Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gvvz8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T13:27:16.994Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Psychiatrists in their eyes: Children's drawings of what a psychiatrist looks like

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 June 2014

Sami Omer ,
Niamh O'Connor ,
Gavin Sweeney  and
Geraldine McCarthy
Sami Omer*
Affiliation:
Department of Old Age Psychiatry, Sligo, Ireland
Niamh O'Connor
Affiliation:
Sligo/Leitrim Mental Health Services, Clarion Road, Sligo, Ireland
Gavin Sweeney
Affiliation:
Department of Old Age Psychiatry, Liscarney House, Pearse Road, Sligo, Ireland
Geraldine McCarthy
Affiliation:
Department of Old Age Psychiatry, Liscarney House, Pearse Road, Sligo, Ireland
*
*Correspondence E-mail Omersami@hotmail.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Drawings can be used as an important tool to measure children's perception and emotions. Using a qualitative design, we asked a group of 24 school children (10 boys and 14 girls) aged 11-12 to draw their impressions of psychiatrists. In the majority of drawings, psychiatrists were portrayed as a friendly or kind figure. The art work was analysed by the coordinator of the Arts Initiative in Mental Health, Niamh O'Connor. Psychiatrists were portrayed positively by this group of young people. This reflects a strong influence of the media on children's perception.

Type
Original Paper
Information
Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine , Volume 29 , Issue 1 , 2012 , pp. 33 - 35
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.Philo, G (ed.). Media and mental distress. London; Longman, 1996.Google Scholar
2.Wolff, G, Pathare, S, Craig, T, Leff, J. Community knowledge of mental illness and reaction to mentally ill people. Br J Psychiatry 1996; 168(2): 191–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
3.Crisp, AH, Gelder, MG, Rix, S, Meltzer, HI, Rowlands, OJ. Stigmatisation of people with mental illness. Br J Psychiatry. 2000; 177: 4–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4.Mehta, N, Kassam, A, Leese, M, Butler, G, Thornicroft, G. Public attitudes towards people with mental illness in England and Scotland 1994-2003. Br J Psychiatry 2009; 194(3):278–84.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5.Angermeyer, MC, Breier, P, Dietrich, S, Kenzine, D, Matschinger, H. Public attitudes toward psychiatric treatment. An international comparison. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2005; 40(11): 855–64.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6.Burke, S, Kerr, R, McKeon, P. Male secondary school students' attitudes towards using mental health services. Ir J Psychol Med 2008; 25(2):52–56.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7.Mojtabai, R. Americans' attitudes toward mental health treatment seeking: 1990-2003. Psychiatr Serv. 2007; 58(5):642–651.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
8.Sellman, D, Pearson, G. The public perception of psychiatrists: a telephone survey. N Z Med J. 1985; 98(785):699–703.Google ScholarPubMed
9.Luty, J, Fekadu, D, Gallagher, J. Umoh O. The professional status of psychiatrists: good but not great. Psychiatric Bulletin (2006) 30: 314.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
10.Wojaczyńska-Stanek, K, Koprowski, R, Wróbel, Z, Gola, M. Headache in children's drawings. J Child Neurol. 2008; 23(2):184–91.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
11.Stafstrom, CE, Rostasy, K, Minster, A. The Usefulness of children's drawings in the diagnosis of headache. Pediatrics 2002; 109(3):460–472.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
12.Lukash, F. Children's art as a helpful index of anxiety and self-esteem with plastic surgery. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2002; 109(6):1777–86.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
13.Pelander, T, Lehtonen, K, Leino-Kilpi, H. Children in the Hospital: Elements of quality in drawings. J Pediatr Nurs. 2007; 22(4):333–41.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
14.Marshall, CS. Looking at the doctor through the eyes of a child. N Z Fam Phys. 1985; 12: 17–19.Google Scholar
15.Philipp, R, Philipp, E, Pendered, L, Barnard, C, Hall, M. Can Children's paintings of their doctors be interpreted? J R Coll Gen Pract. 1986; 36(288):325–7.Google ScholarPubMed
16.Gash, H, Domínguez Rodríguez, P. Young people's heroes in France and Spain. Span J Psychol. 200; 12(1):246–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
17.Comer, JS, Furr, JM, Beidas, RS, Babyar, HM, Kendall, PC. Media use and children's perception of societal threat and personal vulnerability. J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol. 2008; 37(3):622–30.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
18.Pecora, N, Murray, JP, Wartella, EA (eds.). Children and television. Fifty years of research. Laurence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. New Jersey, 2007.Google Scholar
19.O'Connor, A, Casey, P. What it says in the papers: an audit. Ir J Psychol Med. 2001; 18:68–71.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
20.Kelly, B. Psychiatry in contemporary Irish cinema. Ir J Psychol Med. 2006; 23(2): 74–79.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed