Introduction:

Pop culture fundamentally changed the interaction between humans to Humans and the content of social media. The legislation on Mental Health illness changed from command and control to regulating the digital mass media to promote and protect the persons dealing with mental illness. The legislation on Mental Healthcare and conventions have to address the misrepresentation of mental health illness. Every person with a mental illness shall have the right to live and work, as far as possible, in the community. The practice of pop culture without proper viability raises serious concerns because it will be differentiated at many levels including ranking, sensitive use of non-public social media data fees discrimination, etc. The blog Aims to provide an overview of How Pop Culture and modern society affect and misrepresent Mental Health illness.

Reality of Pop Culture:

Popular culture often known as pop culture can be traced back to World War I and the Industrial Revolution majorly Pop culture is defined as a form of music, art, painting, and entertainment from which the majority of the people or mass population derived and transmitted via mass media to the younger generations. In 2024 there will be 5.5 billion internet users, worldwide who use social media, the study of Pew Research Centre surveys shows that youngsters aged between 13 – 17 use more active social media than the elders. Social media and pop culture become two sides of the same coin in the 21st century, the trends, filters, layout, and memes are supported, liked, and shared by the mass population. This scientifically proves this will increase the mental health issues in youngsters especially.

Mental health is an important and integral part of physical health and mental health is a basic human right, recently in an Hon’ble Supreme Court Justice (Rtd) D.Y Chandrachud the people who are affected by Mental Health issues should have to be different from other people. Mental Health concerns becoming serious as pop culture was serving as one of the driving factors for this. “One jacket fits all size ” legislation needs some changes to treat mental health regulations. The need for new takeover mental health regulation in this technological era is urgent and indisputable.

Misrepresentation of Mental health illness:

The short contents of the mass media often misrepresented the views likes people who are unaware of the real symptoms and understanding of mental illness leads to make them use and imagine fake scenarios and symptoms of the psychological terms starts as, depression, OCD, trauma response, panic attacks, bipolar disorder, borderline personality, and schizophrenia. Youngers who are all in their teenage with hormonal growth confuse this with serious mental health illness, which leads to suicidal rates. American Psychological Association addresses the misinformation to the mental health illness patients with no credentials and proper research, analysis of trends and hashtags about mental health care 80% were wrong, misleading, and giving false advice that was creating the strongest impact on youngsters. The harmful unchecked and inaccurate content leads people to try the untested remedy rather than consulting a certified psychologist. In the real-world mental health disorders are less subtle than on a digital screen.

The Mental Healthcare Act, 2017:

The Primary objective of the Act, is “to provide for mental healthcare and services for persons with mental illness and to protect, promote and fulfil the rights of such persons during delivery of mental healthcare and services and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.” The Act comprehensively and inclusively covers the whole aspect and rights of individuals by providing quality care through a human rights protection approach to mental health illness people. The legislation aims to remove the stigma and negative approach towards the people who are mentally affected and improve them as individuals.Section 2 of the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017 defines Mental illness in an elaborated manner A significant impairment in cognitive function, emotional stability, perception, awareness, or memory that severely affects judgment, behaviour, recognition of reality, or the ability to handle daily responsibilities. This includes mental disorders linked to substance abuse but excludes intellectual disabilities, which stem from incomplete mental development and are marked by below-average intelligence.

The legislation and international conventions are framed to protect the people who are suffering from mental illness in India The Mental Healthcare Act, of 2017 is one of the primary legislation that protects and grants various rights to the persons who are affected by mental illness, the right includes section 18   Right to access mental Healthcare, section 19 includes Right to community living, section 20 ensures Right to protection from cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, Right to equality and prohibition of discrimination, section 27 guarantees right to Legal Aid, The Act further establishes the mental health care services at various levels in national, state and central and review of mental health boards should have to be established. Section 93 of the Mental Healthcare Act, of 2017 ensures and prohibits certain procedures and regulations that should be avoided.

Case Study:

Jeeja Ghosh & Anr. vs. Union of India & Ors.[2] This case emphasized as a public interest litigation as the action taken in an Airport regulations violated Article 14 and Article 21 of the constitution of India the Hon’ble Supreme Court ruled the need to treat people with dignity and opportunity and equality in mental health illness and disability. Common Cause (A Regd. Society) vs. Union of India and Another[3] The Hon’ble Supreme court upheld that the People with serious mental illness have the right to die with dignity this case law ensures the right to passive euthanasia which eventually ensures the right to die with human Dignity rather than killing with a prolonged terminal illness. Accused X vs. State of Maharashtra[4] This case involved a convict suffering from severe mental illness, raising questions about culpability and sentencing. The Supreme Court ruled that mental illness should be considered a mitigating factor in sentencing and commuted the convict’s death sentence to life imprisonment. The judgment reinforced the importance of mental health in criminal justice and upheld the right to dignity for mentally ill prisoners.

Suggestions and Conclusion:

Pop culture sheds light on special protection against the misrepresentation of mental healthcare advice, consultations, and remedies that are provided in an inaccurate manner, the proof and background check of the terms and suggestions of a fact check unit as followed by the information technology Authority must be especially applicable to contents, posts that are related to psychological and mental health as a core content, the content authority must be duly verified by a component authority. The youngsters should have the knowledge of basic mental health illness terms. Pop Culture and modern society have both positive and negative impacts, In the 21st century the impact and use of social media are inevitable, stringent regulation to prevent people from getting affected by inaccurate content, and verifying the content also plays a crucial role. The expansion of authorized telehealth consultations provided in a digital era will make a greater impact. Promoting mental health community programs and free legal Aid for the poor and those who were in need. An integrated mechanism to report malicious and wrong content should have to be established.

End Notes:

1. https://www.freelaw.in/legalarticles/The-Mental-Healthcare-Act-2017
2. https://www.who.int/health-topics/mental-health#tab=tab_1.
3. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/up-and-running/202402/ignore-popular-culture-portrayals-of-mental-illness

[1] *3^rd Year B.A.,LL.B, Chennai Dr.Ambedkar Government Law College, Pudupakkam, Tamil Nadu.

[2] AIR 2016 SC 2393

[3] AIR 2018 SC 1665

[4] AIR 2019 SC 3031