Using playback theatre to address the stigma of mental disorders

Abstract

Playback theatre was used as a powerful tool for the fight against the stigma of mental disorders. This challenging community process was particularly helpful to people with mental disorders and their families, as well as to mental health professionals. Within the frame of the Association of Dramatic Expression and Therapy “Palmos”, “Playback Ψ” theatre group was established by a number of Greek professional performers and psychotherapists aiming to work through stigmatizing social representations of mental illness. The training of the group included knowledge on specific issues of mental disorders, as well as of the stigma that surrounds them as well as stage techniques deriving from Dramatherapy and Psychodrama, enabling the actors to portray safely delusional or disorganized material, overwhelming emotions or lack of boundaries. Playback Theatre performances took place in psychiatric and rehabilitation settings, in mental health conferences, as well as under the umbrella of policies of the “Greek Anti-stigma Programme” of the WPA. The performances offered the opportunity to the audience members, suffering or not from a mental disorder, to share life experiences of prejudice and discrimination, to take stance against the existing negative attitudes, to decrease their social distance and to foster community networks.