Psychopathology in film is very common today, a myriad of films have told us stories related to psychologists, psychiatrists and, above all, people with mental disorders, even when the plot is not psychopathology itself, the science of psychology is present behind each character. .
The truth is that the descriptions of psychological disorders, their symptoms or the relationship between the patient and the professional are not always correct, sometimes the search for the element of surprise, which produces a sense of intrigue and mystery, leads writers, directors and actors to move away from the basics and science, showing a distorted image of what they want to represent.
“If psychiatry didn’t exist, the movies would have to make it up. And somehow, isn’t it?-Irving Schneider-
Do we understand that sometimes it’s necessary? Curl loops fastened ?, so that the spectacularity of the facts impacts the viewer who, in turn, seeks cinema in search of sensations rather than knowledge, in most cases, however, there are discrepancies in three main aspects:
Still, there are films with which you can learn and appreciate good work and truthful documentation, however, in some cases, you understand the need to seek theatre and value stories and feelings, perhaps what the viewer should take into account is that a film is always a performance, not reality itself.
Best Is Impossible is the film we all associate with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCO), which sins by linking the symptoms of the ocD with the personality of the protagonist.
Melvin’s irascible character can generate the misconception that those with this disorder have the same personality characteristics, but we must separate these unpleasant characteristics from the symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder, such as the severe cleansing, symmetry and repetition rituals presented by the film. Sample.
Dr. Mr. Green, how do I diagnose obsessive-compulsive disorder and then I’d be surprised if I suddenly show up here?- Melvin-
After its inception, most viewers associated obsessive-compulsive disorder with nasty, moody people, and realized that with a little love and friendship, symptoms can go away or even go away. We understand that this is a matter of script licenses mentioned above, but these beliefs are not true.
Martin Scorsese’s aviator tells a story about the life of millionaire, producer and businessman Howard Hughes, a character played by Leonardo DiCaprio.
From the point of view of psychopathology, this film shows us very precisely the development and evolution of obsessive-compulsive disorder, it all begins with a childhood marked by a mother’s fear of seeing her child sick, going through a youth full of eccentricities and mania until adulthood marked by obsessions and compulsions.
In the film we can see the terror of Howard Hughes’s Germs, who carried his soap everywhere and washed his hands compulsively to bleed to avoid spreading.
At the time there was no definition of disorder as such, so it was never treated, however, all the symptoms that accompany it and the suffering that caused (reflected perfectly in the film) indicate that he suffered from ODO.
Before talking about Christopher Nolan’s film and its successes, it is necessary to explain what is an antegrade amnesia, which unlike the best-known retrograde amnesia, which means forgetting things from the past, is characterized mainly by the inability to learn and memorize. The person with anusgrade amnesia forgets everything that happens at the same time as it happens, because he is not able to store the information in long-term memory, for her there is nothing left because she lives in a large space. disorientation of time Every moment is the same point, over and over again.
Without revealing much of the film and its narrative structure, Amnesia very faithfully reflects the anguish and characteristics of the person suffering from this manifestation of memory.
Through it we know the system created with notes, photos and tattoos by the protagonist to try to decipher the riddle from which the plot of the film begins. Your strategy is not to remember, but to confirm that you know what’s going on. The goal of the director is to make the viewer sympathize with the protagonist, with his state of conscious perplexity, and seems to succeed.
Amnesia may not perfectly reflect the anesograde amnesia, but it is able to keep us in the situation of uncertainty and confusion typical of the protagonist.
“What a bad memory only works backwards!?- Lewis Carroll-
As we see, cinema, in addition to mere entertainment, is an open door to knowledge, reflection and empathy, through its stories and characters, enjoying the experiences of others, even through fiction, is something that is within our reach. Now, if we want to know the world of psychopathology in more depth, the ideal is to learn through textbooks, studies and specialists.