BIG BRUUUVAH!!
"A suicidal, Scottish-Pakistani former gay rent boy; a pop singer with Tourette's syndrome; a self-professed porn star who claims the biggest breast implants in Britain...It's been called a "psychoanalyst's wet dream". And so it appears to be...
The chief executive of the Mental Health Foundation, Andrew McCulloch, wrote to the director of programming at Channel 4, Kevin Lygo, to express his concern at vulnerable people being turned into figures of fun for TV viewers.
"While I can only guess at Shahbaz's clinical condition, we are concerned that vulnerable people apparently continue to be allowed into such a high-pressure environment. "
It's been compelling. Sadly, no longer, as Shahbaz has left the set. Reality shows are only ever as interesting as the 'contestants'. That's why Celebrity Big Brother was so much fun to watch, with Rula Lenska, Barrymore and George Galloway. Shahbaz was the only truly interesting character, so there's no point watching it now. Andrew McCulloch, the executive of the Mental Health Foundation, said "While I can only guess at Shahbaz's clinical condition..." Well, although I'm no shrink (sadly. I think it'd be the most interesting job in the world), it seems to me that he'd be a borderline personality. By turns, passive agressive (not speaking) and aggressive aggressive (shouting and screaming); weeping and sobbing followed quickly by an energetic and outgoing high. Needy and insecure but incapable of listening or receiving advice, etc etc. Highly unstable, in other words.
What gets me though, are two specific things:
- Shahbaz (an otherwise reasonably intelligent person) seems to have made it to 37 without ever having a job - it sounds as though he's lived alone all his life in a council flat, and yet it doesn't occur to him to think "Is there something wrong, here?". His fragile, dysfunctional psyche is writ large across our screens but he seems to be the last to realise. How can that be?!
- Also, the others, of varying ages and intelligence, seem to think he's just annoying, melodramatic and over-the-top. This makes them just as short-sighted as Shahbaz. They must be very stupid indeed if they can't see that Shahbaz, although not sectionable or with a full-blown mental illness, is in need of help - most probably in the form of long-term therapy. Noone thinks to ask him about his past or show a bit of sympathy, they only condemn him and show him zero tolerance.
All of which has made for cruel and queasy viewing. It also illustrates two other things:
- The 'screening' of contestants by psychologists cannot be very rigorous. It was quite easy to see that Shahbaz was in deep trouble.
- People (ie the other contestants, as representatives of society at large) have no understanding *whatsoever* of mental health.
Anyway, good luck to Shahbaz on "the other side". I hope he makes a success of his life.
"A suicidal, Scottish-Pakistani former gay rent boy; a pop singer with Tourette's syndrome; a self-professed porn star who claims the biggest breast implants in Britain...It's been called a "psychoanalyst's wet dream". And so it appears to be...
The chief executive of the Mental Health Foundation, Andrew McCulloch, wrote to the director of programming at Channel 4, Kevin Lygo, to express his concern at vulnerable people being turned into figures of fun for TV viewers.
"While I can only guess at Shahbaz's clinical condition, we are concerned that vulnerable people apparently continue to be allowed into such a high-pressure environment. "
It's been compelling. Sadly, no longer, as Shahbaz has left the set. Reality shows are only ever as interesting as the 'contestants'. That's why Celebrity Big Brother was so much fun to watch, with Rula Lenska, Barrymore and George Galloway. Shahbaz was the only truly interesting character, so there's no point watching it now. Andrew McCulloch, the executive of the Mental Health Foundation, said "While I can only guess at Shahbaz's clinical condition..." Well, although I'm no shrink (sadly. I think it'd be the most interesting job in the world), it seems to me that he'd be a borderline personality. By turns, passive agressive (not speaking) and aggressive aggressive (shouting and screaming); weeping and sobbing followed quickly by an energetic and outgoing high. Needy and insecure but incapable of listening or receiving advice, etc etc. Highly unstable, in other words.
What gets me though, are two specific things:
- Shahbaz (an otherwise reasonably intelligent person) seems to have made it to 37 without ever having a job - it sounds as though he's lived alone all his life in a council flat, and yet it doesn't occur to him to think "Is there something wrong, here?". His fragile, dysfunctional psyche is writ large across our screens but he seems to be the last to realise. How can that be?!
- Also, the others, of varying ages and intelligence, seem to think he's just annoying, melodramatic and over-the-top. This makes them just as short-sighted as Shahbaz. They must be very stupid indeed if they can't see that Shahbaz, although not sectionable or with a full-blown mental illness, is in need of help - most probably in the form of long-term therapy. Noone thinks to ask him about his past or show a bit of sympathy, they only condemn him and show him zero tolerance.
All of which has made for cruel and queasy viewing. It also illustrates two other things:
- The 'screening' of contestants by psychologists cannot be very rigorous. It was quite easy to see that Shahbaz was in deep trouble.
- People (ie the other contestants, as representatives of society at large) have no understanding *whatsoever* of mental health.
Anyway, good luck to Shahbaz on "the other side". I hope he makes a success of his life.
