Psychological Disorder

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.

Finally the check comes. Walter and his prospective partner, Willy Harris, get very excited. He finally has his chance to take the control he feels he deserves. Then the bombshell news of Ruth’s pregnancy and imminent abortion comes, Walter is thrown off balance. To try and settle matters, Mama goes out and buys the house.

       Ruth, Walter's wife, was pregnant when her husband was in a great despair. Although Walter lost the money and also her dream, Ruth forgave him and encouraged him to start everything over. Ruth, whose dream was to be wealthy and to have a fine family, calmly accepted the fact that her dream was only a dream. To her, it was a consolation that her husband had come back to reality after his unsuccessful dream.

A psychological disorder, also known as a mental disorder, is a pattern of behavioral or psychological symptoms that impact multiple life areas and create distress for the person experiencing these symptoms. These symptoms are characterized by clinically significant disturbance in an individual 's cognitive, emotion regulation, or behavior that reflects a dysfunction in the psychological, biological, or developmental process underlying mental functioning. Mental disorders are usually associated with significant distress in social, occupational, or other important activities. Approximately 26 percent of American adults over the age of 18 suffer from some diagnosable mental disorder in a given year. (Cherry)

Many people believe that psychological disorders are unique, however they are becoming a more common, in fact around 26.2 percent of people suffer from a psychological disorder in a given year. Psychological disorders are behavior patterns or mental processes that cause serious personal problems and interferes with daily life. Disorder types expand beyond only psychological, many other disorders fall under the category of being personality disorders, which is defined by, patterns of uncompromising traits that affect and disrupt one’s ability in everyday life. When looking at disorders it is important to be able to dysgenic the difference between psychological and personality disorders. Psychological disorders are illnesses a person undergoes as an “episode,” however, personality disorders constant traits that play an important role when developing a person’s personality. One way to identify these types of disorders is through movies. For example, the film Mommie Dearest, directed by Frank Perry is a story told from the perspective of Joan Crawford’s adoptive daughter, Christina. Joan Crawford expresses many disorders shown throughout the movie, while Christina displays how these experiences affect her life. Throughout the movie Joan Crawford demonstrates psychological and personality disorders of, bipolar, obsessive compulsive disorder, narcissistic, and histrionic.

Walter’s appeals were denied and despite many desperate arguments by Bryan in his defense, the court was not changing their mind. He soon hired Michael, an assisting attorney and former heroin addict. With their investigations, they discovered that Bill Hooks was paid by the sheriff to provide false testimony and plenty more incriminating evidence that only proved that Walter was innocent. Out of nowhere, Ralph Meyers contacted Bryan and wanted to talk to him. When Bryan got to the prison, Ralph admitted his whole testimony was a lie, and that he was threatened the death penalty by the police if he did not testify against Walter. He also admitted that he did not actually know anything about the murder of the woman, and only decided to come

In the beginning of the play, Walter seems to be a childish and self-obsessed person, but he has ambitions of pursuing his dreams. In the play, Walter says, “I’m thirty five years old; I been married eleven years

Just when Mama was beginning to trust Walter and gives him money to take to the bank, he reveals that he “never went to the bank at all” (129). This shocked Mama and asks, “You mean…you sister’s school money…you used that two…Walter?…” (129); Walter realises what he has done and answers “Yessss! All of it…It’s all gone…” (129), in an ashamed and stressed out tone. Consequently, this makes mama extremely upset she says, “I seen him grow thin and old before he was forty...working and working and working like somebody's old horse...killing himself...and you -you give it all away in a day-” (129). This reveals that Walter betrays Mama, because of his want for money, which Mama would not help him with because of their different

When Tarek gets detained by the NYPD in the subway station, and Walter tries to intervene on his behalf, Walter is told that all he can do is make a statement in the station. Walter Vale does everything in his power to help Tarek get free. Even though Walter never had any contact with the immigrant population before, he feels very connected to Tarek over the bond that they share in music, and he helps him despite his ethnicity and race. Walter hires a lawyer to try and get Tarek released, and he visits him frequently. When Walter visits Tarek, he sees how the people are discriminated against and even with all his influence, Walter feels powerless in this situation. Walter was a man of privilege living in America and he never experienced the feeling of such powerlessness in a situation before. This feeling of powerlessness makes Walter fight for what he believes in and he tries everything in his power to help Tarek and set him free.

When Walter loses the money, his views change. He convinces himself that a man doesn’t need morals, and that the only thing that matters is how

Walter's frustration festers and his anger turns inward towards his family who, in Walters eyes, do not understand him. Walter's family members do understand him and they also want to amass material dreams, but Walter's family members know that it is going to take work to get there.

FILM NOTE -- Sarah's Key, directed by Gilles Paquet-Brenner, starring Kristin Scott Thomas, Melusine Mayance, Niels Arestrup, Frederic Pierrot

Psychological disorders are stated to be abnormalities of the mind, known as mental disorders (Klasco, 2011). Abnormalities of the mind cause persistent behaviors that affect an individual’s daily function and life (Klasco, 2011). The different types of psychological disorders include mood disorders, personality disorders, anxiety disorders, and eating disorders (Klasco, 2011). The causes of these disorders are unknown, but factors that contribute to these disorders include childhood experiences, chemical imbalances in the brain, illnesses, heredity, stress, and prenatal exposures (Klasco, 2011). Psychological disorders can be serious and can be life-threatening

Showing his frustration to his mother, Walter does not feel like he will ever acquire his dream because he feels like he never got the chance or opportunity to. The inability of not able to provide a better life for his household is causing him to stress, act out of character and clouding his decision making. With nowhere else to turn he thought he could use his father’s life insurance money to invest into a liquor store which turned into a scam. Walter feeling trapped from making advancements in life, he makes a huge mistake and learns from this error. In the play Walter is talking to mother describing his anger,

Because of this Walter has lost his self esteem and will to do anything to make his life better. This is important because it shows that Walter does not have a firm grasp on his own identity.