# Top Ten Films That Feature Mental Illness



## David Baxter PhD (Sep 27, 2009)

Top Ten Films That Feature Mental Illness
by Dr. Deb
Sunday, September 06, 2009

I love watching movies. The cinematic experience not only entertains but also informs. Here are my top 10 favorite movies that show mental illness and psychotherapy in a realistic manner.

1. Ordinary People (PTSD, Depression)
My absolute favorite movie of all time because it portrays the human experience of loss so well and it also features psychotherapy in a realistic way. Robert Redford's directorial debut. Mary Tyler Moore, Donald Sutherland, Judd Hirsch and Timothy Hutton wow in their performances.

2. A Beautiful Mind (Schizophrenia)
The true story of Nobel Prize Winner John Nash is told in this award winning film. Russell Crowe and Jennifer Connelly star. Directed by Ron Howard.

3. The Soloist (Schizophrenia)
This is the true story of Nathaniel Anthony Ayers, a former Julliard Student, who falls into the depths of schizophrenia. When reporter, Steve Lopez, befriends him, both of their worlds change. The ethical issues of treatment of mental illness are realistically portrayed. Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx offer great performances.

4. Canvas (Schizophrenia)
A young boy moves through the his mother's psychotic episode with the help of his father and friends. Joe Pantoliano, Marcia Gay Harden and Devon Gearhart are inspiring to watch.

5. Bird (Substance Abuse/Eating Disorder)
The true story of Charlie "Bird" Parker, Jazz legend, and his struggles with mental illness. Directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Forest Whitaker. Fantastic soundtrack.

6. Rain Man (Autism)
Dustin Hoffman delivers an award winning performance as a man with Autism and Tom Cruise as the brother who doesn't understand him.

7. Fearless (PTSD)
Jeff Bridges is unforgettable in his performance as a survivor of a plane crash as is Rosie Perez in this emotional tale of trauma, loss and recovery.

8. Lars And The Real Girl (Social Anxiety Disorder)
This film knocked me out with its poignant storytelling of a young man living in a rural Minnesota community. Ryan Gosling and Emily Mortimer star.

9. A Lion In Winter (Personality Disorders, Family Dysfunction) 
Various personality disorders as well as maladaptive defense mechanisms often seen in family dysfunction are presented in vivid language and breathtaking performances. Peter O'Toole, Katherine Hepburn and a young Anthony Hopkins dazzle in this award winning film. It's an oldie, but a goodie - and based on the life of King Henry II.

10. The Night Listener (Factitious Disorder)
Robin Williams and Toni Collette tell this true-based story from the experiences of author Armistead Maupin, and his connection to a mysterious young boy.

There are so many more that I could name, but these are my top favs. Head on over to Psychmovies and Cinematherapy.com for more movie suggestions.


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## Eye Stigmata (Sep 27, 2009)

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a fantastic movie! 
February 1976 
"Upon arrival at a mental institution, a brash rebel rallies the patients together to take on the oppressive Nurse Ratched, a woman more a dictator than a nurse."

This movie actually won 5 oscars, and 28 other awards!


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## David Baxter PhD (Sep 28, 2009)

Yes, it's a good movie but from the point of view of stigma, raising awareness, and reality, which is I think is where Dr. Deb is coming from, I'm not sure it qualifies.


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## David Baxter PhD (Sep 28, 2009)

Girl, Interrupted (Borderline Personality Disorder, Self-Injury)
Susanna is depressed and directionless after finishing high school in the late 1960's. A suicide attempt lands her in Claymore, a mental institution. She befriends the band of troubled women in her ward (Georgina the pathological liar, the sexually abused Daisy, the burn victim Polly) but falls under the hypnotic sway of Lisa, the wildest and most hardened of the bunch. Will Susanna "drop anchor" at Claymore and perpetually act out like Lisa, or will she finally pull her mind together and leave institutional life behind? Starring Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie.

Repulsion (Paranoid Schizophrenia)
A Belgian girl, Carol, works as a manicurist at a London beauty salon. While having lunch, a good looking young man, Colin, spots her and makes a date for another evening. She shares a flat with her sister Helen. Her sister's married lover, Michael, brings out her dislike of men which she cannot explain to Colin. Michael takes Helen abroad for a holiday. Left alone in their flat, Carol's moments of catalepsy and hallucination increase and deepen into madness. Directed and co-written by Roman Polanski (1965).


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## NicNak (Sep 28, 2009)

*Good Will Hunting*

Though Will Hunting (Matt Damon) has a genius-level intellect, eidetic memory and a profound gift for mathematics, he works as a janitor at MIT and lives alone in a sparsely-furnished house in a rundown South Boston neighborhood. An abused foster child, he subconsciously blames himself for his unhappy upbringing and turns this self-loathing into a form of self-sabotage in both his professional and emotional lives.

In the first week of class, Will solves a difficult graduate-level problem taken from algebraic graph theory that Professor Gerald Lambeau (Stellan Skarsg?rd), a Fields Medalist and combinatorialist, leaves on a chalkboard as a challenge posed to his students, hoping someone might find the solution by the end of the semester. When it is solved quickly and anonymously, Lambeau posts a much more difficult problem—one that took him and his colleagues two years to prove. When Lambeau chances upon a janitor writing on the board, Lambeau chases him away. However, when Lambeau returns to the board, he is astounded to find the correct answer there. He then sets out to track Will down.

Meanwhile, Will gets revenge on a bully named Carmine Scarpaglia, who, according to Will, used to beat him up years ago in kindergarten, and he now faces imprisonment after attacking a police officer who was responding to the attack. Realizing Will has enormous potential, Lambeau goes to Will's trial and intervenes on his behalf, offering him a choice: either go to jail, or be released under Lambeau's personal supervision to study mathematics and see a therapist. Will chooses the latter, even though he does not believe he needs therapy.

Will treats the first five psychologists Lambeau has him see with utter contempt. In desperation, Lambeau finally calls on Sean Maguire (Robin Williams), an estranged old friend and MIT classmate who happens to have grown up in the same neighborhood as Will. Sean differs from his predecessors in that he pushes back at Will and is eventually able to get past Will's hostile, sarcastic defense mechanisms. Will is particularly struck when Sean tells him how he gave up his ticket to see the Red Sox in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series (thus missing Carlton Fisk's famous home run) in order to meet and spend time with a stranger in a bar, who would later become his wife. This encourages Will to try to establish a relationship with Skylar (Minnie Driver), a young English woman he had earlier met at a bar near Harvard University.

more....


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## David Baxter PhD (Sep 28, 2009)

_I received this email from a reader:_

I read your top films that deal with mental illnesses. I was interested in reading this because we run the Imagine Film Festival at our centre. 

This is the second year and we highlight films that depict or focus on mental health issues.
Last year we had Joe Pantoliano come out and talk following the screening of Canvas.

Here is a link to this year's event if it is useful in the debate about top movies.

Imagine Film Festival

Chris Bovie
Community Relations Officer
Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences
700 Gordon Street
Whitby, Ontario
L1N 5S9
Phone: 905-430-4055 Ext. 6574
Fax: 905-430-4025
Ontario Shores


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## Retired (Sep 28, 2009)

I was surprised not to see _Awakenings_ the Robin Williams movie about dystonia.

However I recently saw a movie on TCM made in the mid fifties about multiple personality disorder.  I believe it's called _The Three Faces of Eve_ and is a biographical account of a lady diagnosed with multiple personalities.

Considering it was made in the early days of modern psychiatry, I found it to be a compelling story told in a compassionate manner.

There's another mid fifties psychiatry movie that portrays the biases against women in medicine, but I cannot recall the title.


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## Daniel (Sep 28, 2009)

> However I recently saw a movie on TCM made in the mid fifties about multiple personality disorder.  I believe it's called _The Three Faces of Eve_ and is a biographical account of a lady diagnosed with multiple personalities.



IMHO, it did more harm than good.


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## Retired (Sep 28, 2009)

Daniel said:
			
		

> IMHO, it did more harm than good.



Why was that, Daniel?  Did it have to do with all the smoking in the film?


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## Daniel (Sep 28, 2009)

DID or MPD is still over-diagnosed, and I assume that film had some role in that, at least historically.

In contrast, OCD tends to be under-diagnosed, and there have been a couple good films about OCD like _The Aviator _and _As Good As It Gets._


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## David Baxter PhD (Sep 28, 2009)

Ah, yes. I'd forgotten aboiut _The Aviator_ - an excellent addition to the list.


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## Ashe (Oct 16, 2009)

I really enjoyed Girl, Interrupted although I found it to be an extremely depressing movie (but I was also depressed at the time it came out ).  But even watching it later it's still depressing, but I like it anyway.

I also really enjoyed Good Will Hunting, it was very nice.


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## David Baxter PhD (Oct 16, 2009)

I think _Girl, Interrupted_ is interesting/quirky in that there are things in the movie that convey optimism, but, yes, there are other things that are quite sad. I think the overall message is that persevering and not fighting those who genuinely want to help you does provide hope for something better in one's life. Sometimes it's hard to tell who's trying to help and who's just trying to dominate or control, I guess.


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## Banned (Oct 16, 2009)

I've been trying to watch this movie for weeks now, and can't seem to get my hands on it.  I'll have to keep looking.  I did rent it when it first came out, and honestly I feel asleep (I often do - not because they are boring), so now I'm trying to get it again.


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## crzycadn (Oct 16, 2009)

Has anyone seen the movie "Nuts" (made in the 70's I think)with Barbara Striesand and Richard Dryfeuss?  She plays a hooker who kills a john in self-defense and has to go to a hearing to determine her sanity to stand trial.  It turns out she is a survivor of child sexual abuse.  I thought it was a great movie.


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## Jazzey (Oct 16, 2009)

I watched "the Soloist" a few weeks ago. I loved every aspect of it.  But, I won't lie.  For me, the topic was a little heavy. You're left debating whether people suffering with schizophrenia need the medications...Having said that, it's a beautiful movie to watch in terms of just acknowledging that we all have something to offer this life....Yes, I know it sounds corny,but I really believe it.  Both of the main actors really portrayed that dichotomy for me... 

N.B.: I have a few family members that suffer from schizophrenia.  I would never want them to stop their medications.  I firmly believe, that in their circumstances, medications are not an option.  Sorry.  I loved the movie, that was the only part that I struggled with.


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## David Baxter PhD (Nov 30, 2009)

YouTube trailers added for each film listed in the first post.


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## Daniel (Nov 30, 2009)

:cool2:


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## Domo (Nov 30, 2009)

Ordinary People was such a great movie!

I also highly recommend Clean, Shaven. 

I'd be careful what mood you are in when you watch it though as it might be a little disturbing/heavy for some.


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## SoSo (Dec 5, 2009)

One movie that was mentioned One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest I saw when it first came out.  Terrified me.  That was why I would never seek help when I got depressed or when the PTSD was really bad.  A member of my family was locked up in a asylum in the late 50's and it was so much like that movie, it really terrified me beyond reason.

My favourite, Patch Adams, shows how a person can bring joy to those who do suffer while in an institution himself, then go on to do even more through improving themselves.  i will have to look into some of the other movies mentioned here, just can't watch violent ones so will check them out first.
SoSo


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## NicNak (Dec 5, 2009)

SoSo said:


> My favourite, Patch Adams, shows how a person can bring joy to those who do suffer while in an institution himself, then go on to do even more through improving themselves.



This was one of my favorites too, I actually have it on DVD.  I had forgotten about it until you mentioned it.  It is a great movie I agree.

Thanks for the nice reminder about this great movie!  It is also based on a true story, which makes it even more heart warming.


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## Jazzey (Dec 5, 2009)

"Ordinary people"..One of my favorite movies. Watched it again tonight for the first time in a long time...


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## Banned (Dec 5, 2009)

SoSo said:


> My favourite, Patch Adams, shows how a person can bring joy to those who do suffer while in an institution himself, then go on to do even more through improving themselves. i will have to look into some of the other movies mentioned here, just can't watch violent ones so will check them out first.
> SoSo


 
This was on TV here the other night and I managed to watch it.  I really like this movie, too.  Robin Williams is really inspiring in it.


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## Meg (Dec 7, 2009)

Reign Over Me is another one about PTSD and depression in a man who lost his wife and child on 9/11.  It's been a while since I watched it, but I remember it being quite good.


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## David Baxter PhD (Dec 7, 2009)

I've never been able to bring myself to watch any of the 911 films. Watching the footage on TV was enough - the images are still burned into my brain.


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## Domo (Dec 7, 2009)

Reign Over Me was good. It didn't actually have anything to do with 9/11 as such. Just that he lost a family in it.

It was interesting and suprisingly good to see Adam Sandler in a serious role.


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## Jazzey (Dec 7, 2009)

Mary & Max {warning:  I found that it could be a little triggering, at times - I had to watch it in chunks}


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## Domo (Dec 7, 2009)

Mary And Max was brilliant! I saw that the other weekend.

Nurse Betty was suprisingly decent too.


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## Jazzey (Dec 7, 2009)

Yes, my brother recommended Mary & Max and I really enjoyed it.   I'm not usually into animations, but this was really well done and heart warming.


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## SyntheticSmile (Dec 17, 2009)

Lots a good ones! I really liked Girl, Interupted, Prozac Nation and The Fisher King with Robin Williams. Hmmm... Robin Williams sure seems to be in a lot of "crazy" movies...


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## Banned (Dec 17, 2009)

I saw Prozac Nation for the first time a few nights ago.  I had never heard of it but found it to be quite good.  I will likely follow up with the book.


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## amastie (Dec 18, 2009)

TSOW said:


> I was surprised not to see _Awakenings_ the Robin Williams movie about dystonia.
> 
> However I recently saw a movie on TCM made in the mid fifties about multiple personality disorder.  I believe it's called _The Three Faces of Eve_ and is a biographical account of a lady diagnosed with multiple personalities.
> 
> ...





Daniel said:


> IMHO, it did more harm than good.





Daniel said:


> DID or MPD is still over-diagnosed, and I assume that film had some role in that, at least historically.
> 
> In contrast, OCD tends to be under-diagnosed, and there have been a couple good films about OCD like _The Aviator _and _As Good As It Gets._




As someone diagnosed with DID (formerly Multiple Personality Disorder) I've found the best therapy ever with a psychiatist who is expert in this condtiion (and is therefore able to provide the best therapy that I've ever had)however films such as Three Faces Of Eve do a disservice to some extent to many of those who have DID because not all of us act out in such  a way.  'The Three Faces of Eve' brought DID/MPD to the attention of the public but (expecially at such an early stage in the understanding of such a diagnosis) it could not speak to the range of experience and ways of coping that people with DID bring.

Personally, I identified more (and was more drawn to) the tv film "The Poet" (aka "Little Girl Fly Away") starring  Mare Winningham.   I thought that was very well done.


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## Murray (Dec 18, 2009)

I know that it is a TV show and not a movie, but has anyone watched The US of Tara? In the show the main character Tara has DID and I was just wondering what people thought of how the show portrayed this.


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## Domo (Dec 18, 2009)

I really liked it. I have no idea if it's acurate but i liked it....

---------- Post added at 02:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:41 AM ----------

I watched a movie last night called Shattered Lives.

Synopsis from Shattered Lives Movie Reviews, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes 

Her fears and inability to cope with the harsh realities of life becoming so intense that they manifest themselves in an altered state of reality, a schizophrenic girl begins taking orders from a...  Her fears and inability to cope with the harsh realities of life becoming so intense that they manifest themselves in an altered state of reality, a schizophrenic girl begins taking orders from a pair of clown dolls who instruct her to murder her adulterous mother. Rachel is a small girl with a fragile mind. Her allegiance to her parents irreparably fractured when she is forced to keep her mother's extramarital affair a secret from her father, Rachel can't figure out how to handle the situation until her clown dolls, Melo and Lelo, offer an unsettling piece of advice: kill your mother and in the process absolve her of the evil that has infected her soul. It doesn't take long for Rachel to act on the grim suggestion, but as she grows up and her psyche becomes more fractured, the cycle of violence continues.



It was good but i found it fairly disturbing. Not sure why because i have seen a lot worse. I think the way her mother treated her made me feel sick.


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## Andy (Dec 18, 2009)

This is a horror movie?  Was it cheesy like most these days?


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## Domo (Dec 18, 2009)

Nah i wouldn't call it a horror...

There were a few slightly gory bits but it's really just a story of a broken girl.


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## amastie (Dec 19, 2009)

Re Domonation:  Synopsis from Shattered Lives Movie Reviews, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes 

It would disturb me too and I had a great mother.
Your synopsis was enough to put me of it.

---------- Post added at 02:42 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:30 AM ----------




Murray said:


> I know that it is a TV show and not a movie, but has anyone watched The US of Tara? In the show the main character Tara has DID and I was just wondering what people thought of how the show portrayed this.



Not entirely sure why but I've never been drawn to this show.  My immediate response is that I don't relate to the character of the lead actress (herself an Australian like me).   Actually, I've never seen this actress, Toni Collette, in a role that I have liked.  I didn't even like Muriel's Wedding in which she starred so maybe I just have a thing about the actress?

---------- Post added at 03:03 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:42 AM ----------

Also not a film, but I saw a wonderful documentary on compulsive hoarding recently and the isolating effect of OCD.  Am waiting for it to be repeated.  It was in part sponsored by an OCD organization.  It was called "Extraordinary Hoarders".

Another wonderful documentary was on Manic Depression, narrated by the wonderful, British comic/actor Stephen Fry and was called "Stephen Fry:  A Private Life"


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## no1isin (Jan 5, 2010)

On a lighter note, there is a new comedy that came out last week called All About Steve.
I thought it showed that people with a mental illness though sometimes have strange behaviour are not dangerous. It was funny and sad and has a great lesson to teach.


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## Mari (Jan 5, 2010)

I watched 'I Am Sam' the other evening and I thought it was incredibly touching and shows various aspects of the lack of support for people in need. I cried throughout but I am not sure if that is a good review or not since I never watch any movie without a box of tissue handy. :2thumbs: Mari  



> Sam Dawson has the mental capacity of a 7-year-old. He works at a Starbucks and is obsessed with the Beatles. He has a daughter with a homeless woman; she abandons them as soon as they leave the hospital. He names his daughter Lucy Diamond (after the Beatles song), and raises her. But as she reaches age 7 herself, Sam's limitations start to become a problem at school; she's intentionally holding back to avoid looking smarter than him. The authorities take her away, and Sam shames high-priced lawyer Rita Harrison into taking his case pro bono. In the process, he teaches her a great deal about love, and whether it's really all you need.


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## amastie (Jan 9, 2010)

Daniel said:


> DID or MPD is still over-diagnosed, and I assume that film had some role in that, at least historically.
> 
> In contrast, OCD tends to be under-diagnosed, and there have been a couple good films about OCD like _The Aviator _and _As Good As It Gets._


I must say that I am at a loss to think objectively about the over or under diagnosis of MPD but I wholeheartedly agree Daniel with "As Good As It Gets" - it manages at once to be very funny but also extremely moving in both its depiction of someone with OCD managing through life but then to make the point that, in the end, you live with as good as it gets is, to me, a terribly meaningful, poignant insight for many living with all forms of mental illness.  And no-one could have done it better than Jack Nicholson.


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## Hermes (Feb 2, 2010)

"Gaslight" (1944)  with Ingrid Bergman

And the term "gaslighting" derives from this film.  It is what the mentally disordered do to try to make the sane think they are the crazy ones.

Hermes


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## David Baxter PhD (Feb 2, 2010)

Hermes said:


> "Gaslight" (1944)  with Ingrid Bergman
> 
> And the term "gaslighting" derives from this film.  It is what the mentally disordered do to try to make the sane think they are the crazy ones.
> 
> Hermes


 
Actually, it's the act of trying to make another person feel they are insane or going insane when in fact there's nothing wrong with the person.


_Added: Or is that what you meant?_


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## Hermes (Feb 2, 2010)

Absolutely, David.  I could not have said it better.  LOL.  I'll try again:  an insane person trying to make a sane person believe s/he (the sane one) is insane.  

Would a normal person try to make someone believe he or she is insane?

Hermes


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## David Baxter PhD (Feb 2, 2010)

Thread split to http://forum.psychlinks.ca/antisoci...ial-personality-disorder-and-psychopathy.html


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