Between solstices and equinoxes
Sissa MedialabPeer-Reviewed Publication
“People tend to joke about mood swings, saying ‘my mood swings throughout the day, I’m already a bit bipolar,’ or joke with each other saying ‘everything is bipolar.’ And it’s not quite like that, as bipolar disorder has a biological component.”
This is one of the statements featured in a short trailer on YouTube about bipolar disorder. The video is connected to the play Oxímoro, entre Solstícios e Equinócios (Oxymoron, Between Solstices and Equinoxes) by Marionet, a Portuguese theatre company that brings scientific research topics to the stage.
The play was developed through an in-depth collaboration with doctors, researchers, and patients, with the goal of informing and raising public awareness about bipolar disorder, helping to reduce the stigma surrounding this and other mental health conditions.
The project also included an analysis of audience responses to the performance, with a specific focus on emotional engagement. The results of this experience are described in a practice insight published in the special issue of emotions and science communication in Journal of Science Communication (JCOM). According to the authors, the audience’s emotional response—empathy, emotional resonance, and personal identification—helped facilitate the assimilation of scientific information and contributed to reducing the stigma surrounding mental illness.
- Journal
- Journal of Science Communication