More handpicked essays just for you.
How the media depicts mental health
Research on media portrayal of mental illness research paper
How the media depicts mental health
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Schizophrenia is a psychologic disorder with symptoms of different mixtures of delusions, hallucinations, disorganized thinking and markedly disorganized or catatonic behavior (Bergsholm, 2016). The main theme in the movie “Black Swan” is to show the process of a normal person to become a schizophrenia patient. The main character, Nina, is a ballet dancer and she is in a very competitive ballet company. As the movie goes on, she gradually appears the symptoms of hallucination, paranoid delusion, self-mutilation, aggressive behavior, hostility and suicide attempt (Velligan, Alphs, 2008). The actions of Nina has clearly shown that Nina is experiencing schizophrenia. Therefore, the movie “Black Swan” is accurately representing schizophrenia with concrete details and images.
The ballet company wants one dancer to perform the white and black swan at the same time
…show more content…
Nina is very angry and she pushes Lily to the mirror, which causes the mirror shatter. Nina grabs a glass shard and stabs to Lily’s stomach. Then, she returns to the stage to perform. Lily is on the stage too, which indicates that what happens in the dressing room is the hallucination of Nina and that she is stabbing herself. A research shows that schizophrenia patient has a very high percentage of suicidal even they have therapy and medication (Pompili, Amador, Girardi, et al, 2007). Her hallucination is trying to control her to kill herself and it works. In the end of the movie, she dies because of severe bleeding. Nina has demonstrated paranoid delusion throughout the whole movie and a research finds out that paranoid schizophrenics are more likely to commit suicide as they have command hallucinations (Pompili, Amador, Girardi, et al, 2007). Nina’s action shows a clear example of how hallucinations are dangerous and why people with schizophrenia is at risk of
Schizophrenia is one of the most well known and surprisingly frequent psychological disorders today. Patients who have this disorder have problems separating reality from fantasy or delusion. Typically, the person with schizophrenia starts off with a small paranoia about something or someone and continues to get more and more problematic until he/she has trouble functioning in the real world because of emotional, physical, mental, or financial reasons. Because of this, most people who end up homeless have Schizophrenia because they are unable to keep a job, Nathaniel Ayes in the book The Soloist. Nathaniel was a cello player attending the Julliard school of music, one of the world’s most prestigious performing art schools, until he developed schizophrenia and was unable to continue. This book shows how much a disorder such as schizophrenia can turn a person’s life upside down in the course of as little as a few weeks.
Schizophrenia is the most severe of all the psychotic disorders. Sak’s states “…it’s not ‘split personality,’ although the two are often confused by the public; the schizophrenic mind is not split, but shattered. (Saks, p. 328)” In my creative portion, there are images, in which the artist intended to portray the feeling of having schizophrenia, Like Saks, they want the world to understand the truth about their disorder.
Symptoms of mental illness vary and may affect a person’s mood, thinking, and social interaction with others. In comparison to the documentary, Nina Simone has a reputation of being moody and angry to which later she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. There were certain situations in the film where she would write down suicidal thoughts in her journal during her depression and people in the film would recall times where she would have fits of anger throughout her life that affected her career. Evidently, the mental behavior of a person is something that could affect their position in society. In the case of Nina Simone, her mental behavior has affected all aspects of her life regarding her musical career and relationships to which it negatively impacted her career, relationships, and people’s perception of Nina Simone during her life.
The movie, “Girl Interrupted,”is about a teenage girl named Susanna Kaysen who has been diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder. People with Borderline Personality Disorder “are often emotionally unstable, impulsive, unpredictable, irritable, and anxious. They also are prone to boredom. Their behavior is similar to that of individuals with schizotypal personality disorder but they are not as consistently withdrawn and bizarre” (Santrock, 2003). In “Girl Interrupted” Susanna Kaysen the main character, goes through many episodes that give a picture of the disorder she’s suffering from. The first such incident occurs when the psychiatrist is talks to Susanna about her failed suicide attempt. During the conversation, she is seen as confused and irritated by his presence. While the psychiatrist questions her, her mind seems to be somewhere else because she is having flash backs of her past, maybe a sign of ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder). Susanna seems to be uncertain about things, she claims that she does not know what she feels. She was taken to the hospital after she tried to commit suicide, she took a bottle of aspirin. Her reason for taking the full bottle of aspirin was major headache, which was also alarming to the psychiatrist.
According to (Barlow, 2001), Schizophrenia is a psychological or mental disorder that makes the patient recognize real things and to have abnormal social behavior. Schizophrenia is characterized by symptoms such as confused thinking, hallucinations, false beliefs, demotivation, reduced social interaction and emotional expressions (Linkov, 2008). Diagnosis of this disorder is done through observation of patient’s behavior, and previously reported experiences (Mothersill, 2007). In this paper, therefore, my primary goal is to discuss Schizophrenia and how this condition is diagnosed and treated.
There are several people every year that are diagnosed with a mental disorder. In the world’s entire population, more than one percent of people have been diagnosed with schizophrenia (Brain and Behavior Research Foundation). When thinking of the billions of people in the world, it might not seem like that many people but once the number of those diagnosed is calculated it seems much larger. Currently there are more than seventy million people in the world that have been diagnosed with schizophrenia, only diagnosed. There are probably several more people who have this disorder and have not been diagnosed or are unable to obtain the resources to be diagnosed.
Few scenes later, I found out that Lily never even went home with Nina. Another thing that I felt was not real, is when Nina became came for the performance and Lily said “what is she doing here, you were supposed to be sick”, like Lily did not want Nina there, but throughout some of the movie Lily was aiding Nina. The scene I believe to most crucial is when Nina fought and killed Lily. Nina went out, had a great performance; and when she was done Lily congratulated her. Later it revealed that she ended up stabbing herself and not killing Lily.
The Black Swan was originally a play, created into a film in 2010. Nina is part of the New York City ballet company. She is a very hard working and dedicated ballerina whose life consists mainly of ballet practice, and rarely any fun. She has been chosen to play the role of the black swan in the upcoming performance Swan Lake. Although Nina was the directors first choice, she begins to develop a bit of competition with another dancer in the company, Lily. They go back and forth with being friends, then competing against one another. The idea of the black swan requires someone to play both the white and black swan components of the piece. One being portrayed with innocence and grace, and the other with a darker side of sensuality. Viewers begin
Mental hospitals shape people, there is no denying that. Put someone in and will they heal and thrive like Susanna Kaysen? Or will they fall victim to the cold hard system like Randy McMurphy? Both films One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Girl, Interrupted demonstrate society’s desire to label and push any unique person who does not fit traditional expectations as mentally unstable. Characters like Nurse Ratchet seem detached and uninterested in their patients throwing medications around that most likely ended up hurting their patients rather than helping them just to hold the ruse that they are trying. If medical professionals all acted solely on personal gain then there would be no need for them, mental illness should not be regarded differently from a broken leg, the patient’s well-being should always be the top priority.
Schizophrenia is a disease that plagues many individuals today and though medications can help alleviate the symptoms there is no known cure for the illness. There are a multitude of representations of schizophrenia in the media. This paper will focus on A Beautiful Mind; a film that focuses on John Forbes Nash Jr. Nash was a mentally gifted individual. He attended Princeton and his mathematical work has changed society greatly. In the movie, Russell Crowe played John Nash in A Beautiful Mind. Throughout the movie Crowe did an amazing job depicting the multiple symptoms of schizophrenia. Within this paper I will focus on the positive symptoms, negative symptoms, positive hallucinations, effects of medication, and the time frame of the illness represented in the film.
The film, A Beautiful Mind (2001) is the fictional account of the life of a mathematician and the Nobel Prize-winning economist, John Forbes Nash, Jr. in his struggles with schizophrenia. The film was inspired from the unauthorized biography of the same name written by Sylvia Nasar (Wikipedia). Schizophrenia is a chronic brain disorder through which a person has difficulty in interpreting reality which may result to the combinations of hallucinations, delusions, and disordered thinking and behavior though this disease is not associated and cannot be referred to with split-personality but it is solely pertinent to disruption of natural balance of thinking and emotions (Mayo Clinic). This case study will feature the titular character of the film (stated above), John Forbes Nash, Jr. The observations and assessments as well as other useful information covered in this study were all based upon the film, A Beautiful Mind (2001).
Nina has also blacked out on several occasions and shows signs of mutilation to her body without her knowledge: bruises, cuts, and scratches. According to her mother, Nina used to self-mutilate when she was a child, but it has recently started happening again. Nina sees images of herself, but a different and “evil” version of herself. This could be the awakening of an alter personality or sub-personality. Nina’s stress level with the new performance in her ballet company may have played a part in this change.
The movie "A Beautiful Mind" tells the story of Nobel Prize winner John Nash's struggle with schizophrenia. It follows his journey from the point where he is not even aware he has schizophrenia, to the point where Nash and his wife find a way to manage his condition. The movie provides a lot of information and insight into the psychological condition of schizophrenia, including information on the symptoms, the treatment and cures, the life for the individual and for the individual's family. The movie is effective at demonstrating various concepts related to schizophrenia, and provides an insight into the disease of schizophrenia.
In the film “ A Beautiful Mind” John Nash experiences a few different positive symptoms. The first of these positive symptoms are seen through the hallucinations John has of having a room -mate while at Princeton. This room- mate continues to stay “in contact” with John through out his adult life and later this room- mate’s niece enters Johns mind as another coinciding hallucination. Nash’s other hallucination is Ed Harris, who plays a government agent that seeks out Nash’s intelligence in the field of code- breaking.
One of the myths displayed in Black Swan is about how people with schizophrenia are all paranoid. Throughout the movie, Nina becomes more paranoid about losing her leading role and even stabs herself with a piece of glass, believing that she stabbed Lily. People with schizophrenia are not all paranoid.