Schizophrenia

[What happened to good TV?]

For my A2 Media studies coursework I am writing an analysis of how schizophrenia is represented in film. I find the disorder incredibly interesting and many of my favourite films include a character with schizpohrenia.

I have Donnie Darko, A Beautiful Mind, Identity(Although this isnt actually about schizophrenia, a personality disorder, I'd still like to reference it as a portrayal of a, mental disorder. Plus the film is just brilliant!) , Fight club and Me, Myself and Irene on the brain at the moment. These films all being of different genres, a sci-fi, a drama(and kind of biography), a horror/thriller, drama/thriller and a comedy, allowing me to show a wider range of representations and how they differ/similarities in each genre.
It would be good to reference an older film to show how the representation of schizophrenia has(or has not) changed over the years.

If any one has knowledge of any older films including schizophrenia it would be much appreciated! Or any other films that people would recomend dealing with schizophrenia.
Also it would be helpful if people showed their views on how schizophrenics are represented in film!
And if anyone knows about the disorder any information would be very helpful, even if its not relevent to films!

Thank you!

 

[Lyri]

what about that Stephen King book...i think it's by him. Johnny Depp did a remake a few years ago...Rear Window? Secret Window? something like that. i think that's about schizophrenia.

 

[nerd4hire]

What's the current thinking on the split personality thing? Is it still considered part of the family of Schizophrenia? If so it has been covered a lot since Joane Woodward won the academy award for Three faces of Eve in 1957. Sally Field also won awards for the made for TV one Sybill in 1976. Joane Woodward played her psychiatrist.

For garden variety Schizophrenia there's I Never Promised You a Rose Garden from 1977.

 

[goldenboy]

I think Hollywood often tends to glamourize and romanticize mental illness in a weird way. It's sometimes linked thematically to creative genius, non-conformity, rebellion, innocence...some of these don't deal with schizophrenia specifically, but:

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00006JI31/202-8607819-6635845?v=glance&n=283926

Benny and Joon
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...1524510-4276865?_encoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=130

The Saint of Fort Washington
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/63...4510-4276865?_encoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=404272

Frances
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...1524510-4276865?_encoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=130

Shine
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00004CXYQ/202-8607819-6635845?v=glance&n=283926

Sylvia
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00029RDT0/202-8607819-6635845?v=glance&n=283926

Vincent and Theo
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...1524510-4276865?_encoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=130

 

[What happened to good TV?]

Schizophrenia, DID, and MPD all come under the personality disorder cateogory. Only after doing reasearch did I realise how different each disorder is. It is usually thought that schizophrenics have multiple personalitys when that is in fact a different disorder entirely.

'think Hollywood often tends to glamourize and romanticize mental illness in a weird way. It's sometimes linked thematically to creative genius, non-conformity, rebellion, innocence'

I completely agree, but films like A beautiful mind and Rain man, although really made to entertain are done in such a way that I consider them gold. They may be glamourised but they seriously dress the issue, and I found them to be inspiring, and provoked me to pursue my interest in the mental illnesses further.

 

[nerd4hire]

schizophrenia and Multiple Personality Disorder are considered separate diagnoses. 3 faces of eve is a great film, but make sure you cite it as MPD, not Schizophrenia

You'll notice I prefaced by asking the question

What's the current thinking on the split personality thing? Is it still considered part of the family of Schizophrenia?

Believe it or not, there was a reason I asked that. I read a book called The Eden Express one time by Mark Vonnegut, the son of Kurt Vonnegut. He was a diagnosed Schizophrenic who later attended Harvard school of medicine. In his book Vonnegut describes Schizophrenia as a family of disorders which may include stuff like autism (Rain Man), and what they were calling split personality at the time. My impression was that was conventional thinking at the time of the writing of the book. Thus the question - "What's the current thinking?"

OK, now there's this -

The diagnostic category of schizophrenia has been widely criticised as lacking in scientific validity or reliability, consistent with evidence of poor levels of consistency in diagnostic practices and the use of criteria.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schizophrenia

Consider at one time there was no such thing as ADHD, then all of a sudden there it was; a series of eratic behaviours clumped together to be labeled a disease.

My point is psychiatry is not written in stone. My impression is definitions of things can be fluid, and subject to change through time.

 

[goldenboy]

Is there a difference between a 'disease' and a 'disorder'? I always thought schizophrenia was officially a physical brain disease.

'Disorders' seem to multiply like rabbits every year within psychiatry...

 

[nerd4hire]

I'm not an expert. My information is obviously out-dated. As I recall though, at one time there was a lot of research into what I think they were calling the "ortho-molecular" causes of schizophrenia, which I took to mean physical bio-chemical causes. At the time though, and again, as I recall, there was a lot of controversy over how scientific it all was.

You see I used to know a schizo, so I read a bit, but that was some time ago.