Mental health through film

Movies that deal with mental health range from horror films like “The Silence of the Lambs” and “Black Swan” to feel-good family films like Pixar’s “Inside Out” and “What About Bob.”

According to David Wall, a film professor at Utah State University, this representation in film has evolved over time.

“Film is always going to reflect the culture of the moment,” Wall said. “There’s been quite a lot of films over the past 10, 15, or 20 years that have dealt with mental health as a central subject, which I think reflects the broader acceptable public discussion around those issues.”

One of the best films that depicts mental health in a positive light, according to Wall and Michael Twohig, a psychology professor at USU, is “Silver Linings Playbook.”

The 2012 film stars Bradley Cooper as a recently divorced teacher who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. After being released from treatment at a mental health facility, he meets Tiffany, played by Jennifer Lawrence. The rom-com follows the two through their struggles with mental health and how they eventually fall in love.

“It doesn’t shy away from the realities of some of those things,” Wall said. “It does a really good job of wanting its audience to understand and not reject it because they feel mental health issues have nothing to do with me.”

Twohig praises the film’s portrayal of borderline-personality disorder as extremely accurate.

“I have to think that they’re hiring psychologists or they had some psychologists mixed up in the writing of that because I don’t know how you’d be that accurate otherwise,” he said.

One problem many movies face in portraying mental health is being able to outwardly show something that is inherently an internal struggle. Because of this, many films can exaggerate symptoms or even combine disorders.

“I often find that what’s shown in a movie is exacerbated,” Twohig said. “That could be a negative because maybe a person thinks they’re always that large, when often people have smaller versions of these disorders.”

Wall explained movies and popular culture in general are a medium for discourse and communication around difficult subjects and modern movies are much more sympathetic towards issues of mental health.

Hannah Freeman, a USU student, also thinks it’s important to bring awareness.

“I do think that movies are a good way to advocate for important themes like mental health,” she said.

At the end of the day, movies are also meant to entertain. Twohig, who studies psychological issues, said he enjoys films regardless of whether the depiction is accurate or not.

“I’m always entertained when they match,” Twohig said. “And I’m entertained when they’re too big and I’m entertained when they get it wrong. I just think of it like a TV show, and they’re trying to have fun.”

Below are other popular movies to watch that portray mental illnesses.

• “Girl, Interrupted” (1999): Winona Ryder plays a young girl who is institutionalized following a suicide attempt and befriends another patient.
• “Iron Man 3” (2013): Tony Stark, played by Robert Downey Jr., deals with PTSD after the events of the “Avengers” movie.
• “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” (1975): Jack Nicholson’s character chooses a mental institution over going to prison and is surprised by the treatment of the patients.
• “Little Miss Sunshine” (2006): A dysfunctional family roadtrips to California to get a daughter, played by Abigail Breslin, to compete in a beauty pageant.
• “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” (2012): Shy, anxious freshman Charlie, played by Logan Lerman, becomes friends with charismatic older students Sam and Patrick, played by Emma Watson and Ezra Miller.

-Maggie.Erekson@usu.edu

Featured photo by: Kate Smith