by Patrick Santilli, LPCC - DigiTherapyOhio
By: Patrick Santilli, Lpcc - Digitherapyohio
Tags: Autism, Trauma, Mental Health, Movies, Depression

Various ways mental health has been portrayed over the decades.

Movies have many different points of focus; overall entertainment, bringing book characters to life, re-imagining previously told stories, challenging ones views, eliciting emotions, and education. Movies that aim to educate audiences can often help to challenge one’s beliefs and help them break down certain stereotypes.

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For example, a mental health professional might use the drama The Hours, based on Virginia Woolf’s novel, to describe depression quite fully, Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine to illustrate the effects of histrionic personality disorder, which can be rather difficult to be explained to students only through words. He loves me… He loves me not, with Audrey Tautou, illustrates the effects of an illusory disorder, and in the film A Beautiful Mind, Russell Crowe shows us the drama caused by severe schizophrenia in the life of mathematician John Nash.

If you are interested in seeing various ways mental health can be depicted in film, we have selected for you ten emblematic movies. Warning: possible spoilers for the movies discusses.

10. Play Misty For Me — 1971

Diagnosis Depicted: Personality Disorder

DJ Dave Garver has a date with a passionate fan named Evelyn Draper. Later, in her apartment, she admits that she is the one who always calls him to ask for the song ‘Misty’ from Erroll Garner. From that point forward, the film becomes a lesson on how a single meeting can change someone’s life completely. Evelyn follows Dave everywhere. Forms an unhealthy attachment to him resulting in her destroying his house and belongings, and threatening to kill his girlfriend, Tobie Williams. Play Misty for Me is a glimpse into interpersonal boundaries. stalker behavior and personality disorders.

9. Through a Glass Darkly — 1961

Diagnosis Depicted: Schizophrenia

A young woman, Karin, has just returned to her family’s vacationing on an island after spending time in a mental hospital. On the island was her brother and father, who was an author who travelled all over the world, very far from the family and also uses her diagnosis as some subject matter for his writing. The film shows how Karin easily detaches herself from reality and how the connections between family members change because of this. Karin experiences certain delusions centred around meeting God as well as visual hallucinations. Through a Glass Darkly is a glimpse into certain aspects of the diagnosis of schizophrenia and how mental health can impact a whole family.

8. Ordinary People — 1980

Diagnosis Depicted: Trauma, Grief, and Depression

Beth, Calvin and their son Conrad live their lives after the death of their other son. Conrad becomes very sad and is credited with a suicide attempt. He is in therapy. Beth always preferred her brother and did not support Conrad at all. Calvin is caught between the two and tries to keep the family together. Ordinary People is a glimpse into the impact trauma, grief, and depression can have on the family structure as well as an individual.

7. Psycho — 1960

Diagnosis Depicted: Dissociation Disorders

Maybe Hitchcock’s most famous picture, Psycho tells the story of Marion Crane, a hard-working woman from Phoenix, Arizona, in over her head with many debts to her name. Early in the film, Marion’s employer asks her to deposit $ 40,000 at the bank. Desperate to change her life, she runs away with the money from the city, wanting to move in with her boyfriend Sam in California. During her night trip to California, a torrential storm comes and makes her stop at the Bates Motel. The motel is run by Norman Bates, a young man in the care of his disabled and mentally ill mother.

Marion has a change of heart after hearing about Norman’s story and vows to go back to Arizona in the morning to return the money. While showering before bed, she is stabbed to death in the shower by a mysterious figure. As the story unravels, we come to find out that Norman killed his mother many years ago and has recreated his mother as an alternate personality. This “Mother” personality is a reflection of Bates’ mother when she was alive; depicting her as jealous and possessive. Whenever Norman feels attracted to a woman, his “Mother” personality kills her. Psycho is a glimpse into the impact mental health and trauma has on all family members and shows the depiction of dissociation disorder in film.

6. What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? — 1993

Diagnosis Depicted: Autism

What’s Eating Gilbert Grape is a film of extraordinary sensitivity in which the action takes place in the working class in the town of Endora. Focused on the Grape family, Ellen and Amy and their brothers Arnie and Gilbert, who along with their obese mother, Bonnie Grape, struggle to survive without a father with little money, given that 17-year-old Arnie has Autism. What’s Eating Gilbert Grape is a glimpse into the impact mental health and disability has on the family structure as well as social economic status when social services are not readily available.

5. A Beautiful Mind — 2001

Diagnosis Depicted: Schizophrenia

In A Beautiful Mind, we follow the life of John Nash of Princeton University, who grows to make a contribution to his work on game theory and the world of mathematics. In the film, he makes a discovery that will bring him the Nobel Prize. After graduation, he returns to teach at Princeton, entering into a relationship with his student Alicia Larde. Meanwhile, the United States Department of Defense contacts him with a classified assignment: to look for hidden patterns in magazines and newspapers in order to thwart a Soviet plot. Nash becomes more and more paranoid until he makes a life-changing discovery. A Beautiful Mind is a film interpretation into the visual mind of mathematician and diagnosed schizophrenic John Nash. The film covers several symptoms of schizophrenia and how it can complicate one’s life.

4. Rain man — 1988

Diagnosis Depicted: Autism

Charlie is a charlatan. He has been on his feet for a long time to know how the world works. He soon finds out that his father, who kicked him out when he was a teenager, died and that he also has a brother, Raymond. Raymond is autistic, but he is able to calculate very complicated mathematical problems in his mind at a very high speed. Their father left all Raymond’s fortune. Charlie later finds out Raymond doesn’t understand what money is for. Charlie is very annoyed by this situation and the fact that his father hid Raymond from him all his life. Charlie kidnaps Raymond and takes advantage of his mathematics skills. They begin a journey in which they will discover each other despite their differences in personality and upbringing. Rain Man is a glimpse into certain aspects of the autism diagnosis and how it can be viewed, and often misunderstood, in society.

3. Girl, Interrupted — 1999

Diagnosis Depicted: Personality Disorder, trauma, and abuse.

Susanna is very depressed after finishing school in the late ’60s. After overdosing on pills, she is diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and the diagnosing psychiatrist sends her to “rest and regroup” at the private mental hospital, McLean. She befriends a group of troubled women, but falls into the nets of Lisa, the wildest in the group. Girl Interrupted, is a glimpse into mental health care in the 1960s focusing on medications, the nature of diagnoses, and the culture of mental hospitals with patients and the staff.

2. Donnie Darko — 2001

Diagnosis Depicted: Schizophrenia

Donnie Darko does not get along well with his family, teachers and peers. One night, Donnie begins to sleep walk and meet a hallucinations of a humanoid bunny he calls “Frank” who tells him the world is going to end in 28 days. Over the following days he is sent to a psychiatrist who diagnoses him with paranoid schizophrenia. Donnie continues to see Frank and his behaviors are becoming influenced by him. This incident and Donnie trying to come to terms with the world ending soon spark series of events where many characters in the town are influenced by Donnie’s actions either directly or indirectly. Donnie Darko, begins depicting symptoms schizophrenia and hallucinations, although by the end of the movie, the focus shifts more to supernatural topics and timeline/reality connections ultimately with its twist ending.

1. Fight Club — 1999

Diagnosis Depicted: Insomnia, dissociative identity disorder, terminal illness, and antisocial personality disorder.

The narrator suffers from insomnia. He tried in many ways to cure this but failed. He begins to frequent support groups for terminal illnesses which helps him sleep. While he manages to fall asleep due to these support groups he meets Marla and several groups, resulting his routine to be thrown off and his insomnia symptoms return. They find out that they have a lot in common and spend a lot of time together. While traveling, he meets Tyler and after a short conversation, they become close friends.

Tyler and the narrator soon both lowered their tension one night by hitting each other. They make this a weekly routine to let off frustration and help him sleep. Soon, words is heard about their secret club and many other people become interested. A club with multiple members is soon formed, which the two called ‘Fight Club’. They start to give a lot of time to this but also to make a lot of money. Through the movie, Tyler convinces the narrator and other members into an anti-materialist/anti-corporate group acting out domestic terrorism acts against big businesses. Culminating in the destruction of several big buildings in their downtown area. Towards the end of the film, it is revealed Tyler is an alternate personality the narrator made up during his bouts of insomnia and it was the narrator mentally projecting aspects of his personality into “Tyler.” Fight Club depicts many mental health topics including the impacts insomnia has on someone, dissociative identity disorders, terminal illnesses and mental health, and antisocial personality disorder.

The film industry is often accused of exaggerating, downplaying, or perpetuating stereotypes about mental health struggles. This is not the case for all movies, however. There have been enough films that illustrated mental health very delicately and nuanced, resulting in a wide range of films to educate people about mental health.

Note: no movie is perfect in their depiction and should not be used in any way of self-diagnosing or to fully understand any diagnosis or symptoms. Contact a licensed mental health professional for an accurate mental health diagnosis.

Are you in need of finding some direction or understanding in your life? DigiTherapyOhio provides quality online mental health care for residents of Ohio. Find us at www.digitherapyohio.com

References

Eastwood, C. (Director). (1971). Play Misty For Me [Film]. The Malpaso Company.

Bergman, I. (Director). (1961). Through a Glass Darkly [Film]. Janus Films.

Redford, R. (Director). (1980). Ordinary People [Film]. Wildwood Enterprises, Inc.

Hitchcock, A. (Director). (1960). Psycho [Film]. Paramount Pictures.

Hallström, L. (Director). (1993). What’s Eating Gilbert Grape [Film]. Matalon Teper Ohlsson.

Howard, R. (Director). (2001). A Beautiful Mind [Film]. Imagine Entertainment.

Levinson, B. (Director). (1988). Rain Man [Film]. Guber-Peters Company, Star Partners II, Ltd.

Mangold, J. (Director). (1999). Girl, Interrupted [Film]. Columbia Pictures.

Kelly, R. (Director). (2001). Donnie Darko [Film]. Flower Films.

Fincher, D. (Director). (1999). Fight Club [Film]. Fox 2000 Pictures, Regency Enterprises, Linson Films.