From Psycho onward, film portrayals of the mentally ill have contributed to the stigma faced by people with these conditions. Films tend to create and reinforce stereotypes of the mentally ill as “homicidal maniacs and narcissistic parasites”. Silver Linings Playbook is a refreshing departure from this pattern. Show Exaggerated cinematic portrayals of mental illness have largely bypassed bipolar disorder, whose periods of depression alternate with episodes of mania or milder hypomania. People experiencing bipolar disorder may believe they have special powers, go without sleep, talk incessantly, act recklessly and experience racing thoughts and irritability. Silver Linings Playbook, whose main character suffers from bipolar disorder, portrays the condition with unusual honesty. Pat, played by Bradley Cooper, has just been released from a court-ordered stint in a Baltimore psychiatric hospital after violently attacking the man who was having an affair with his wife (the movie’s own shower scene, presented in flashback). Having lost his wife, home and teaching job, he moves in with his parents and is soon pursued by Tiffany, a grieving widow played by Jennifer Lawrence, who is lost in her own darkness. An improbable romance develops while Pat tentatively reconnects with family and friends. The film presents bipolar disorder deftly and accurately. Pat has periods of sleeplessness and paranoia, hatches wild plans to win back his wife in spite of her restraining order and resists taking medication. He blurts out his uncensored thoughts, flies into hair-triggered rages and hallucinates when stressed. He lacks insight into his effect on others and uses glib therapy-speak when he talks with them. His search for the silver linings in life seems desperate, driven by a need to deny and avoid the presence of “negativity” wherever he sees it; a novel by Hemingway, who was perhaps bipolar himself, is angrily hurled through a window for lacking a happy ending. Pat’s confusion and fear while “white-knuckling it” through his turmoil is palpable. For all this, he’s a fully realised, rounded and sympathetic character, not a psychiatric exhibit.  The other people in Pat’s life are also captured with warmth and acuity. His brother and his best friend act awkwardly around him, apologising cravenly for failing to visit him in hospital. His father, Pat Senior, shares his history of violent behaviour, has an assortment of minor compulsions and superstitions and blames himself for Pat’s predicament. His mother looks stricken with anxiety but helps to engineer his budding romance. Tiffany pushes him away and pulls him in with savage need. His therapist is down-to-earth and practical, a man who can wear face-paint to the football, not the all-knowing oracle or neurotic buffoon depicted in many movies. Indeed, perhaps the most truthful aspect of Silver Linings Playbook is that it shows how much Pat is not a solitary sufferer but a man embedded in a web of relationships (romantic and familial) that offer the possibility of recovery and growth. Although the clinical literature sometimes shows bipolar disorder exclusively as a disease of the brain, with medication as its only effective treatment (a belief that seems to be widely shared among laypeople), the condition is intimately connected to the person’s experience as a social being. Its episodes are often triggered by interpersonal strife and recovering from them can be aided by some relationships and sabotaged by others. The importance of relationships for recovery is well established. Social support (having a social network to provide practical help, advice and emotional connection) enhances clinical outcomes in conditions as diverse as schizophrenia and cancer, just as a sense of belonging to social groups promote the health of school students and elderly dementia patients alike. But relationships can also be destructive. Research on “expressed emotion” suggests that people experiencing conditions like bipolar disorder are more likely to relapse, and to do so more severely, when their families are prone to criticise or become emotionally enmeshed with them. Social connections can make and break. By the end of the film, Pat finds a sense of belonging in the warm embrace of his family and his new love. For others, it’s necessary to escape the structures of home and family and strike out on a journey of self-discovery. “If clouds are blocking the sun, there will always be a silver lining that reminds me to keep on trying.” Trailer: Rating:★★★ WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS Movie Summary: Bradley Cooper stars in Silver Linings Playbook as Pat Solatano, a recently jobless and wifeless man who struggles to sort out his old reality from his new reality and exactly what happened in between. After Pat’s stay in a mental institution, he moves back in with his parents (Robert De Niro, Jacki Weaver), where viewers come to understand Pat as being mentally disordered, with the specific mood disorder diagnosis of Bipolar. Pat obsesses over two primary things: the Philadelphia Eagles and to win back his wife, Nikki (Brea Bee): living happily again with her as a married couple. Pat becomes hopeful that he can work things out with Nikki when he and Nikki’s friend, Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence) befriend each other. Tiffany agrees to swap letters between the separated couple, though unbeknownst to Pat, Tiffany has been writing the letters and signing as Nikki. In exchange for this communicative favor, Tiffany requests Pat to be her dance partner for a winter dance competition. Throughout the course of the movie and as we discover more about Pat’s relationships, it becomes clear that the situation between Pat and Nikki is complicated and not something that a few letters and countless apologies can right itself. Pat eventually discovers Tiffany’s secret, yet the two fall in love and get together in the end. Happily Ever After. Diagnostic Interpretation: Let’s consider how Bipolar Mood Disorder is portrayed in the Silver Linings Playbook according to the diagnostic criteria stated in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual V. DID diagnostic criteria characteristics (APA, 2013): The film offers a strange diagnosis for Pat’s mental health: ‘undiagnosed Bipolar [disorder] with mood swings and weird thinking brought on by severe stress.’ Let’s break this down: There are many faults in this diagnosis… 1.) The movie indicates that Pat (and Tiffany) take medication, which requires a diagnosis, making it diagnosed Bipolar. First, Pat and Tiffany mention having taken Lithium, which is the most common mood stabilizer for Bipolar I. They also state their use of two antipsychotics, Seroquel and Abilify which makes sense for a Bipolar I diagnosis because antipsychotics are frequently used as a quick and effective way to eliminate mania and to bring mood to a normal state. The movie accurately portrayed Lithium, Seroquel, and Abilify in this conversation between Pat and Tiffany because they began discussing the unpleasant side effects that are associated with these drugs. 2.) The mood swings, as they are included in the definition of Bipolar, are not required to be stated. 3.) Finally, the ‘weird thinking brought on by severe stress’ implies psychotic features, which suggests hallucinations and delusions. A psychologist would diagnose Pat as Bipolar I with the specifier of psychotic features; Bipolar I is more indicative of Pat’s disorder based on his hypermanic presentation as opposed to the major depressive and hypomanic presentation that defines Bipolar II. Hyper=above (more intense) Hypo=below (less intense) Bipolar I= Hypermanic + Mild/Major Depression Bipolar II= Hypomanic + Major Depression If the difference between Bipolar I and Bipolar II still isn’t clear, check out the visual below:
Prevalence of Bipolar Disorder: The prevalence of Bipolar I disorder in the population is about 0.6% Psychologist Interpretation on the Film: Although the psychologist’s diagnosis of the disorder was inaccurate, how Pat and Tiffany’s characters presented this disorder reflected actual instances of Bipolar in the population. The movie was dynamic, interesting, and heartwarming and I thought this film tastefully and respectfully incorporated mental illness in the plot. My critique of this movie is that it did not portray any depressive episode of either Tiffany or Pat’s character, which is necessary for a bipolar diagnosis. I also think that by not portraying depression as a component of the characters’ diagnoses, it can be deceiving and suggests a more appealing version of this disorder(generally depression is a yuckier feeling than mania). Citations: American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing. What was Tiffany's illness?Much more successful is the depiction of borderline personality disorder in the character of Tiffany, the sister of Pat Jr.'s best friend's wife.
Does Tiffany in Silver Linings Playbook have BPD?Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
Tiffany Maxwell (Jennifer Lawrence) is thought by many in the film to have BPD. Her diagnosis is not explicit, but Lawrence's character displays many borderline personality symptoms.
What psychological disorder is in silver linings?In the movie, actor Bradley Cooper plays a man with bipolar disorder who is being released from a psychiatric hospital. He soon connects emotionally with a quirky young woman, played by Jennifer Lawrence, who has struggled with her own mental health issues, largely brought on by her husband's death.
What mental illness does Pat in Silver Linings Playbook have?In Silver Linings the mania and the meltdowns have a serious side, and a diagnosis. Our hero, Pat Solitano, is a charming and volatile young man with bipolar disorder who's just been released from 8 months in a psychiatric hospital to which he was committed after beating up his wife's lover.
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Silver linings playbook what mental illness does tiffany have
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