Dissociative Disorders
A Clockwork Orange
In future Britain, charismatic delinquent Alex DeLarge is jailed and volunteers for an experimental aversion therapy developed by the government in an effort to solve society's crime problem... but not all goes to plan.
Identity
Genre: Drama Year:2003 Rating: R
A fast moving thriller with a major psychological twist. Another one to watch twice, much like "Fight Club." Once you know what's going on, how accurate do you think the portrayal is? Does it perpetuate mental health stigma?
Paris, Texas
Genre:Drama Year:1984 Rating: R
Unusual movie about a man who wanders out of the desert with amnesia for his past. He is reunited with his brother, slowly his memory returns, he develops a relationship with his son, and eventually he finds his wife. How do you interpret the ending?
Repulsion
A Roman Polanski film about a sexually repressed young girl, who becomes psychotic and homicidal while left alone for a few days in her sister's apartment.
The Snake Pit
Classic film nominated for many Academy Awards. A young woman is in a state insane asylum and can't recall how she got there. The climate, patients, and treatments are likely accurate for their times, as well as the hospital politics and clashing between the treating psychiatrist and his administrative superiors, even before managed care. Well done portrayal of her inner dialogue. Not a particularly flattering portrayal of psychiatric nurses, though. What do you think of the conclusion regarding the causes of her problems? A great movie.
Spellbound
One of Hitchcock's best. A man shows up at a mental institution, impersonating the new psychiatrist. He develops a relationship with another psychiatrist, who then realizes that he is actually not the person he said he is. Great suspense film!
Sybil
The movie that started it all - virtually no patients diagnosed with Multiple Personality Disorder (aka Dissociative Identity Disorder) before this book/film came out. Consider a PTSD diagnosis in a patient with a general dissociative disorder (I'd argue for a dissociative personality category). Dr. Henry Spiegel, who also treated Sybil, has spoken out regarding the iatrogenic (doctor-induced) components of this case. Read the interview with Speigel about Sybil.
Vertigo
Topics: Anxiety, Depression, Personality
This movie tops many "all time favorites" lists. The story of a police detective, Scottie (also called Johnny), who suffers a trauma, developing acrophobia and vertigo, causing him to retire from the force. He is hired by an old college acquaintance to tail his wife, Madeleine, who seems to have dissociative identity disorder. Scotty falls in love with her, but can't prevent her from committing suicide. Stop reading here if you don't want the plot spoiled…Scotty is traumatized, becomes catatonic. Later encounters young woman on the street who looks like Madeleine. Turns out that she truly was the Madeleine that Scottie had followed, but she was part of the murder plot of the real Madeleine, however she really did fall in love with Scottie. Over time, they date, he remakes her into Madeleine (hair color, clothing, etc.).