GUEST COLUMN: What "Silver Linings Playbook" Teaches Us About Mental Health

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What Silver Linings Playbook Teaches Us About Mental Health

by Kevin Gardner

Silver Linings Playbook has been revered as a groundbreaker in terms of how mental illness is portrayed on the silver screen, and even won an Oscar. However, if you were watching the movie for the main story and did not catch any of the nuances, you may have missed a lot that went into making sure that the character's disorders were depicted as accurately as possible. Keep reading to learn what this movie teaches us about mental health.

People May Not Realize They Need Help

Pat, the main character of the movie, has what is known as bipolar disorder. People with this disorder, while they have the issues with mania and depression, do not necessarily realize there is anything wrong with them and because of that, they may not know that they need help, so they do not seek it. In fact, men who have this disorder take longer to realize that they need help than women with this disorder do. This makes sense, especially since most people who suffer from bipolar disorder have an issue with having a one track mind during manic episodes and are too busy with all of the thoughts racing through their head to think about whether something is normal and what the consequences are for their actions. Most of the time, people with bipolar disorder will not even realize that what they were experiencing was a manic episode.

Delusions Can Be Very Powerful Things

One of the reasons that Pat found himself in a facility is because he beat up his wife's lover, but the ease of how he got there speaks to a history of delusions. He did not believe his wife was cheating on him and could not understand why she did not want him near her. Any neurotypical person would not have had these kinds of thoughts, and would have been able to see the end coming from a mile away. In this case, Pat may not have noticed it even if his wife had been flaunting it in his face.

Discussing Medication Should Be Normalized

There is a scene in the movie where Pat and Tiffany are talking about different medications and side effects, something that is often stigmatized because, if you are openly talking about what meds you take, you are broadcasting to the world that something is so wrong with you that you have to rely on outside help to fix it. This scene in Silver Linings Playbook helps destigmatize these kinds of conversations. Pat and Tiffany learned a lot about each other because they were open and honest about what they were going through and the help that they had to seek to feel even moderately normal. Every relationship needs that kind of understanding, from a friendship to a romantic partnership.

It Is Normal to Stop Taking Medication

One of the things that people do not typically think about is how often people will either refuse their meds or pretend to take them when they are in a facility or under the care of a guardian, and how their defiance is usually factored in depending on multiple different variables such as how long they have been there, what is wrong with them, and how severe their disorders are. For example, Pat admits that he stopped taking his medication because it made him feel cloudy. He felt better without it, so he stopped taking it. This makes sense, since medication is supposed to make you feel better, not worse. Since stopping the medication would not have resulted in any medical emergency, such as seizures, his psychiatric staff probably factored in that he would eventually not take them and they would have been prepared for his next episode as a result.

While there were several flaws with Silver Linings Playbook, such as hinting to the belief that love cures mental illness, it is a vital part of representation in the media. Keep this article in mind the next time you watch it, and see how well the portrayal fits basic understanding of mental illness.