Impact of Opera on Mental Health Stigma: Pilot of Provider/Community Workshop

Abstract

Background Arts can influence mental health stigma, but little is known about impact of operas. We examined effects of a two-opera workshop on complicated grief and schizophrenia. Methods Pre-post audience surveys with post-workshop discussion. The primary outcome was a 4-item measure of willingness to engage with persons with grief or schizophrenia. Secondary outcomes were perceptions of art affecting stigma and stigma mediators. Of 47 participants, 33 had pre-post surveys for both operas. Results There was a significant pre-post opera increase in audience willingness to engage with persons with grief or schizophrenia (p < .001). Perceptions of impact on mediators such as empathy, were significantly greater for the opera on schizophrenia relative to grief (p < .001).. Conclusion The pre- to post increase in audience willingness to engage with affected persons (primary) with greater impact on secondary mediators for the schizophrenia opera and post-discussion suggest that operas may be a forum for addressing mental health stigma and promoting empathy.

Who is afraid of Hermy and Jimmy? Relating to and normalizing psychosis through theater.

“…Theater performances have been shown to increase willingness to engage with and support a person with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia (Hawke et al, 2014; Skrine Jeffers et al, 2021), reduce negative stereotypes, and increase optimism about recovery (Roberts et al, 2007). These destigmatizing effects have been found in diverse audiences, including among people with mental health conditions and health care providers (Michalak et al, 2014), adolescents, and young adults (Roberts et al, 2007), and in ethnic minority communities (Blignault et al, 2010).…”

“…Empathizing with a protagonist allows the recipient to see themselves and their human value reflected in someone else, and "feel and experience to a more intense degree what it means to be a human being" (Lipps, 1903, p. 564), facilitating changes in perspective and fostering the development of new beliefs. Not surprisingly, theater has long been used to critique social issues and raise public awareness (e.g., "Theater of the Oppressed"; Boal, 1979) and is an effective tool to improve mental health knowledge (Kosyluk et al, 2018(Kosyluk et al, , 2021b and reduce stigma (Hawke et al, 2014;Massa et al, 2020;Michalak et al, 2014;Roberts et al, 2007;Skrine Jeffers et al, 2021). The types of theater performances in mental health stigma reduction work vary and include musicals and operas (Johnston, 2008;Kosyluk et al, 2018Kosyluk et al, , 2021bSherman et al, 2021;Skrine Jeffers et al, 2021;Walton, 2018), plays (Hawke et al, 2014;Michalak et al, 2014;Roberts et al, 2007;Wasmuth et al, 2022), playback theater and improvisation (Yotis et al, 2017), poetry, monologues, and comedy (Kosyluk et al, 2018(Kosyluk et al, , 2021a.…”

Impact of Opera on Resilience and Thriving in Serious Mental Illness: Pilot Evaluation of The Center Cannot Hold Part 2 and Resilience Workshop

“…Through the Healing and Education through the Arts (HEArts) program (Mango et al, 2018 ) to develop artworks on mental health, collaborating in evaluation with the UCLA National Endowment for the Arts Research Lab ( https://www.NEAResearch.ucla.edu ), prior papers describe development and impact of operas on mental health themes, including complicated grief (“The First Lady,” Eleanor Roosevelt after death of Franklin), serious mental illness (“The Center Cannot Hold” on Elyn Saks’ memoire, Saks, 2007 ) and Veteran post-traumatic stress disorder and homeless (“Veteran Journeys”) (Skrine Jeffers et al, 2022 ; Bilder et al, 2022 , Wells et al, 2021, 2022). Evaluations using pre and post surveys and post-discussion followed a conceptual framework of how artworks engage people in addressing mental health, reduce stigma, increase value of treatment, social support, and empathy, leading to positive affect and social connection (Bilder et al, 2022 ; Mango et al, 2018 ).…”

Impact of Veteran Journeys opera on audience member attitudes related to veterans with posttraumatic stress or unstable housing.

“…The existing literature focuses most on active participation, such as singing, participating in choral groups or receiving opera training (Grape et al, 2003; Sandgren, 2009). Singing generally, and opera specifically, may lead to increased positive affect (Grape et al, 2003; Man et al, 2022; Thomson et al, 2017), and operas can reduce social stigmata associated with conditions such as complicated grief and schizophrenia (Skrine Jeffers et al, 2022).…”

“…Community members and Veterans themselves experience discomfort when confronting these concerns, further limiting access to effective treatment and social support (Ijadi-Maghsoodi et al, 2021; Waters, 2019). The World Health Organization concluded that arts engagement may benefit Veterans, but so far little work has used arts to impact community engagement in supporting Veterans (Fancourt & Finn, 2019; Skrine Jeffers et al, 2022).…”