Silver Linings Playbook Essay

In the film, the participants completed seven tasks, which were designed to highlight characteristics or symptomology of one or more mental illnesses. While observing each task, I sympathized with

The Silver Linings Playbook is an American comedy-drama film written and directed by David O' Russell, which was adapted from the novel “The Silver Linings Playbook” written by Matthew Quick. This is a story of a mentally ill man who had bipolar disorder played by one of the famous American actor; Bradley Cooper. In this movie, Bradley Cooper is known by the movie name Pat. After returning back from a psychiatric institution, Pat moves back to his parent’s house to learn how to live a normal life without his former wife who has left him, but he determined to win back his estranged wife. However, Pat meets a recently widowed Tiffany Maxwell, who lost her husband on car accident and that character was portrayed by Jennifer Lawrence, who promise

The narrative of Silver Linings Playbook is formed in the heart of Philadelphia around a middle class family at it’s breaking point. Pat’s, the protagonist, family has very much shaped his current situation; he has clinical bipolar disorder and struggles with stress-induced manic outbursts. After Pat’s release from a mandated rehabilitation center, he handles the next recuperating stage of his life in a similar way as a quarterback looking to make the next big play on the field; watching for possible blitzes and passes, anything to get the ball into the end zone, or in Pat’s case, to get in position for his life to get back on track, and

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.

Pat, the main character in Silver Linings Playbook, is depicted as an individual that has bipolar disorder. The movie shows how he deals with life after leaving a hospital where he received care for his disorder. Upon leaving the hospital, Pat is reluctant to take the medication prescribed to him for his disorder and displays several symptoms that are consistent with a person having bipolar disorder. Although he is reluctant in the beginning, with the support of his friends and family Pat begins to take his medication and is able to live a decent life with this disorder.

The film I chose to analyze is Silver Linings Playbook because I was interested in the story when I read the synopsis of the movie. I thought that this would be a simple movie where the main characters would help each other because they had something in common. Reading the synopsis, I also thought that Pat would be back together with his wife, but at the end he found another love. In the next paragraphs I will show my knowledge on what I have learned this semester. On my analysis of Silver Linings, I will give examples that has the concept of language, nonverbal communication, listening, emotions, conflict, and close relationships.

In the movie Silver Linings Playbook, we follow Pat Solitano Jr., a man recently released from a mental institution (Cohen et al., 2012). He is a Caucasian male, likely in his early to mid-thirties and of Italian descent. He was a high school history teacher, living with his wife, Nikki, an English teacher. Upon finding his wife in the shower with another man, he nearly beats the man to death leading him to be sent to a psychiatric facility for eight months with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder. In this essay I will support the diagnosis of a Bipolar I disorder. A diagnosis of Bipolar I disorder, has specific criteria in the DSM-V that have to be met. I will be listing the criteria and through examples of Pat’s actions, thoughts and behaviours, he meets the criteria.

Some of the characters in this film did have psychological disorders. However, not all of the disorders that were shown were demonstrated accurately through the characters. Starting with Pat Solitano who has Bipolar Disorder, he tends to have manic episodes of being in a very energetic state and suddenly dropping to a depressed state. For instance, after hearing his wedding song, he became super energetic and upset by tearing his house down trying to find his wedding video. This connects to the fact that he reads all the books his ex-wife teaches and goes on long runs with garbage bags over his clothes to help him lose weight faster. The end goal for him was to change himself to be with Nikki. Having increased activity levels, a goal-directed

Pat the main character of the movie has bipolar disorder. Bipolar Disorder is also known as Manic Depressive Disorder. Bipolar Disorder consists of mood swings from the lows of depression to the highs of mania. These mood swings may happen as often as a few times a day to a few times a year. The exact cause of Bipolar Disorder is still unknown. Since the exact cause of Bipolar Disorder is unknown it is unknown what parts of the brain is exactly affected by Bipolar Disorder. Current research indicates that structural abnormalities of the amygdala, basal ganglia, and the prefrontal cortex are the parts of the brain that are affected by Bipolar Disorder.

The movie Silver Lining playbook is an award winning movie that exposes some social disorders that the community as a whole as engaged in for years. “A word-of-mouth hit in 2012, David O. Russell’s Silver Linings Playbook has been popularly discussed as successfully targeting an adult audience under-served in contemporary Hollywood, as “authentically” reflecting the parenting challenges of its star and director, and as portraying a “modern” romance about a sympathetic, deeply damaged protagonist couple” (Nadel P1.).

Pat Solitano has been diagnosed with bi-polar disorder. He suffers from unwanted thoughts, aggressive outburst, delusions and mood swings. In many scenes Pat is seen having irritability, and uncontrolled anger. He has become obsessed with running and exercise. He believes it is a way to impress his wife and restore his marriage. Pat has refused to take medication and believe positive thinking will help him overcome is illness. Pat’s formal DSM diagnosis would be Bi-polar Disorder I with manic episodes. “defined by manic episodes that last at least 7 days, or by manic symptoms that are so severe that the person needs immediate hospital care” (National Institute of Mental Health, p. 1). Throughout the film he experiences racing thoughts, grandiosity or sense of superiority, decreased need of sleep, irritability and increase goal-driven activity (Mayo Clinic, p. 2).

Silver Lining’s Playbook is heartfelt romantic comedy starring some of Hollywood’s biggest stars including Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, Robert Di Niro, Jackie Weaver, and more. Although this film is quite entertaining, it does not accurately portray Bipolar Disorder. There are many features in the production that contribute to the amusement of viewers. However, it is precisely these Hollywood moments that wrongly portray mental illness. For example, Pat (Bradley Cooper), the main character, exhibits symptoms that aren’t exactly qualities of Bipolar Disorder.

With violence being present within the movie it is important to bring to light the theories of Sigmund Freud known as the conscious and unconscious. Firstly some examples of violence during the film should be recognized. We were shown right from the beginning the main character stealing a watch from a security guard from this moment the audience can get a sense of some of the violence that may occur. Another example is when Lou arrived at the scene of a car crash before the authorities and moves a man’s dead body from underneath the car. We are continually brought to the argument of, is this legal to show on TV but also is it ethical the violence and goriness ethical ?.

The 2012 movie “Silver Linings Playbook” is a drama-romantic comedy written and directed by David O. Russell and among others, stars Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, and Robert De Niro. The film received eight academy award nominations, was nominated in all four Oscar categories, and does a fairly accurate job of portraying an individual with a bipolar disorder, who was just released into the care of his parents, and his segue back into his family and social life after eight months of clinical treatment in a mental health facility.