Between protest and perpetuation: exploring psychotic disorders through the lens of popular music

Abstract

This study examines the representation of psychotic disorders in Spanish punk music over three decades, analysing 5647 songs from 177 bands. Content related to psychotic disorders appeared in 2.28% of the corpus, divided into songs with psychosis as a central theme and those using psychopathological terms incidentally. Schizophrenia and paranoia were the most referenced diagnoses, although frequently applied in ways that lacked clinical accuracy. Thematic analysis revealed two main dimensions: a clinical-therapeutic one, typically negative in tone, centred on symptoms, suffering, treatments, hospital admission and substance use; and a social dimension, highlighting stigma, rejection, loneliness and incomprehension. Although many songs linked psychosis to violence and crime, others framed it as a source of wisdom, freedom or creativity. Overall, punk music offers a complex and polarised discourse on mental illness, reflecting societal perceptions that oscillate between empathy and the reinforcement of stereotypes.