Mommie Dearest: Multiple Psychological Illness

In the United States there has been increasingly more conversations about mental illnesses. In some cultural communities, it is a taboo to speak about mental illness. This needs to change. More discussion on mental illnesses can help people get the treatment they need. Discrimination against the mentally ill needs to stop as well. The more discrimination people with mental illnesses face, the less likely they will be to interact with society which can potentially worsen their mental state. The absences of fathers and father figures is an ongoing issue which some predict might not slow down any time soon. The research previously mentioned comes to a general consensus that the absence of fathers and father figures are taking a toll on the lives of young children which can affect them later on in life. With that being said, it is important that present fathers maintain the relationships they currently have with their children and that mothers find a well-equipped person to be a father figure in their children

Parents that are going through a marriage breakdown, divorce and separation can be stressful for all involved particularly the children/young person. They can become emotionally withdrawn and suffer a lack of confidence which can create low self esteem. Due to family upheaval, they may lose focus in their own abilities and suffer mentally. Similarly, children

Obsessive-compulsive disorder was the disorder most evident within Joan’s personality, throughout, the movie. This disorder demands perfection, and that’s in everything. There are often ridiculous rules within the household, and often times the home will be perfectly clean. For example, in the movie Joan blows a gasket on her daughter Christina, because, Joan finds a wire hanger in her closet. This shouldn’t be a humongous situation, but it is, and the end result Christina gets beaten with wire hangers. Another scene from the movie shows Joan eating raw steak, and trying to make Christina eat it as well. Christina thinks the raw steak is disgusting,

Psychological disorders are very real and present in many people we come in contact with daily, however, are very rarely talked about. Learning about these disorders can help us to understand others and ourselves better by telling us why we do and think the things we do. One effective way that we can observe and learn about psychological disorders is through movies. “Mommie Dearest” was directed by Frank Perry. It is centered around the actress Joan Crawford, who suffered from various psychological disorders. Joan’s daughter, Christina, wrote a book about her mother and her many problems and it was later turned into a movie. It is very effective to use movie analysis as a way of learning, especially in psychology, because it provides a great way to observe without distractions. When you’re looking at disorders, it’s difficult to find a person who has many of these disorders and will allow you to observe them. Psychological disorders can be split into two major groups, personality disorders and mood disorders. Personality disorders are patterns of traits that can get in the way of your social or work life and may interrupt the individual’s normal lifestyle. Mood disorders are inconsistent and unreliable changes in mood by the affected individual. (Rathus, 1998). With all of this being said, it brings me to my point that I will be talking about for the rest of this essay. Joan Crawford demonstrates the personality disorders of histrionic, narcissism, and OCPD. When it comes to mood disorders, Joan demonstrates bipolar disorder.

In the movie Mommie Dearest Joan Crawford shows many different types of personality disorders. Personality disorders are a deeply engrained or maladaptive pattern of behavior of a specified kind, typically they occur by the time one reaches adolescents and causes difficulty in personal relationships or society. Studying these psychological disorders can help us to identify and properly treat these abnormal functions that we acquire as we grow older. One way to learn how to identify these disorders is through movie analysis. When you are able to recognize these disorders through a movie they stick out in the real world much more. The disorders that I analyzed that Joan Crawford had were, Bipolar, Borderline, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and Narcissism.

In my opinion, the most predominate disorder within Joan Crawford is Histrionic disorder. This personality can be defined as a mental health condition that causes a person to be excessively dramatic and emotional. People with this disorder tend to seek out constant attention from others and are easily influenced by others. Although the exact cause of this disorder is unknown it may stem from childhood events or genetics. Joan Crawford shows symptoms of Histrionic disorder frequently throughout the movie, the first scene being when she throws her daughter Christina an extravagant birthday party. This scenario shows Joan taking away attention from her daughter in any way she can as she soaks up the light of the photographers. Another example would be when Joan filled in for her daughters position in a soup opera while she was sick without her permission. In these scenes, Joan is pushing her daughter aside to fill in the spotlight.

“The Medicated Child” sheds light on the dangers and risks associated with children who are put on behavioral-modifying medications. These are issues that parents may not take into consideration when attempting to establish a healthy state of mind for their child. It is estimated that five million children in America have been diagnosed with some form of mental illness. Behavioral disorders are on the rise as each year another 20% of children will be diagnosed. (MedWeb, 2015) Whereas parents tend to turn to their child’s doctor for advice, this may produce a biased resolution that could even be fatal. In “The Medicated Child” we listen to parents who live through this nightmare and the doctors that play a major role in their child’s quality of life.

She went on to speak of other episodes with symptoms of delusions and hallucinations which she says are “hallmarks of the illness”. She explained that schizophrenic is not disorders of multiple personality or split personalities, a schizophrenia mind is shattered. What I find incredible is the fact that with treatment she was still able to hold it together

There are two different kind of disorders, personality disorders and psychological disorders. Psychological disorders are illnesses that an individual experiences as episodes. Personality disorders are enduring traits that are major components of the individual's personality (Rathus, 2010). No matter what kind of disorder a person may possess their lives are affected everyday by them, it takes over their body and consumes them as a person. Disorders are often misunderstood. You do not have the ability to make a split second decisions and then continue life without that disorder, it will take lots of counseling. While we are not trained psychologist everyone can learn or identify disorders in popular movies or television shows. In the movie, Mommie Dearest, directed by Frank Perry, Joan Crawford possesses several of these disorders including bipolar, borderline personality disorder, obsessive compulsive personality disorder and narcissistic.

Maternal mental health (MMH) disorders occurs in one out of 10 women during pregnancy and within the first year after birth (Maternal Health, 2016). Current law in California states no requirement for perinatal or postpartum screening. AB 244 proposes to create a pilot program to increase the healthcare providers capacity and training to manage MMH conditions to serve pregnant and postpartum women up to one year after delivery (California Legislative Information, 2017). The purpose of this paper is to increase management of MMH disorders, support of bill AB 244 and Assemblymember Cristina Garcia’s opinion, how a bill becomes a law, and how nurses can impact current law.

One of the more obvious disorders that were shown was Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder which is, one’s inflexibility and fixation on rules, procedure, and orderliness, the main difference between OCD and OCPD is they do not perform constant meaningless rituals. Some symptoms are anxiety about time, cleanliness, and worry about money which causes them to work more than needed. What causes OCPD is not entirely clear but psychologist believe it is a combination of genetics and environment. One of the scenes that display OCPD was when Joan and her maids were cleaning her house and one of her maids forgot to move a pot when she waxed the floor which caused a ring of dirt and Joan said, “I’m not mad at you, I’m mad at the dirt.” then her current boyfriend showed up and she forgot

One personality disorder Joan Crawford demonstrated was bipolar. This disorder can be defined as periods of reckless behavior and hyperactivity that can change at any given second (Rathus, 2010). There are several occasions throughout the movie that show Joan suffering through this disorder, for example one moment she would be a cheerful, smiling mom and at a drop of a hat, it would change for the worst making her become an angry and aggressive toward her child Christina. This can be seen when Joan is kissing her sweet daughter Christina goodnight, and then looks through the closet where she finds a dress hung by a wire hanger. Joan’s behavior quickly becomes elevated, ripping all of the clothes and hangers out of the closet, yelling at Christina, which then leads Joan to beat her daughter with the hanger. Another example is in the scene

To many children, parents are loving caregivers that work around the clock to provide them with the physical and emotional necessities that are essential to a healthy and happy childhood. However, in some unfortunate cases, one or both parents are unable to care for their children. For whatever reason it may be, it is difficult on one or both parents and their children when they are separated, but what if the parents were unfit to take care of their children and they continue to do so? Children with parents who are mentally ill tend to grow up in an environment that is hostile or otherwise unhealthy. What, exactly, are the consequences of children being raised by mentally ill parents?

The researchers (Reising, et al., 2013) demonstrated parents who suffered from depression as well as financial hardship did not have a great relationship with their children impacting their psychopathology internally and externally. Thus (Reising, et al., 2013) revealed there are countless children living in the United States surrounded by triggers that may direct them to apprehension, for instance, parents who have suffered or are still suffering from compulsive dejection, financial economic hardship, and parents who are neglectful are a few characteristics that can and may influence children and adolescent to stress leading them to behave in a manner that is not aligned with their community. The following research article are in accordance with the previous literature review relating to parental stress and depression does have an influence on children’s behavior:

Many people who suffer from this disorder may have suicidal thoughts, bi-polar disorder and also depression .Upon her arrival at the institution she meets some of the patients who she quickly starts to connect and develop a bond with especially with one of the patients named Lisa who is diagnosed as a sociopath. Psychiatrists and psychologists states that a sociopath is someone with a personality disorder who “displays antisocial tendencies that are ascribed to social or environmental factors.” Other definitions include “A pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of, the rights of others that begins in childhood or early adolescence and continues into adulthood.” (Dr.Axe, 2017). With this being said anyone could suffer from a personality disorder and majority of the time it goes unnoticed because we end up blaming other people for the way we feel or react to certain situations. As the movie goes on we are introduced to another woman named Daisy she suffered from compulsive eating disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder and also self harm.