Analysis Of It's Kind Of A Funny Story

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Major Depressive Disorder Portrayed in It’s Kind of a Funny Story
Summary of the Movie & Description of the Portrayal of the Psychological Disorder It’s Kind of a Funny Story is a novel written by Ned Vizzini that was later turned into a movie. The movie features a chronically depressed teenager, Craig, who checks himself into a mental-health facility after he almost attempts to kill himself. After examining him, Craig’s doctors decide that he needs to stay in the facility for a few days; However, the area of the facility that adolescents typically stay in is under renovation, so Craig is placed in the adult section. The movie shows Craig’s journey as he meets new people and attempts to overcome his depression. As one would assume from a …show more content…

People who suffer from major depressive disorder live their lives in a state of misery that often results in unavailability for education and abandonment of promising careers (cite textbook), shown when Craig begins to disregard his school work even though he is set up to be successful with his perfect score of 800 out of 800 on his school’s entrance exam. Additionally, cite textbook also reports that this condition may require hospitalization in some cases, which Craig …show more content…

Major depressive disorder is considered to be episodic, meaning that symptoms are present at their peak for a certain period of time but gradually go away (textbook). These episodes of major depressive disorder can last for months, though most people diagnosed with this condition recover within a year. After just a few days in the mental-health facility, Craig has more confidence in himself and sees life in a more positive light— showing that his symptoms did not go away gradually, but rather suddenly. Thus, It’s Kind of a Funny Story nearly perfectly showcases what major depressive disorder is like, with the only hole in its representation being the fact that this condition is episodic and the symptoms go away gradually, whereas Craig’s symptoms went away suddenly.

References
Degges-White, S., & Borzumato-Gainey, C. (2014). College Student Mental Health Counseling :
A Developmental Approach. New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company.
Lasalvia, A., Zoppei, S., Van Bortel, T., Bonetto, C., Cristofalo, D., Wahlbeck, K., Thornicroft,
G. (2013). Global pattern of experienced and anticipated discrimination reported by people with major depressive disorder: A cross-sectional survey. The Lancet, 381, 55–62.
OpenStax College, Psychology. OpenStax College. 8 December 2014. (-- removed HTML --)

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