Silver Linings Playbook

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Movie Midterm Paper Alexa Snyder Thomas Jefferson University PSYCH 223: Marriage and Family Adrienne O’Hara February 29, 2024 Having a family member or being the family member with mental illness is tough. Especially bipolar because with bipolar it does not affect oneself as much as it affects the people around them. In the movie Silver Linings Playbook, it is obvious that the son, Pat, is bipolar with delusions. The bipolar ultimately ended Pat’s marriage and caused him to be hospitalized. Pat comes from a traditional Italian family. He was brought home from the hospital to live with his family. He refused to take his medication at first, but after a fight with his parents got physical, he started to take it seriously. Pat meets …show more content…

This isn’t uncommon for people with mental illnesses. He spent a lot of time working on his figure and mental state, all for Nikki. Everything he did was for Nikki, he was only living for her. Pat did not want to get better mentally for himself, he wanted to do it so Nikki would take him back. He refused to let Nikki go, this is shown when he breaks his restraining order and refuses to take his medication. Once he started hanging out with Tiffany and actually taking his medication as prescribed, he started to forget about Nikki without realizing it. Once he let go of Nikki, he was able to continue working on himself, but now for growth and development within himself. When looking at individuality, we don’t get to see the process that took place. We do know that he lived with his wife, got cheated on and ended up back with his parents. Pat ending up back up with his parents is a result of his bipolar, but it does take a toll on the individuation process. He was independent and living on his own before, and now he is back under his parents’ roof with their rules. He is an adult, but because of his disorder, they are very cautious about where he goes or what he does. In a sense, this is an example of pseudo-individuation. Pat tried to go off on his own, but ultimately ended

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