The Portrayal of Psychopathology in Popular Culture:

 

A Handbook for the Teaching of Abnormal Psychology

 

 

Meredith J. Glick

Miami University

Teaching Seminar, Final Project

Fall 2003

 


 

Table of Contents

 

 

Anxiety Disorders                                            3

Dissociative and Somatoform Disorders             6

Mood Disorders                                            9

Schizophrenia                                               13

Personality Disorders                                    14

Substance Abuse and Dependence               19

Sexual Disorders                                          23

 


Anxiety Disorders

 

 

Fear and Anxiety

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Phobias

Panic Disorder/Agoraphobia

 


Anxiety Disorders

Relationship between Fear and Anxiety

 

Film:            Children of the Corn (1984)

·        Summary

A boy preacher named Isaac goes to a town in Nebraska called Gatlin and gets all the children to murder every adult in town. A young couple has a murder to report and they go to the nearest town (Gatlin) to seek help but the town seems deserted. They are soon trapped in Gatlin with little chance of getting out alive.

·        Scene

A frightening scene occurs near the beginning of the film a young boy’s throat is slit in the cornfields.  The boy then wanders into the street and gets hit by a car (driven by a young couple).  The boy seems to appear out of nowhere, inspiring great shock and horror.  This scene, or others like it, can be used to arouse fear sensations in students and lead into a discussion of how fear and anxiety are similar and different.

 

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

 

Film:    As Good as it Gets (1997)

·        Summary

New York City. Melvin Udall, a cranky, bigoted, obsessive-compulsive writer, finds his life turned upside down when neighboring gay artist Simon is hospitalized and his dog is entrusted to Melvin. In addition, Carol, the only waitress who will tolerate him, must leave work to care for her sick son, making it impossible for Melvin to eat breakfast.

 

·        Scene

One of the first scenes provides a good overview of Melvin’s OCD symptoms.  After he closes the door on his neighbor, he locks/unlocks the door several times and washes his hands with a new bar of soap and scalding hot water.  He then walks to his usual restaurant, being careful not to avoid any cracks in the sidewalk.  Once at the restaurant, he throws a fit when he is not able to sit at his usual table.  After getting his way, by making a disturbance, he settles in for his usual meal, served by his usual waitress, using his own set of silverware.

 

Book:            Everything in Its Place: My Trials and Triumphs with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (2000) by Marc Summers and Eric Hollander

·        Summary

Everything in Its Place is the frank, engaging, and often hilarious narrative of Summers’s journey from compulsive room cleaner to family man, talk-show host, and Obsessive Compulsive Foundation spokesperson. 

 

·        Excerpt

From the time I was six years old, everything in my world had to be perfect.  My clothes had to be folded a certain way.  The shirts hanging in my closet had to be a quarter-inch apart, no more, no less, with all the hangers facing the same direction.  My books were organized alphabetically and lined up so that they were exactly the same distance from the lip of the shelf.

 

Anxiety Disorders

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Films:

Fearless (1993)

Born on the Fourth of July (1989) - PTSD as well as drug abuse

The Deer Hunter (1978) -  PTSD as well as drug abuse and depression

 

Songs:

Me and a Gun  Tori Amos

 


5 AM, Friday morning
Thursday night, far from sleep
I'm still up and driving
Can't go home, obviously
So I'll just change direction
Cause they'll soon know where I live
And I wanna live, got a full tank and some chips

It was me and a gun
And a man on my back
And I sang "holy holy"
As he buttoned down his pants
You can laugh, it's kinda funny
The things you think
Times like these
Like I haven't seen Barbados
So I must get out of this

Yes I wore a slinky red thing
Does that mean I should spread
For you, your friends,
Your father, Mr. Ed?

It was me and a gun
And a man on my back
But I haven't seen Barbados
So I must get out of this

And I know what this means
Me and Jesus, a few years back
Used to hang and he said
It's your choice babe, just remember
I don't think you'll be back
In 3 days time, so you choose well
Tell me what's right,
Is it my right,
To be on my stomach
Of Fred's Seville

It was me and a gun
And a man on my back
But I haven't seen Barbados
So I must get out of this

And do you know Carolina?
Where the biscuits are soft and sweet
These things go through your head
When there's a man on your back
And you're pushed flat on your stomach
It's not a classic Cadillac

It was me and a gun
And a man on my back
But I haven't seen Barbados
So I must get out of this

No I haven't seen Barbados
So I must get out of this


 

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Films:

Annie Hall (1977); most Woody Allen films

 

Phobias

Films:

            High Anxiety (1977) – Psychiatrist with a fear of heights

Vertigo (1958) – Fear of heights         

 

Panic Disorder/Agoraphobia

Films:

Inside Out (1986)

Copycat (1995)

 

 

Dissociative and

Somatoform Disorders

 

 

Dissociative Amnesia

Dissociative Fugue

Dissociative Identity Disorder

Conversion Disorder

Hypochondriasis

Psychosomatic Disorders

 


Dissociative and Somatoform Disorders

Dissociative Amnesia

Films:

Dead Again (1991)

Mirage (1965)

 

Dissociative Fugue

Films:

Nurse Betty (2000)

 

Dissociative Identity Disorder

Films:  Sybil (1976)

·        Summary

The true story of a young woman named Sybil, whose childhood was so harrowing to her that she developed at least 16 different personalities.

 

·        Scene

There is a scene in the first third of the film where the audience is introduced to several of Sybil’s personalities during a therapy session at her psychiatrist’s office and kitchen table.  The personalities are presented as separate individuals—all children—who dress and act very differently.  In the next scene, Sybil is asked out on a date by her neighbor.  She calls forth the personality that is sociable and best-suited to meet the demands of that particular situation.  These scenes show the distinctiveness of multiple personalities and how they each can serve a specific purpose.           

 

Identity (2003)

Primal Fear (1996) – skepticism about DID

Psycho (1960)

The Three Faces of Eve (1957)

 

Books:

When Rabbit Howls (1989) by Truddi Chase

Sybil (1973) by Rheta Flora Schreiber

 

Conversion Disorder

Films:

            Twelve-O’Clock High (1949)

 

Hypochondriasis

Films:

My Girl (1991)

Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)

 


Dissociative and Somatoform Disorders

Psychosomatic Disorders

Songs:

            Adelaide’s Lament – Guys and Dolls

 

It says here:

The average unmarried female

Basically insecure

Due to some long frustration may react

With psychosomatic symptoms

Difficult to endure

Affecting the upper respiratory tract.

 

In other words,

Just from waiting around for that plain little band of gold

A person can develop a cold.

 

You can spray her wherever you figure there's streptococci lurk

You can give her a shot for whatever's she's got, but it just won't work

If she's tired of getting the fish eye from the hotel clerk

A person can develop a cold.

 

It says here:

The female remaining single

Just in the legal sense

Shows a neurotic tendency, see note: (looks at note)

Chronic organic syndromes

Toxic or hypertense

Involving the eye, the ear, the nose, and throat.

 

In other words, just from worrying if the wedding is on or off

A person can develop a cough.

 

You can feed her all day with the vitamin A and the bromofizz

But the medicine never gets anywhere near where the trouble is.

If she's getting a kind of name for herself, and the name ain't his

A person can develop a cough.

 

And further more, just from stalling, and stalling,

And stalling the wedding trip

A person can develop la grippe.

 

When they get on that train for Niagara

And she can hear church bells chime

The compartment is air-conditioned

And the mood sublime

Then they get off at Saratoga for the fourteenth time!

A person can develop la grippe,

La grippe.

La postnasal drip.

With the wheezes

And the sneezes

And a sinus that's really a pip!

 

From a lack of community property

And a feeling she's getting to old

A person can develop a bad, bad cold!

 


 

Mood Disorders

 

 

Major Depressive Disorder

Bipolar Disorder

 


Mood Disorders

Major Depressive Disorder

Films:

Love Liza (2002) - Survivor of suicide

Girl, Interrupted (1999) - also borderline tendencies

Scent of a Woman (1992)

Ordinary People (1980) - Depression, Suicide, PTSD, family pathology, psychotherapy

It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) – Adjustment Disorder with Depressed Mood, Suicide

 

Books:

            She’s Come Undone (1992) by Wally Lamb

The Bell Jar (1971) by Sylvia Plath

           

Songs:

Everybody Hurts – REM

When the day is long and the night, the night is yours alone,
When you’re sure you’ve had enough of this life, well hang on
Don’t let yourself go, everybody cries and everybody hurts sometimes

Sometimes everything is wrong. Now it’s time to sing along
When your day is night alone, (hold on, hold on)
If you feel like letting go, (hold on)
When you think you’ve had too much of this life, well hang on

’cause everybody hurts. Take comfort in your friends
Everybody hurts. Don’t throw your hand. Oh, no. Don’t throw your hand
If you feel like you’re alone, no, no, no, you are not alone

If you’re on your own in this life, the days and nights are long,
When you think you’ve had too much of this life to hang on

Well, everybody hurts sometimes,
Everybody cries. And everybody hurts sometimes
and everybody hurts sometimes. So, hold on, hold on
Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on
Everybody hurts. You are not alone.

            Blue Pastures – James (Suicide)

 


Blue pastures fade away
Green rivers in silver light
I'm walking to the sound of distant bells
So peaceful I don't know who I am
And just when I think its clear
It turns all gray again
And I wonder who will find me in the snow
And just when I thought I was free
I got pulled in again
Once you're in, you're in
Blue pastures calling home
I'm Walking but I can't stand anymore
Hear voices, can't tell near or far
Weird voices lay me down
And I don't see why I'm obliged
To just carry on
When everything I touch
Turns out wrong
And I feel I've committed some crime
But I don't know what I've done
One day life just wins
One day life just wins
Still breathing
But I'm tired and I want to go home
Still breathing
But I'm not sure anymore
Still breathing
But it doesn't really matter if I fade away
Fall into sleep
Fall into sleep


 

 

Mood Disorders

Bipolar Disorder

Films: Mr. Jones (1993)

·        Summary

The story about the relationship between a manic depressive man, Mr. Jones, and the female doctor who takes more than a professional interest in his treatment.

 

·        Scene

There is an excellent, though somewhat long, scene depicting Richard Gere’s symptoms of mania.  When talking to his therapist, he shows flight of ideas, and then later shows typical manic behaviors (singing/dancing in euphoric mood, withdraws money, goes on a spending spree, has a fling with a stranger, etc.).  The scene culminates with Richard Gere getting up on stage to conduct a symphony’s performance of—appropriately!—Joyful, Joyful.

 

Call Me Anna (1990) – also a book by Patty Duke

 

Songs: Manic Depression – Jimi Hendrix

 


Manic Depression's touching my soul,
I know what I want,
but I just don't know how to go about getting it.

Feeling, sweet feeling
drops from my finger, fingers
Manic Depression's captured my soul.

Woman so willing the sweet cause in vain,
you make love,
you break love,
it's-a all the same when it's...
when it's over.

Music sweet music,
I wish I could caress, caress, caress.
Manic Depression's a frustrating mess.
Well, I think I'll go turn myself off an' go on down.

Really ain't no use me hanging around.
Oh, I gotta see you.


 

Songs: Fire and Rain – James Taylor

 


Just yesterday morning they let me know you were gone
Susanne the plans they made put an end to you
I walked out this morning and I wrote down this song
I just can't remember who to send it to

I've seen fire and I've seen rain
I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end
I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend
But I always thought that I'd see you again

Won't you look down upon me, Jesus
You've got to help me make a stand
You've just got to see me through another day
My body's aching and my time is at hand
And I won't make it any other way

Oh, I've seen fire and I've seen rain
I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end
I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend
But I always thought that I'd see you again

Been walking my mind to an easy time my back turned towards the sun
Lord knows when the cold wind blows it'll turn your head around
Well, there's hours of time on the telephone line to talk about things
to come
Sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground

Oh, I've seen fire and I've seen rain
I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end
I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend
But I always thought that I'd see you, baby, one more time again, now

Thought I'd see you one more time again
There's just a few things coming my way this time around, now
Thought I'd see you, thought I'd see you fire and rain, now


 


Mood Disorders

Bipolar Disorder (cont…)

 

Book:  An Unquiet Mind (1995) – Kay Redfield Jamison

·        Summary

In An Unquiet Mind, Jamison examines manic-depression from the dual perspectives of the healer [Clinical Psychologist and Professor Psychiatry] and the healed, revealing both its terrors and the cruel allure that at times prompted her to resist taking medication.  She has emerged with a memoir of enormous candor, vividness, and wisdom, one of those rare books that have the power to transform our lives—and even save them (book jacket).

 

·        Excerpt

There is a particular kind of pain, elation, loneliness, and terror involved in this kind of madness.  When you’re high it’s tremendous.  The ideas and feelings are fast and frequent like shooting stars, and you follow them until you find better and brighter ones.  Shyness goes, the right words and gestures are suddenly there, the power to captivate others a felt certainty.  There are interests found in uninteresting people.  Sensuality is pervasive and the desire to seduce and be seduced irresistible.  Feelings of ease, intensity, power, well-being, financial omnipotence, and euphoria provide one’s marrow.  But, somewhere, this changes.  The fast ideas are too fast, and there are far too many; overwhelming confusion replaces clarity.  Memory goes.  Humor and absorption on friends’ faces are replaced by fear and concern.  Everything previously moving with the grain is now against—you are irritable, angry, frightened, uncontrollable, and enmeshed totally in the blackest caves of the mind.  You never knew those caves were there.  IT will never end, for madness carves its own reality (Jamison, 1995, p. 67).

 

 


Schizophrenia

 

 

Films:

A Beautiful Mind (2001)

The Caveman’s Valentine (2001) – Paranoid Schizophrenia

Shine (1996) - unclear diagnosis, though probably Schizophrenia

Benny & Joon  (1993)

Sophie’s Choice (1982)

I Never Promised You a Rose Garden (1977)

 

Books:

            Angelhead (2000) by Greg Bottoms

·        Summary

In pitch-perfect prose, Greg Bottoms shows with great empathy and dramatic tension the psychological decline of his brother as he becomes obsessed first with heavy metal music, martial arts, and the occult, and then with the more bizarre aspects of Christianity.  We see not only the effect of Michael’s odd and increasingly violent behavior has on the people around him, but also come to understand how the author, now a successful writer and journalist, used the power of language and storytelling both to save and to forgive his brother (book jacket).

 

·        Excerpt

My brother saw the face of God.  You never recover from a trauma like that.  He was fourteen, on LSD, shouting for help in the darkness of his room in our new suburban home.  I was ten.  I stood watching from his doorway, still, eyes clinched up tight as seams, trying to make out his writhing shape.  I saw for myself.  I didn’t see God, of course, but I saw my brother seeing God; I saw how petrified he was, how convinced.  I knew, still know, that he saw, in some form, His or Her or Its face (Bottoms, 2000, p. 1).

 

Songs:

            Schizophrenia – Sonic Youth

 

I went away to see an old friend of mine
His sister came over she was out of her mind
She said Jesus had a twin who knew nothing about sin
She was laughing like crazy at the trouble I'm in
Her light eyes were dancing she is insane
Her brother says she's just a bitch with a golden chain
She keeps coming closer saying "I can feel it in my bones
Schizophrenia is taking me home"

My Future is static
It's already had it
I could tuck you in
And we can talk about it
I had a dream
And it split the scene
But I got a hunch
It's coming back to me

 

Personality Disorders

 

 

Cluster A

      Paranoid Personality Disorder

       Schizoid Personality Disorder

       Schizotypal Personality Disorder

Cluster B

      Histrionic Personality Disorder

       Antisocial Personality Disorder

       Borderline Personality Disorder

       Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Cluster C

      Avoidant Personality Disorder

       Dependent Personality Disorder

       Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder

     


 

Personality Disorders 

Paranoid Personality Disorder

Films:

Falling Down (1993)  

The Caine Mutiny (1954)

The Treasure of Sierra Madre (1948)

           

Schizoid Personality Disorder

Films:

Remains of the Day (1994)

 

Songs:

I am a Rock – Simon & Garfunkel

 


A winter's day
In a deep and dark December;
I am alone,
Gazing from my window to the streets below
On a freshly fallen silent shroud of snow.
I am a rock,
I am an island.

I've built walls,
A fortress deep and mighty,
That none may penetrate.
I have no need of friendship; friendship causes pain.
It's laughter and it's loving I disdain.
I am a rock,
I am an island.

Don't talk of love,

But I've heard the words before;

 
It's sleeping in my memory.
I won't disturb the slumber of feelings that have died.
If I never loved I never would have cried.
I am a rock,
I am an island.

I have my books
And my poetry to protect me;
I am shielded in my armor,
Hiding in my room, safe within my womb.
I touch no one and no one touches me.
I am a rock,
I am an island.

And a rock feels no pain;
And an island never cries.


     

Schizotypal Personality Disorder

Films:

Taxi Driver (1976)

     

Histrionic Personality Disorder

Films:

Gone with the Wind (1939)

A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

 

Antisocial Personality Disorder

Films:

The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986)

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

 


 

Personality Disorders

Antisocial Personality Disorder (cont…)

 

Songs: Gee, Officer Krupke – West Side Story


 

TIGER, IMITATING KRUPKE
Hey you!

RIFF
Who me, Officer Krupke?

TIGER, IMITATING KRUPKE
Yeah you, gimme one good reason for not draggin' ya down the station house, ya punk!

RIFF
Dear kindly Sergeant Krupke
You gotta understand
It's just our bringin' upke
That gets us out of hand
Our mothers all are junkies
Our fathers all are drunks
Golly Moses, naturally we're punks

JETS
Gee, Officer Krupke
We're very upset
We never had the love
That every child oughta get
We ain't no delinquents
We're misunderstood
Deep down inside us there is good

RIFF
There is good!

JETS
There is good, there is good
There is untapped good
Like inside, the worst of us is good

TIGER, IMITATING KRUPKE
That's a touching good story

RIFF
Lemme tell it to the world!

TIGER, IMITATING KRUPKE
Just tell it to the judge

RIFF
Dear kindly Judge, your Honor
My parents treat me rough
With all their marijuana
They won't give me a puff
They didn't wanna have me
But somehow I was had
Leapin' lizards, that's why I'm so bad


 

SNOWBOY IMITATING JUDGE
Right! Officer Krupke
You're really a square
This boy don't need a judge
He needs an analyst's care
It's just his neurosis
That oughta be curbed
He's psychologically disturbed

RIFF
I'm disturbed

JETS
We're disturbed, we're disturbed
We're the most disturbed
Like we're psychologically disturbed

SNOWBOY IMITATING JUDGE
Hear ye, hear ye. In the opinion of this court, this child is depraved on account he ain't had a normal home.

RIFF
Hey, I'm depraved on account I'm deprived!

SNOWBOY IMITATING JUDGE
So take him to a headshrinker. You!

ACTION
Who me?

RIFF
My daddy beats my mommy
My mommy clobbers me
My grandpa is a commie
My grandma pushes tea
My sisters wears a moustache
My brother wears a dress
Goodness gracious, that's why I'm a mess

ACTION IMITATING HEADSHRINKER
Yes, Officer Krupke
He shouldn't be here
This boy don't need a couch
He needs a usefully career
Society's played him a terrible trick
And sociologically he's sick

RIFF
I am sick!

JETS
We are sick, we are sick
We are sick sick sick
Like we're sociologically sick

ACTION IMITATING HEADSHRINKER
In my opinion, this child does not need to have his head shrunk at all. Juvenile delinquency is purely a social disease.

RIFF
Hey, I got a social disease!

ACTION IMITATING HEADSHRINKER
So take him to a social worker

RIFF
Dear kindly social worker
They tell me get a job
Like be a soda jerker
Which means I'd be a slob
It's not I'm antisocial
I'm only anti-work
Glory Osky, that's why I'm a jerk

A-RAB
Eek, Officer Krupke
You've done it again
This boy don't need a job
He needs a year in the pen
It ain't just a question of misunderstood
Deep down inside he's no good

RIFF
I'm no good

JETS
We're no good, we're no good
We're no earthly good
Like the best of us is no damn good

The trouble is he's lazy
The trouble is he drinks
The trouble is he's crazy
The trouble is he stinks
The trouble is he's growing
The trouble is he's grown
Krupke, we've got troubles of our own

Officer Krupke
We're down on our knees

RIFF
'Cause no one wants a fella
With a social disease

JETS
Dear Officer Krupke
What are we to do?
Gee, Officer Krupke
Krup you!


     

Personality Disorders 

Borderline Personality Disorder

 

Films:  Fatal Attraction (1987)

·        Summary

Michael Douglas plays Dan, a happily married New York attorney who becomes sexually involved Alex (played by Glen Close), a glamorous and sexually aggressive publishing executive.  What starts out as a simple, one-night affair for Dan turns into a nightmare for him and his family as Alex becomes increasingly possessive and manipulative.

 

·        Scene

About a third of the way into the movie, Dan tells Alex that he can’t continue seeing her because he is married.  Alex first reacts by screaming and swearing at Dan in an enraged manner, even ripping his shirt.  After he’s gathered his things to leave, Alex approaches him in a calm, sweet, and remorseful way.  Dan hugs her and offers some sympathy.  He then notices that Alex has cut her writs while he was in the other room.  He quickly provides her both medical and emotional attention.  The scene ends with Alex promising to get help and Dan promising to call her.  This is an excellent depiction of rapidly-shifting moods and behaviors, and suicidal acts in the face of abandonment.

 

Narcissistic Personality Disorder

 

Films: Schindler’s List (1993)

·        Summary

The true story of Czech born Oskar Schindler, a businessman who tried to make his fortune during the Second World War by exploiting cheap Jewish labour.  He ended up penniless having saved over 1000 Polish Jews from almost certain death during the holocaust.

 

·        Scene

A scene approximately 30 minutes in the film depicts Schindler and his wife eating in a restaurant/club for dinner.  Schindler hasn’t seen her for several months, and asks if people at home are talking about him.  He expresses his wish that they’ll soon notice what a name he’s made for himself.  He also fantasizes about unlimited success and fame.  Schindler comments that he’s finally found a way to achieve this fortune and success: the war.  This scene demonstrates Schindler’s desire for unlimited success, admiration, high view of himself, and willingness to exploit others in order to achieve his goals.

 

Jerry Maguire (1996)

Sunset Boulevard (1950)

 


Personality Disorders

Narcissistic Personality Disorder (cont…)

 

Songs: You’re So Vain – Carly Simon

 


You walked into the party
Like you were walking onto a yacht
Your hat strategically dipped below one eye
Your scarf, it was apricot
You had one eye in the mirror
As you watched yourself gavotte
And all the girls dreamed that they'd be your partner
They'd be your partner, and

You're so vain
You probably think this song is about you
You're so vain
I'll bet you think this song is about you
Don't you? Don't you?

You had me several years ago
When I was still quite naive
Well, you said that we made such a pretty pair
And that you would never leave
But you gave away the things you loved
And one of them was me
I had some dreams they were clouds in my coffee
Clouds in my coffee, and

You're so vain
You probably think this song is about you
You're so vain
I'll bet you think this song is about you
Don't you? Don't you?

I had some dreams they were clouds in my coffee
Clouds in my coffee, and

You're so vain
You probably think this song is about you
You're so vain
I'll bet you think this song is about you
Don't you? Don't you?

Well, I hear you went up to Saratoga
And your horse naturally won
Then you flew your Lear jet up to Nova Scotia
To see the total eclipse of the sun
Well, you're where you should be all the time
And when you're not, you're with
Some underworld spy or the wife of a close friend
Wife of a close friend, and

You're so vain
You probably think this song is about you
You're so vain
I'll bet you think this song is about you
Don't you? Don't you? Don't you?

You're so vain
You probably think this song is about you
You're so vain
You probably think this song is about you
You're so vain
You probably think this song is about you

You're so vain (so vain)
I'll bet you think this song is about you
Don't you? Don't you? Don't you?


 

           

 

Avoidant Personality Disorder

Films:

          The Glass Menagerie (1950; 1987) – character of Laura

 

Dependent Personality Disorder

Films:

            What About Bob? (1991)

 

Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder

Films:

            The Odd Couple (1968) – character of Felix Unger

            M*A*S*H (1970) – character of Major Frank Burns

 

         


 

Substance Abuse and Dependence

 

 

Alcohol

Cocaine

Heroin

 


Substance Abuse and Dependence

Alcohol

 

Films: When a Man Loves a Woman (1994)

·        Summary

Meg Ryan portrays a middle-class alcoholic woman.  Melodramatic and somewhat predictable film but an interesting introduction to AA and Al-Anon.  The film explores the role of codependency and a husband’s role in his wife’s alcoholism (Wedding & Boyd,1999).

 

·        Scenes

A scene early on the film depicts Ryan’s character hitting rock bottom.  She comes home late from work, drunk.  She yells at and slaps her worried daughter.  Ryan then proceeds to drink anything she can find before taking a shower.  She ends up passing out and crashing through the glass shower door.  Her daughter finds her and thinks she is dead.  Ryan then enters treatment.  This scene shows the consequences alcoholism can have on a family (Ryan has two young daughters).  It is also portrays a woman as an alcoholic, something rarely done in Hollywood.

 

One of the powerful ending scenes shows Ryan’s character sharing her “story” at AA.  She describes her trials and tribulations (and all that she’s lost due to her alcohol problem), but also expresses hope for the future.

 

            Under the Volcano (1984)

            Days of Wine and Roses (1962)

            The Lost Weekend (1945)

 

Songs:

            Alcohol – Barenaked Ladies

 


Alcohol, my permanent accessory
Alcohol, a party-time necessity
Alcohol, alternative to feeling like yourself
O Alcohol, I still drink to your health

I love you more than I did the week before
I discovered alcohol

Forget the café latte,
screw the raspberry iced tea
A Malibu and Coke for you, a G&T for me
Alcohol, Your songs resolve like
my life never will
When someone else is picking up the bill

I love you more than I did the week before
I discovered alcohol
O Alcohol, would you please forgive me?
For while I cannot love myself
I'll use something else


 

I thought that Alcohol was just for those with nothing else to do
I thought that drinking just to get drunk
was a waste of precious booze
But now I know that there's a time
and there's a place where I can choose
To walk the fine line between
self-control and self-abuse

I love you more than I did the week before
I discovered alcohol
Would you please ignore that you
found me on the floor
Trying on your camisole?
O Alcohol, would you please forgive me?
For while I cannot love myself
I'll use something else

Would you please forgive me?

Would you please forgive me?

 




 


Substance Abuse and Dependence

Cocaine

Films:

            Bad Lieutenant (1992)

            Clean and Sober (1988) – Cocaine addiction, alcoholism, AA

            Scarface (1983)

 

Songs:            Cocaine – Eric Clapton

 


If you wanna hang out, you've gotta take her out: Cocaine
If you wanna get down, get down on the ground: Cocaine

She's alright,
She's alright,
She's alright,
COCAINE

If you got that lose, you wanna kick them blues: Cocaine
When your day is done, and you wanna ride on Cocaine

She's alright,
She's alright,
She's alright,
COCAINE

If your day is gone, and you wanna ride on: Cocaine
Don't forget this fact: You can't get it back: Cocaine

She's alright,
She's alright,
She's alright,
COCAINE

She's alright,
She's alright,
She's alright,
COCAINE


 

 

Heroin

Films:

            Trainspotting (1996)

            The Connection (1961)


 

Songs: Heroin – Velvet Underground

           

I don't know just where I'm going
But I'm gonna try for the kingdom, if I can
'Cause it makes me feel like I'm a man
When I put a spike into my vein
And I'll tell ya, things aren't quite the same
When I'm rushing on my run
And I feel just like Jesus' son
And I guess that I just don't know
And I guess that I just don't know

I have made the big decision
I'm gonna try to nullify my life
'Cause when the blood begins to flow
When it shoots up the dropper's neck
When I'm closing in on death
And you can't help me now, you guys
And all you sweet girls with all your sweet talk
You can all go take a walk
And I guess that I just don't know
And I guess that I just don't know…

 

 

Substance Abuse and Dependence

Heroin (cont…)

 

I wish that I was born a thousand years ago
I wish that I'd sail the darkened seas
On a great big clipper ship
Going from this land here to that
In a sailor's suit and cap
Away from the big city
Where a man can not be free
Of all of the evils of this town
And of himself, and those around
Oh, and I guess that I just don't know
Oh, and I guess that I just don't know

Heroin, be the death of me
Heroin, it's my wife and it's my life
Because a mainer to my vein
Leads to a center in my head
And then I'm better off and dead
Because when the smack begins to flow
I really don't care anymore
About all the Jim-Jim's in this town
And all the politicians makin' crazy sounds
And everybody puttin' everybody else down
And all the dead bodies piled up in mounds

'Cause when the smack begins to flow
Then I really don't care anymore
Ah, when the heroin is in my blood
And that blood is in my head
Then thank God that I'm as good as dead
Then thank your God that I'm not aware
And thank God that I just don't care
And I guess I just don't know
And I guess I just don't know

 

 


 

 

 

 

 


Sexual Disorders

 

 

Gender Identity Disorder

Paraphilias

      Transvestism

      Fetishism

      Sadism

      Masochism

      Pedophilia

 


Sexual Disorders

Gender Identity Disorder

Films:

            Boys Don’t Cry (1999)

            The Crying Game (1993)

            The World According to Garp (1982)

 

Books:

            Crossing: A Memoir (1999) by Deirdre N. McCloskey

 

Songs:

            Androgynous – The Replacements

           


Here come Dick, he's wearing a skirt
Here comes Jane, y'know she's sporting a chain
Same hair, revolution
Same build, evolution
Tomorrow who's gonna fuss

And they love each other so
Androgynous
Closer than you know, love each other so
Androgynous

Don't get him wrong and don't get him mad
He might be a father, but he sure ain't a dad
And she don't need advice that'll center her
She's happy with the way she looks
She's happy with her gender

Mirror image, see no damage
See no evil at all
Kewpie dolls and urine stalls
Will be laughed at
The way you're laughed at now

Now, something meets Boy, and something meets Girl
They both look the same
They're overjoyed in this world
Same hair, revolution
Unisex, evolution
Tomorrow who's gonna fuss
And tomorrow Dick is wearing pants
And tomorrow Janie's wearing a dress
Future outcasts and they don't last
And today, the people dress the way that they please
The way they tried to do in the last centuries


 

Transvestism

Films:

            To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar (1995)

            La Cage aux Folles (1978)

            The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

 

Fetishism

Films:

            Crash (1996)

            sex, lies, and videotape (1989)

            Equus (1977)

            Claire’s Knee (1971)

 

Masochism

Films:

            Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1990)

            Cabaret (1972) – also Sadism

 


Sexual Disorders

Sadism

Films:

            Pulp Fiction (1994)

            Blue Velvet (1986)

 

Pedophilia

Films:

            Pretty Baby (1978)

            The Mark (1961)

 

 

 


 

 

References

 

Glick, M. J. (2003). Personal experience.

 

Kavanagh, G. J. (n.d.). The movie page: Abnormal psychology movie list.  Retrieved December 1, 2003, from http://homepages.uc.edu/~kavanag/movielist.htm

 

Levine, R. & Hyler, S. (n.d.). Films which demonstrate specific pathologies or symptoms: A summary. Retrieved October 29, 2003, from http://www.dartmouth.edu/~admsep/resources/cinemal.html

 

Schwartz, S. (2001). Abnormal psychology: Current research, news, movies, and books. Retrieved December 8, 2003, from http://www.mhhe.com/mayfieldpub/schwartz/news/

 

The Internet Movie Database. (2003).  Retrieved November-December, 2003, from http://www.imdb.com/

 

Wedding, D. & Boyd, M.A. (1999). Movies & mental illness: Using films to understand psychopathology. Boston: McGraw-Hill College