In the new millennium, humans are increasingly confronted by the dire consequences, both current and predicted, of a changing climate. As the environmental crisis deepens and uncertainty percolates, individual and collective engagement with discomfiting ecological thought is largely unavoidable. The seemingly insoluble quandary has fomented a range of clinically recognised psychological responses which congregate under the umbrella term of eco-anxiety. In this thesis, I investigate the human predisposition to confront and attempt to assuage contemporaneous fears through storytelling on screen. I direct my focus toward the medium of television and the manifestation of this proclivity in the internationally recognised genre of Scandinavian serialised television crime drama known as Nordic Noir. In observing the infiltration of ecological themes and supernatural, folkloric, and Gothic tropes into Nordic Noir productions over the last two decades, I identify the germination and global proliferation of a discrete and replicable sub-genre which, I argue, specifically reflects and responds to the psychological complexities inherent in eco-anxiety. I refer to this novel form of cultural expression as EcoNoir. In EcoNoir crime dramas, I observe that detectives are invariably drawn into cases of murder, missing children and nefarious eco-crimes; however, it is the ways in which these supernaturally charged local stories are told and how their global relevance affectively resonates with viewers, which is at the heart of this thesis.

The confluence of rationality and irrationality in the sub-genre of EcoNoir introduces a narrative ambiguity to the conventions of crime drama which disrupts the cathartic relief from tension that viewers traditionally expect of the form. EcoNoir, like its film noir progenitors, resists definitive resolution and thus, when conflated with environmental themes, authentically reflects the ambiguous nature of the climate crisis and the concomitant uncertainty that stalks the global zeitgeist.

The study reveals a correlation between ecological thought, eco-anxiety and the global human imaginary by tracing the transnational distribution and replication of this fusion of social realism, environmental crime fiction, noir and supernatural fabulation from the Arctic to the Antipodes. Replicating a distinct suite of tropes and conventions, disparately geolocated television creators and practitioners weave local ecological concerns with representations of their own folklore and mythologies to create glocalised productions that reflect the global nature of the climate crisis and respond to universally shared concerns. As producers and purveyors of long-form serialised television, digital streaming platforms facilitate the transmission of complex narratives from culturally specific locations to the wider world: stories that echo our commonalities and foster an appreciation that humans (and non-humans alike) are enmeshed in a shared existential dilemma.

I employ a methodology of close textual analysis and draw on theoretical and scholarly sources in psychology, philosophy, literary and screen studies, environmental humanities, folklore studies, peace studies and gender studies, to examine seven EcoNoir serial television productions as case studies of the sub-genre. These are the German series Dark (2017-2020), the Swedish Jordskott (2016-2017), the French Zone Blanche (Black Spot) (2017-2019), the British Fortitude (2015-2018), the Swedish and French co-production Midnattsol (Midnight Sun) (2016), the Colombian Frontera Verde (Green Frontier) (2019) and the AustralianThe Gloaming (2020-). The analyses will reveal the ways in which the sub-genre of EcoNoir, both cognitively and affectively, reflects the multifarious environmental crises currently unfolding around the planet and the diverse manifestations of eco-anxiety which these crises evoke – from the relatively benign melancholy of solastalgia to the extremes of violent psychosis, by way of narratives ranging from nihilistic defeatism through to tentative optimism and hope.

Background: Mental illness stigma refers to damaging stereotypes and emotional responses around the experience of mental health issues. Media-based interventions have the potential to reduce the public's stigmatizing attitudes by improving mental health literacy, emotional appeal, and the intimacy of address. As audio-based media facilitating storytelling, podcasts show potential for reducing stigma" however, it is unclear what features could make a podcast effective or engaging.

Objective: The Co-Design and Anti-Stigma Podcast Research (CASPR) study aimed to collaborate with key target audience members to inform the development of a new podcast. This podcast primarily aims to reduce listeners' stigmatizing attitudes toward people living with complex mental health issues.

Methods: This study was adapted from Experience-Based Co-Design methodology. The first part, information gathering, involved a web-based mixed methods survey with 629 Australian podcast listeners to explore their interest and concerns around podcasts. Then, a series of focus groups were held with a purposive sample of 25 participants to explore the potential benefits and challenges of the podcast format. Focus group participants included people with lived experience of complex mental health issues, media and communications professionals, health care professionals, and people interested in workplace mental health. The second part, co-design, constituted 3 meetings of a co-design committee with 10 participants drawn from the focus groups to design the podcast using brainstorming and decision-making activities.

Results: Most survey respondents (537/629, 85.3%) indicated a willingness to listen to a podcast about experiences of mental illness stigma" participants indicated preference for semistructured episodes and a mixture of light and serious content. Focus group participants identified potential challenges with appealing to listeners, making the content emotionally resonant and engaging, and translation to listeners' attitude change. The co-design committee collaborated to achieve consensus on the focus of individual episodes: domains where stigma and discrimination are common, such as workplaces and health care settings" the structure of individual episodes: storyboards that centralize guests with lived experience, featuring explicit discussions around stigma and discrimination" and overarching content principles, including a sincere, empathetic, and hopeful tone" using plain language" having clear calls to action" and providing listener resources.

Conclusions: The co-design process informed a podcast design that features lived experience narratives with an explicit focus on stigma and discrimination, highlighting the realities of stigma while acknowledging progress in the space and how listeners can contribute toward social change. This study allowed for an in-depth discussion around the strengths and limitations of such a podcast according to different target audience members. The co-design committee designed key elements of a podcast that has the potential to minimize the limitations of the format while embracing the benefits of podcast-based storytelling. Once produced, the podcast will be evaluated for its impact on attitude change.

On the Same Wavelength is a codesigned podcast (Carrotte, 2023) featuring people with lived experience of complex mental health issues, who discuss how stigma and discrimination have affected their lives. This randomized controlled trial aimed to understand whether listening to the podcast could impact on listeners' attitudes toward people living with complex mental health issues. University students (N = 163) were randomized to listen to three episodes of On the Same Wavelength or a control podcast. Participants completed the Community Attitudes Toward the Mentally Ill Scale (CAMI-27) and the Social Distance Scale at baseline, post experiment, and after a 4-week follow-up period, plus the State Empathy Scale immediately after listening to each episode. Linear mixed-effects models, adjusting for baseline scores and socially desirable response style, found more positive attitudes on the CAMI-27 Prejudice subscale for those who listened to On the Same Wavelength compared to control postexperiment (t = −2.47, p = .015), but this was not maintained at follow-up. There were no significant differences between groups for other CAMI-27 scores or the Social Distance Scale. Participants who listened to On the Same Wavelength experienced a significantly higher degree of empathy compared to control after Episode 2 (t = −1.99, p = .048) but not after listening to other episodes. Generalizability was limited by the university student sample, who demonstrated positive attitudes at baseline. On the Same Wavelength shows promise for improving short term prejudicial attitudes, though further research is needed to understand how podcast-based messaging could be more effective for longer term stigma reduction.

Review: Wakefield, ABC TV

From the comedy-drama of Josh Thomas’ Please Like Me, to the documentary series Changing Minds filmed inside a psychiatric hospital, the ABC has a track record of collaborating with mental health organisations and people with lived experience to create compelling, compassionate stories about mental health.

Created by Kristen Dunphy and inspired by her own experiences as a patient, new series Wakefield is a fictional drama mystery set in a psychiatric hospital in the Blue Mountains.

Wakefield presents a nuanced, multi-layered story about mental health through its ensemble cast. This eight-part series demonstrates the advantages of television’s long-form narrative over feature film. It provides greater scope to explore a range of mental health stories without resorting to caricatures and stereotypes.

An increasing number of films and TV shows across diverse genres are portraying mental health issues, from Homeland, United States of Tara, Please Like Me and 13 Reasons Why, to Little Miss Sunshine, Mental and Split. While some have been welcomed as sensitive and empathetic portrayals, others have proved controversial, prompting debate about screen producers' ethical responsibilities. To explore this debate and, specifically, the role of writers in developing scripts about mental health issues, this chapter examines the case study of Mindframe for Stage and Screen, a collaboration between the Australian Writers' Guild and mental health organisations SANE Australia and Everymind. First developed in 2007, Mindframe's guidelines are internationally recognised as best practice for responsible and accurate portrayals of mental ill-health and suicide. Mindframe provides resources to support writers during script development, including access to research, expert advice and lived experiences. These resources are critical for developing scripts that move beyond stereotypes towards portrayals that are original, innovative and authentic.

In 2007 a network ensemble comedy about four scientists working at the California Institute of Technology premiered on CBS. Over the course of the next decade, The Big Bang Theory became one of the most watched shows worldwide, a landmark pop-culture product with a dedicated fan base that heralded the age of "geek" or "nerd" culture. For Vlad Dima, writing in the Bright Lights Film Journal in 2012 during the show's fifth season, the series was "a paradigm shift of big-bang proportions": "The show's main achievement . . . is to create an [sic] universe in which the outcast scientists, the nerds, function as the leading men" (original emphasis).

Podcasts are increasingly utilized in mental health contexts, such as communicating advice around improving wellbeing, guided meditations, psychoeducation, and translating research findings. This study aimed to explore demographics, motivations, behaviors, and attitudes of podcast listeners regarding podcasts dealing with content and themes related to mental health. Adult Australian podcast listeners (N = 629) completed a cross-sectional online survey including the Acquisition Questionnaire (AQ-9), the Mental Health Knowledge Schedule (MAKS) and the Internalised Stigma of Mental Illness scale (ISMI-9). Approximately one third had listened to a mental health themed podcast in the last 12 months. Logistic regression models showed people who listened to a mental health-themed podcast held fewer stigmatizing attitudes toward people experiencing mental health issues on the AQ-9 (OR 1.0, 95% CI 0.9–1.0, p < .001), and had higher levels of mental health knowledge on the MAKS (OR 1.1, 95% CI 1.0–1.2, p < .01). However, there was no significant relationship with internalized stigma on the ISMI-9 (OR 1.4, 95% CI 0.9–2.3, p = .2). Future research is needed to determine if such podcasts indeed impact listeners' attitudes and behaviors, and, if they do, how podcasts can be used for effective communication around mental health content.