Silver Linings Playbook Psychology

Silver Linings Playbook
“Excelsior! I’m gonna take all this negativity and use it as fuel and I’m gonna find a silver lining. That’s what I’m gonna do” (Russell, 2013). A silver lining is defined as having optimism or a positive outlook on a situation that might seem gloomy on the outside. Silver Linings Playbook is centered around Pat Solitono Jr, a middle-aged man who just spent eight months in a psychiatric hospital for beating the man whom his wife had an affair with. Pat leaves the hospital determined to accomplish his unrealistic goal of winning his wife back. His motto is “Excelsior” (Russell, 2013) and he uses this to fuel his actions. He believes every negative action can result in a positive action. He also believes he can rise up and be superior over his actions and others to win his wife back. Pat has Bipolar I disorder with manic episodes that can be seen played out in the movie. He himself states, “undiagnosed bipolar with mood swings and weird thinking brought on by stress” (Russell, 2013).
Throughout the movie, Pat displays signs and symptoms of Bipolar I disorder. He has moods swings that go back and forth between manic episodes and depressed episodes. We see the manic episodes with his aggressive behavior, easy irritation, increased physical activity (always out jogging in the neighborhood), lack of sleep, and very poor

judgement. We see his depressed episodes with irritability, his lack of interest in once enjoyable activities, lack of sleep, and anxiousness (Townsend & Morgan, 2017). There were not many changes made in the movie regarding Bipolar I and how it is manifested in patients. When Pat was experiencing manic episodes, the movie correctly demonstrated how someone would act depending on whether they were manic or depressed. Pat was completely consumed with the idea of winning his wife back and all his energy was fueled toward that single goal. He had a decreased need for sleep, his ideas were flighty and racing, he would talk quickly and repetitively, and all his energy was focused on one particular goal (Townsend & Morgan, 2017). Even though it was not specifically stated or diagnosed in the movie, we determined that Pat had Bipolar I disorder because every scene in the movie portrayed some sign that related back to the disorder.
The following are some examples from the movie giving real-life situations where Pat’s bipolar disorder can be clearly seen. In the beginning of the movie when Pat comes home, his mother tells him to not say anything about his father losing his job. As soon as Pat walked in the house, Pat blurts out, “You said don’t say anything, but dad lost his job and he is book making” (Russell, 2013). Throughout the movie, we see that Pat has no filter when he talks and also has a problem where he does not know when to stop talking. One-night Pat is up searching for his wedding video and in doing this, he is destroying his room and starts to freak out because he cannot find it. He proceeds to wake up his parents to help him search. No one can find it so Pat goes into a manic episode where he starts screaming, crying, and becomes aggressive. Because of this state, he ends up accidentally hitting his mother in the nose (Russell, 2013).
Another example is when Pat was reading a book by Earnest Hemingway one night. His ex-wife is a teacher and this book is on her reading list. He is reading the book as a gesture to try and win her back. He gets so furious at the ending of the book that he throws it across the room and wakes his parents up again. He begins ranting about how awful it was and how mean it was of Hemmingway to end his book the way he chose to. His parents tell him to go to sleep and apologize for waking them up, but he refuses to apologies and puts the blame on Hemingway. He said Hemingway should be the one to apologies (Russell, 2013). He refused to take ownership of his actions and projected the blame onto another person.
Pat eventually goes to see his doctor and when he comes into the waiting room, the song My Cherie Amour by Stevie Wonder is playing.

This song was Pat’s wedding song with his ex-wife. It was also the song playing when he found his wife in the shower with another man. Pat becomes anxious that the song is playing and even though he tried to remain calm and not let it affect him, he couldn’t. Pat then knocks chairs across the room. It was an exercise, a part of his therapy, and his doctor wanted to see if it was still a trigger for him (Russell, 2013). This scene presented uncontrollable actions and

aggressiveness.
This movie provides a way for people to watch and learn about mental illnesses, but in an enjoyable way with comedic relief. There were educational aspects of the movie, but you can tell it was written more for entertainment purposes. Without having a background in the medical or psychiatric field, it would be hard for movie goers to understand the signs of the diseases being portrayed in the movie. Because we know the signs of bipolar disorder, we understand that Pat’s character is struggling with this specifically. This movie also appropriately portrays that mental illness is a part of our society. People all around us are struggling with a mental disorder, whether we realize it or not.
In conclusion, Silver Linings Playbook does an accurate job of portraying mental illnesses in real life. It gives the audience a healthy glimpse into the reality of an individual living with and trying to manage Bipolar I disorder. It sheds a hopeful light on the issue by showing people can live normal lives within society, but it also shows the audience the harsh truths of the battles they must overcome each day. As the audience, we are able to see Pat’s progression from the beginning to the end of the movie and observe hypomanic episodes followed by depressed episodes. Pat says, “I hate my illness and I want to control it” (Russell, 2013). This line alone should help change society’s view point; people with mental illness fight battles each day and long to be “normal.” He later stated, “…Craziness inside my head” (Russell, 2013). It is a part of who they are, and society should understand it does not encompass all of who they are as an individual. This movie did a great job highlighting that Pat is much more than his illness; he has craziness in him, but Pat is a good man who longs to overcome his disorder. As Pat would say, “Excelsior!” (Russell, 2013).