Salve Regina University Digital Commons @ Salve Regina Pell Scholars and Senior Theses Salve's Dissertations and Theses 4-27-2021 "Living in the After": Examining How "Grey's Anatomy" Portrays Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Emily A. Grant Salve Regina University,
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.salve.edu/pell_theses Part of the Broadcast and Video Studies Commons, and the Psychology Commons Grant, Emily A., ""Living in the After": Examining How "Grey's Anatomy" Portrays Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder" (2021). Pell Scholars and Senior Theses. 137. https://digitalcommons.salve.edu/pell_theses/137 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Salve's Dissertations and Theses at Digital Commons @ Salve Regina. It has been accepted for inclusion in Pell Scholars and Senior Theses by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Salve Regina. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. “Living in the After”: Examining How Grey’s Anatomy Portrays Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder By Emily Grant Prepared for Dr. Madeleine Esch Department of English, Communications and Media Salve Regina University April 27, 2021 Grant 1 “Living in the After”: Examining How Grey’s Anatomy Portrays Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder ABSTRACT: Over seventeen seasons, Grey’s Anatomy (2005–) has tackled rare physical conditions, medical miracles, and mental illness, including PTSD. Previous research on mental illness representation in television suggests that oftentimes, through pejorative or romanticized stereotypes, portrayals enhance stigma and have detrimental effects on viewers. Using inductive research, focused on PTSD-centric episodes regarding two main characters, this study revealed that Grey’s Anatomy emphasizes a mostly empowering portrayal of PTSD.