Silver Linings Playbook Psychology

“They are dangerous, compulsive, unpredictable, weird looking, needs to be on medication” are the usual responses one may receive when asking the question “What do you think about people who suffer from mental illnesses”? Unfortunately, media has depicted individuals who suffer from any mental disorders unfairly for several years. Often, people are generated to accept behaviors that they often see happening in “real” time such as movies, T.V shows, news announcements, or even reading books. This can be shown in the movie Silver Linings Playbook, actresses Catherine Zeta-Jones and Amanda Bynes. Some people may become enraged when noticing how the media depicts individuals who suffer with mental disorders within the surrounding society. However,
This fictional movie is a great example of how the media completely destroys the image of individual’s who suffer from Bipolar. Pat showed symptoms of being manic and depressive after catching his wife having an affair. Afterwards, Pat became extremely depressive and manic, causing him to go into a mental facility. After being discharged, his treatment was medication and therapy. Several viewers may feel that Bipolar is classified as being primarily related to anger compulsions and becoming violent because of Pats actions. However, this is completely inaccurate. According to The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), an individual must have at least five out of nine symptoms such as, depressed mood of the entire day, fatigue or loss of energy, and/or feelings of worthlessness, etc. In addition to the misleading information about Bipolar, viewers may also notice and come to believe that mental disorders can be resolved simply by falling in love. (Young,
It was not until April 2011, that Catherine-Zeta Jones checked herself into a mental facility around the same time her husband Michael Douglas was diagnosed with cancer. According to InStyle magazine, Zeta-Jones said “I hope I can help remove any stigma attached to it, and that those who don’t have it under control will seek help with all that is available to treat it”. The media bombarded Catherine about her short five day stay at the facility and made this open to the public. People Magazine printed 1,257,536 copies within one week with the cover title: Catherine Zeta-Jones Battling Bipolar Disorder, Inside Her Private Struggle. The public will never look at Catherine the way they used to because of how badly the media made her out to