fear part of your brain would have any affect on memory whatsoever.

[[folder: Live Action TV]]

** There was a episode where having synesthesia was depicted as being like the conclusion of ''[[Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey 2001]]''. Synesthetes wish it were that cool. In reality it's really lame stuff like 7 having an intrinsic redness to it. And while there are slightly less lame versions (musical pitches having intrinsic colors is a version that many world renowned musicians have put to good use), none of them are anywhere as cool as that.

* A psychiatrist treating Niki in an early episode of ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' diagnoses her with Multiple Personality Disorder, outdated terminology and all. In real life, one of the main symptoms of DID is that ''the victim isn't aware of the other personalities''.
* ''Series/{{Monk}}'' not only seems to have both Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder simultaneously, he is a picture of retro-Freudian "neuroticism," seemingly to teeter into Generalized Anxiety Disorder (with agoraphobia, naturally), Narcissistic Personality Disorder, and sometimes even sociopathy. Underlying it all, of course, are deep, unrealized issues surrounding his dead wife. This is of course PlayedForLaughs when it isn't [[DisabilitySuperpower giving him supernatural insight into crime-solving]].

* Almost everything psychological in ''Series/{{MASH}}'' ever, especially the later seasons, especially the finale. This could be considered more accurate than a currently correct treatment. ''Series/{{MASH}}'' was ''supposed'' to be set in the early 1950's, remember. PTSD and Survivor's Guilt were still "shell shock", and the usual treatment was to send the guy home and expect that he'd get over it, and Freudian psychology was still pretty much the king of the hill. Although the psychological stuff might be historically accurate for the time period, the fact that it always works textbook perfectly (see: the finale) still fits this trope.

** Although it does have Dr. Melfi acting both as a psychiatrist (a medical doctor that prescribes medication) and a psychologist (a counselor or therapist who engages in talk therapy). In reality those are two separate professions, a psychiatrist generally only sees you for about 15-20 minutes once a month to adjust medication levels while a psychologist is the one who will see you for an hour a week to talk through issues (but cannot prescribe medication).

* ''Series/BostonLegal'' had a character with Asperger's demand a partnership at knife point when he thought he'd been shafted. However, BL being what it is, he's since become a main character and quite a competent lawyer. When the most flattering portrayal of something that you've ever seen in prime time is the ''Series/BostonLegal'' version, you've got a problem.

** The big problem with Karla is that she's more of a plot device than a character in her own right. It would be easier to forgive her OOT pedanticness and almost total lack of social skills or independence if she was shown the same sort of respect that the other characters get, but she isn't. The plot is never told from her viewpoint- every time she has a meltdown, for example, the perspective cuts to her TA, and their attempts to calm her down. She has been in the show two years and viewers still have no idea what she thinks and feels about things. She also never gets a plot that is unrelated to her Asperger's. It's a shame because she was written in the best of intentions, but woefully executed.

** In fact, ''Criminal Minds'' as a whole is really bad about this. The majority of the psychology on the show is either out of date, misapplied, grossly exaggerated, or just flat out wrong, which can result in a lot of exasperation for psychologists watching the show. The most JustForFun/{{egregious}} of these is the premise of criminal profiling itself, which has been shown more than once to be inaccurate to the point that lay people do just as well on it as professionals.
* Fans of ''Series/{{Bones}}'' have commented that the behavior of doctors Brennan and Addy looks a bit like Asperger's, though its never mentioned in the show. This is not to even mention her view of psychology seems to be HollywoodPsych, as she claims it's far "softer" (i.e. a social science rather then a natural science) a science then anthropology. Most neuropsychologists would debate this.
** Honestly, there's a good chance that even most anthropologists would debate this. Large swaths of anthropology is done using ethnographic observations, which make no claim to Brennan's beloved objectivity. Instead this method encourages the researcher to make their biases explicit because the work cannot be done in an unbiased manner (thus allowing the analysis to approximate objectivity even though the observations were very subjective and biased). In fact, depending on where they sit theoretically, some researchers might reject the notion of an objective "truth" entirely. Meanwhile psychological research is largely done using controlled experiments in laboratories - very strange that Brennan doesn't prefer that.

* Bob, one of the main characters in ''Series/ReGenesis'' manages to magnificently avoid all the usual pitfalls of portraying a person with Asperger's syndrome. In fact, up to the point where he is explicitly stated to have it, the viewer could easily have chalked it up to Bob being just a socially awkward guy. He does work well with others in his familiar lab, thinks somewhat different than others and has trouble reading emotional states. All in all, he is portrayed rather like a considerate, intelligent guy whose emotional development seems permanently stuck in teenage confusion.

* Jon from ''WebVideo/GameGrumps'' thoroughly criticizes the "the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over" stereotype during the ''Donkey Kong Country'' playthrough, jokingly stating that "the definition of insanity is when you're flinging your shit at the wall," and that pegging the definition of insanity as belonging to any one specific behavior "is as anecdotal as it gets". That's because thr original saying is meraphorical and doesn't try to provide an actual detailed definition of insanity - it simply means that doing the same thing over and over again is often pointless and irrational. Remember, common sense is not science.

* ''Everything'' about ''WebOriginal/JeffTheKiller'' and other creepypastas about MarySue teenage killers. Insanity is never portrayed as a hindrance - in fact, it's the [[PowerBornOfMadness polar opposite]]: insanity makes you charismatic, confident, immune to pain and more effective in battle (since you're "not holding back"). Psychotic episodes serve as a SuperMode of sorts, instead of making you helpless and vulnerable. Delusions like voices in your head or hallucinations are cool and funny, and never stop you from functionally interacting with reality. And of course, you never ''actually'' lose control over your very thoughts and actions. Needless to say, stories like this are written by actual children/teenagers as self-insert fantasies, and psychology is far from the only thing they fail to get right.

* Zig-zagged in Creator/EricaJong's Literature/FearOfFlying. The loosely autobiographical novel explores its protagonist's complicated romantic and sexual history, including her first marriage. Isadora divorced her first husband because he assaulted her during a psychotic break. The story of the breakdown starts amusing, then grows more harrowing as he forces her to stay awake listening to his conspiracy theories and attempting to talk him out of hurting himself.

* [[LaughingMad Crazy laughter]] is the number one most common and stereotypical trait of insanity in fiction. While neurotic, hysterical or uncontrollable laughter does indeed happen with some mental illnesses that hinder your ability to communidate emotions propely (like schizophrenia), it's far from the only symptom, and it's situational. All the while, the media makes you think that literally every single psychological disorder ever turns you into a laughing lunatic and that this is the only type of patient in mental asylums.
* [[SplitPersonality Dissociative Identity Disorder]] (known as "Multiple Personality Disorder" under the World Health Organisation's classification system) comes in two ways on television: JekyllAndHyde or SuperpoweredEvilSide. It's also ''far'' more common in fiction than in reality. To the point where in reality, it's debatable whether or not it actually exists. The vast majority of first world countries refuse to recognise it as a disorder.

* ADHD is generally depicted as entirely about AttentionDeficitOohShiny symptoms and hyperactivity. In reality, there are two kinds of ADHD: predominantly inattentive, and combined (or predominantly hyperactive). People who have inattentive ADHD may have some hyperactive traits but are generally defined by daydreaming a lot. (Though, characters like this probably aren't seen as often just because very internal, withdrawn characters don't tend to make for very interesting television.) Another common misconception is repeated even in the name itself: the problem with ADHD isn't inability to focus at all, but inability to ''control'' focus. Because of this it's not uncommon for people with ADHD to ''hyper''focus on certain things to the exclusion of all others for a while, particularly with certain specific special subjects. Finally, one of the biggest symptoms of ADHD that rarely shows up in media is a great deal of difficulty with organising. Over all, it says something that media depictions of ADHD versus autism tend to be polar opposites (ADHD people being overly energetic and excitable, autistic people being blank and rigid), when in reality most symptoms of ADHD are also present in autism and vice versa, making it quite hard to diagnose between them at times.

* ''Comicbook/ArkhamAsylumASeriousHouseOnSeriousEarth'': According to the "[[InformedAbility doctors]]" in this work, ComicBook/TheJoker is not insane (a legal term, that one won't find a mental health professional saying in that context) but Supersane! Yes it's a condition similar to [[HollywoodTourettes Tourette's]]! You know what else? It's a load of bullshit! Creator/GrantMorrison might as well have a physicist claiming that black holes happen because people fart while sleeping because of String Theory. Most interpret this [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools as a way to show that the doctors in Arkham are a bunch of quacks and that they are the reason no one ever gets better in Arkham]]. To elaborate, this "Super-Sanity" is that the Joker remakes himself every day because he finds the flow of modern life too stressful and overpowering. Now, firstly, there is no universally agreed definition of sanity, but generally speaking it is understood by psychologists to be one's ability to function normally in everyday life, and how "normal" you are. So the idea that being ''Super'' sane means that the world is crazy is a contradiction in terms. The second thing is that what the psychologists are describing is actually more like an extreme form of Dissociation, a psychotic break from reality caused by trauma and/or an inability to deal with life's stresses. So Morrison and his shrinks are wrong twice over (assuming, again, that Morrison didn't just intend the doctors to be talking out of their asses). Subsequent writers have occasionally made use of the term "Super-Sanity", as well, though the meaning seems to have shifted somewhat. Usually it just means he's at least slightly [[FourthWallObserver aware of the fact he's a comicbook character]]. Which could, possibly, turn his earlier diagnosis into major FridgeBrilliance. If the Joker knows he's a comicbook supervillain, his behaviour actually is perfectly sane. His purpose is to entertain his fans, thus his violent acts and his constant reinventing of his own personality (to keep up with readers' changing tastes) are completely justified. As long as people keep buying and enjoying the comics he appears in, the Joker is, from a sufficiently meta point of view, a perfectly functional member of "society".