Short film research 

Story focus

  • Protagonist: 45-year-old female therapist living alone in South London. Midlife pressure - career expectations. 
  • The Patient - men's mental health as a focus too, this is something I want to draw attention to as well. 
  • Theme: the emotional toll of therapy work, the hidden struggles of those we go to for help - how do they manage taking on the problems of others when battling issues themselves? 
  • Genre: Psychological drama/character study
  • Tone: Subtle, emotionally raw, realist tone. 

Mental Health and Therapists 

  • As I am going into a Nursing Degree, I am interested in how those who we go to for help and support care for themselves. 
  • Therapist burnout: emotional exhaustion from empathic engagement with clients
  • Compassion fatigue: It is common among mental health professionals - when they absorb their patients' trauma 
  • Stigma around therapists: Expected to be "mentally strong" and not have issues of their own. They are then forced to suppress and hide their own problems. 
  • Coping mechanisms: Isolation, secrecy, overwork 
  • Balancing professional duty with personal instability. 
  • Hidden illness: anxiety and depression as hidden illnesses. 
  • Men and mental illness - Dale (the patient). 

Target Audience 

  • Young adults (18-30) - interested in mental health representation and authenticity. 
  • Adults (30-60) - relate to burnout, work-life imbalance, and emotional suppression. 
  • Interests in psychology, working in healthcare, living alone as a woman, and suffering from mental health issues as a man or a woman. 


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