Classic Creeps
This vampire is said to sleep in a coffin and avoid garlic.
What is Dracula?
This term is a sensationalized and incorrect label often used to describe people with schizophrenia, though it more closely resembles the misunderstood symptoms of Dissociative Identity Disorder — a rare diagnosis frequently misrepresented in media.
What is "split personality"?
This 20th-century medical procedure involved severing connections in the brain’s frontal lobe and was often performed without informed consent.
What is lobotomy?
In Psycho, Norman Bates experiences sudden intense fear and panic when confronted by his mother’s ghostly presence. This brain structure, the “fear center,” activates that primal fight-or-flight response.
What is the amygdala?
This term refers to the emotional exhaustion and depersonalization that can result from chronic workplace stress in helping professions.
What is burnout?
This misunderstood creature, stitched together from body parts, may symbolize the fear of "otherness" — a theme common in stigma around mental illness.
Who is Frankenstein's Monster?
This diagnosis is frequently sensationalized as dangerous or manipulative, despite research showing the majority of individuals with it are trauma survivors needing relational safety.
What is Borderline Personality Disorder?
These institutions, often underfunded and overcrowded, warehoused people with mental illness before the push for deinstitutionalization in the 1960s.
What are asylums?
In The Shining, Jack Torrance’s prefrontal cortex fails him as he spirals into madness, losing impulse control and decision-making — leading to his terrifying breakdown.
What is the prefrontal cortex?
True or False: It’s unethical for therapists to seek therapy themselves.
What is false?
This undead figure mindlessly follows commands without autonomy, offering a metaphor for learned helplessness and trauma-based dissociation.
What is a Zombie?
This term, often misused to describe mood swings, is actually a diagnosis involving distinct periods of mania and depression.
What is Bipolar Disorder?
In ancient Greece, mental illness was believed to be caused by an imbalance of these bodily fluids.
What are the four humors (blood, phlegm, black bile, yellow bile)?
Like a vampire needing a constant supply of blood, this neurotransmitter is essential for energy, focus, and motivation — its depletion is linked to fatigue and depression.
What is dopamine?
This ethical principle requires therapists to avoid harm and promote client well-being.
What is beneficence (or nonmaleficence)?
This dual-identity figure is often used (inaccurately) to explain dangerous behavior, reflecting the misrepresentation of Dissociative Identity Disorder and reinforcing stigma against trauma survivors.
What is a werewolf?
True or False: Talking about suicide with a client increases their risk of attempting it.
What is false?
This type of treatment, has been used as a trop for a highly painful psychiatric treatment, is still used today in a refined and effective form for certain severe disorders.
What is Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT)?
In The Exorcist, the intense stress and trauma induce this hormonal cascade — sometimes called the body’s “stress potion” — which floods the body with cortisol, affecting sleep and anxiety.
What is the HPA axis (Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal axis)?
This strategy involves processing difficult client emotions through supervision, consultation, or journaling — not through personal disclosure in session.
What is therapist self-regulation or self-reflection?
This masked slasher never speaks and is often portrayed as emotionless, fueling dangerous myths that people with mental illness are violent — when in reality, they're far more likely to be victims than perpetrators.
Who is Michael Myers?
This common misconception assumes that if someone has a mental health diagnosis, it tells you everything about who they are — ignoring their unique story, culture, and strengths.
What is "labeling"?
This unethical experiment studied the effects of untreated syphilis in Black men under the guise of free healthcare.
What is the Tuskegee Study?
This eerie brain ability allows survivors of trauma (like the final girl in many slasher movies) to “rewire” their neural circuits, enabling resilience and recovery.
What is neuroplasticity?
This is the term for when a clinician’s unresolved personal issues interfere with therapeutic boundaries or decision-making.
What is countertransference?