In the movie Silver Linings Playbook there are two main characters, Pat and Tiffany, whom portray a type of mental illness. Below, I will explain each character in regards to their symptoms and portrayal of mental illness and compare the information discussed in the Abnormal Psychology Textbook. Pat (Bradley Cooper): In the beginning, Pat was recently discharged from a mental health facility for dangerous aggression after witnessing his wife cheat on him with a co-worker. Personally, it seemed as though Pat Solitano meets the criteria for Bipolar I Disorder. Bipolar Disorder is the tendency of manic episodes to alternate with major depressive episodes, like a roller coaster. (Barlow, D., Durand, M., Stewart,S., & Lalumière, M., 2014, p. 222). According to the textbook, borderline personality disorder is one of the most common personality disorders. People with borderline personality disorder lead unrestrained lives. Their moods and relationships are unstable and they usually have a very poor self image, recurrent feelings of emptiness and fear of abandonment. (Barlow, D., Durand, M., Stewart, S., & Lalumière, M., 2014, p. 444). That said, Tiffany was not diagnosed nor mentioned to have borderline personality disorder in the movie, but she did portray some of the symptoms that are listed from the It tells the story of a person, family and community in which individuals suffer from mental disorders much the same way as people do in the real world. Not only did I find this movie quite accurate concerning mental illness but I also established some important messages concerning mental illness in today’s society. The film takes into account that mental illness is a part of society and overall has a positive outlook on it. Their illnesses don 't define their identities nor are they even the main point of the story. In coming together, the characters find the mutual support that enables them to approach their struggles and redirect their lives in a more positive direction. To some degree, this film addresses stigma and the fact that persons with mental illness should be allowed to participate in society over being kept in a hospital, in other words, it gives
Silver Linings Playbooks tells the story of Pat Solitano Jr. (played by Bradley Cooper), a high school teacher diagnosed with bipolar disorder who is trying to get his life back together. The movie opens as Pat is released from a psychiatric hospital after eight months of treatment and moves back in with his parents. He is determined to get back together with his wife, Nikki, despite all the signs that say she does not want to be with him - such as the restraining order she filed against him. Pat meets recently widowed Tiffany Maxwell (played by Jennifer Lawrence), who is suffering from depression and overcoming a sex addiction that ensued from the death of her husband. Tiffany offers to help deliver Pat’s letters to Nikki if he enters a dance competition with her. As the movie goes on, Pat and Tiffany’s relationship progresses and they learn to cope with their issues.
Disco Di have shown these symptoms during her time when she ran away from her parents because they would not pay attention to her. She got into drugs use, had many promiscuous relationships with boys. Her relations with these boys were full off passion and chaotic with many violent arguments. She would seek out excitements such as getting drunk and go dancing where she would leave with strange men then have intercourse. After being admitted to a hospital, she would always expect and demanded that people would always have to pay attention to her. Also, I believe this because in the journal “Histrionic Personality Disorder” it stated “Histrionic PD is indicated when people exaggerate their emotions and go to excessive lengths to seek attention” (Crawford et al, 2007) and this is indicated when Disco Di ran away from home because she believed her parent did not pay enough attention to her. Next, the diagnostic feature of her other disorder, borderline personality disorder, is that mark of instability of mood, unstable relationships, chronic feeling of emptiness and recurrent threats of
For my final essay, I have chosen the movie “Fatal Attraction”, and I will focus on Alex Forrest and her mental disorder. Borderline Personality was displayed in the movie and Alex had almost every symptom of this disorder. Throughout this essay, I will be discussing Alex’s characteristics, intelligence, motivation, stress, social influences and/ or personality theories, treatment, and if the depiction of the disorder and treatment is consistent with what was discussed and read in the course.
The main character Pat who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, displayed signs of manic episodes such as: fast talking, rambling with words, and no sleep. There were about 3 scenes of Pat waking his parents up early in the morning because he was looking for something, or could not wait to tell them something in the morning. Throughout most of the film, Pat exhibits a lot of delusions. Before hospitalization, it is briefly mentioned that Pat was accusing his wife and another teacher (who ironically was the man who this wife cheated on) embezzling money from him. After hospitalization, there were delusions that him and his wife were perfect for each other and they were going to be work through their marriage when that clearly was not the
In Pat’s family, he was always seen as the outcast and was not treated the same as others. His father says in the movie that he regrets not spending as much time with him as a kid and that he was trying to make up for it now. His father did not know how to handle Pat’s violent mood swings as a child, and that led to them having an unhealthy father-son relationship. One thing that I have learned throughout this chapter is how important family is in helping a person with a mental illness and guiding them through their process of recovery. There are many factors that can drive and worsen a mental disorder, but there are also many factors that can help improve a person’s mental disorder.
The character representing borderline personality disorder in this film was Alex. She displays the wide criterion for the disorder quite accurately with a few exaggerations for entertainment
In the movie “Crazy Beautiful”, the main character Nicole obviously has a mental illness. I believe this comes from a multiplicity of reasons such as genetics, and her abuse of alcohol. Also, it appears as Carlos has a much more difficult life than Nicole, however he is not the one with the mental illness. I will go into further detail on what I think why the illness is with Nicole, not Carlos. Nicole is a very interesting character; she just needed to find her weakness and work through it with people who care about her.
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a mental illness characterized by patterns of ongoing instability in moods, behavior, self-image, and functioning. An individual suffering from this disorder may act impulsively and experience unstable relationships (The National Institute of Mental Health, 2016). The term Borderline Personality Disorder stems from the idea that the characteristics of this disorder fall between anxiety and psychosis (Cacioppo & Freberg, 2016). According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (2017), “1.6% of the adult U.S. population have BPD but it may be as high as 5.9%. Nearly 75% of people diagnosed with BPD are women, but recent research suggests that men may be almost as frequently
Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a very common personality disorder that is often confused with Bipolar disorder. Unlike Bipolar disorder which is when a person’s mood changes from depression to manic, borderline personality disorder is when a person suffers from unstable emotions, behavior and relationships with others and themselves. Individuals who suffer from severe BPD often have manic/ psychotic encounters. This disorder is very common in young adults, especially in women of every race and ethnicity. BPD was first added to the addition of DSM-III in 1980. Borderline Personality disorder can be linked to many other disorders such as depression, eating disorders, bipolar depression, schizophrenia and/or attempted or completed suicides. According to National Institute of Mental Health: about 85 percent of people with BPD also meet the diagnostic criteria for another mental illness. Medical Professionals take interest in this disorder because it is deep rooted and irregular unlike many other disorders. 1 in every 25 individual’s live with this disorder
Salters-Pedneault, Kristalyn, PhD. "The BPD Family." About.com Borderline Personality. N.p., 30 Apr. 2013. Web. 02 Mar. 2014.
The video, Back From the Edge: Living With and Recovering From Borderline Personality Disorder (2012), created by the Borderline Personality Disorder at New York-Presbyterian (n.a), not only has an excellent summary of symptoms, treatments, and biological predispositions of BPD, but it also includes success stories and documentaries of those diagnosed with the dreadful illness. On the other hand the video also captures the family’s perspective of the illness and how they have coped with the distress of having a close loved one who has the diagnoses of BPD. The video also consists of expert psychiatrists including Dr. Wayne Fenton, Dr. John Gunderson, and Dr. Otto Kenberg as well as a psychologist, Dr. Marsha Linehan who provide explanations of the illness as well as effective treatment interventions that bring a sense of hope and relief to those struggling with BPD.
Given the information of Stampler’s character, a provisional diagnosis of 301.7 Antisocial Personality Disorder can be specified. According to the DSM-5 (American Psychiatric Association, 2013), antisocial personality disorder is defined as “A pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of others, occurring since the age of 15 years” (P. 659). For criterion A, Stampler portrays criterion A1 of continuing to perform unlawful acts. Stampler commits the murder of the archbishop, kills his girlfriend Linda, physically assaults his lawyer, and also grabs the attorney around her neck in court and threatens to kill her. Criterion A2, displaying deceitfulness, is present and is the twist on the movie. Stampler knowingly continues to lie about having two personalities separated by a lost in time and amnesia. He states that he often blacks out and does not remember anything that others witness during the arrival of the Roy character. Stampler alludes that there was a third person at the crime scene of which he does not remember. He also cons his lawyer and makes him believe that he did not commit murder, is innocent and does not remember any of
What symptoms of mental illness did you see in the movie? After considering typical symptoms and behaviors for this disorder, determine the extent to which you believe this was a realistic portrayal of this disorder. In seeing the different personalities throughout the movie at times it did appear realistic, however there obvious character in this movie that were very unrealistic. An example would be with one of the
The purpose of this paper is to give a student perspective critic on the movie “Silver Lining Playbook”. The main points include, the behaviors and diagnosis of Patrick Solitano, and his father, Pat Solitano Sr., and Tiffany Maxwell. We discuss the how well they performed their role as a person with a certain mental disorder, if the symptoms were accurately portrayed cor-rectly and the treatments they used. By this, we watched the movie, and used five references from different websites, which included the history, treatment, causes, and effects, of the certain mental disorder. By using the sources, we could draw
The movie accurately portrays the nature of schizophrenia using John Nash as a perfect example, who exhibits many of the key symptoms of the disease. An inability to communicate is one of the main symptoms of schizophrenia, one which takes its toll on interpersonal relationships and intimacy. The movie does an excellent job showing the problems that Alicia had as she tries to help her husband seek treatment and recover from the disease. A Beautiful Mind directly shows a medical definition of schizophrenia. Nash exhibits many of the key symptoms of the disease: hallucinations (he has a roommates but he lives in a single dorm room), delusions (thinks he works for the government), ideas of reference, poor social skills (mumbles, doesn’t talk much to strangers), awkward gestures and facial expressions, and jumbled speech. I do, however, feel it is impossible for a film to convey the exact experience of a schizophrenic or to cover all the elements of the illness.