Mental Illness in the Movies
Introduction
As a child I had a serious loves for movies, films, and T.V. shows. It was such a magical process that intrigued my young mind. I was forever curious about how someone could create movies and also why I could not have a flying carpet or a pet raccoon. My love for movies followed me throughout life, but my curiosity switched gears. Instead of wondering about the fantasy aspect, my curiosity made me wonder why movies were so important to American culture and the effects that had on our country. In which I found that movies help the American people find common ground with someone from across the country, they tell us stories, and in some cases make us feel better about whatever is going on in our lives. They are a social base in our society, providing Friday night outings and endless discussions about characters. Movies are an important form of media, that shapes the American way of life and influences the ideals and in rare cases, actions of people.
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Disney's Aladdin flying carpet scene
Disney's Pocahontas' Meeko
As wonderful as movies can be in a social aspect, they can also provide false information about certain topics. One of these topics is mental illness and on a smaller scale, obsessive-compulsive disorder alone. As movies have become a way of life to the American people, they have started to influence the culture, therefore, hindering groups of people when they are misconstrued in a movie. This inaccurate portrayal allows for stigmas to arise. These stigmas that are casually reinforced by way of microaggressions, which are any sly comments that degrade a marginalized group. Microaggressions give those who do not fall into the minority category a sense of superiority along with false ideas about what someone with a mental illness would do. Because some movies portray mental illness as dangerous or the characters as unstable, more people make their own assumptions based around this falsified knowledge, This leads to stigma and ultimately strikes fear in those who have a mental illness because who would want to share about having obsessive-compulsive disorder when a movie just came out depicting OCD as someone who is aggressive, fidgety, and uncontrollable?
The Road Within
Matchstick Men
Phoebe In Wonderland
The Aviator
Movies are a market that feed off of people’s emotions. They want to make people feel something whether the story is real or not. The issue is they are affecting people’s livelihoods by taking liberties with subjects that promote stigmas. The only way to combat this unintentional bias is to educate people about what mental illness truly is and what it looks like in the everyday battle that some people must fight. Movies are not intentionally portraying obsessive-compulsive disorder inaccurately, but some characters are portrayed unjustly because they are shown as hysterical, seen as having incredibly severe symptoms, and in certain cases display a correlation between Tourette’s syndrome and obsessive-compulsive disorder that is not always present.
Uncontrollable
Compul s ions
Twenty-first century movies have started to portray those who are diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder as uncontrollable and hysterical when a roadblock prevents them from carrying out a compulsion. Compulsions are a symptom of OCD that makes someone with the disorder feel compelled to carry out tasks in a particular way. According to Stanley Rachman (1997), a previous professor at the University of British Columbia in the department of psychology, states that these compulsions are caused by a “misinterpretation of intrusive thoughts” (p.793). This means that the thoughts themselves are relatively normal, but the way in which the person decides to react to it, is what sets those with and without OCD apart. This works as a series of events, if an irrational thought is had then an irrational action will follow that could easily be seen as hysterical. Also discussed by Eric Rassin and Peter Muris (2007), professors in the psychology department of Erasmus University, is “how the individual experiences the obsession seems to be the crucial variable” (p.1066). This agrees with the interpretations that can me made out of Rachman’s research by confirming that compulsions are individually based around one’s interpretation.
These ideas of misinterpretation are demonstrated in Phoebe in Wonderland, whose main character is Phoebe, a nine year old girl, who suffers from symptoms of both Tourette’s syndrome and OCD (Barnz & Barnes, 2008). Phoebe’s character serves as a great example of this concept because she is constantly at battle with herself to get in control of the “voices” that compel her to fulfill certain tasks. These tasks include washing her hands until they are raw, jumping off of a catwalk, having to step on stones a certain way before moving forward, etc.
Phoebe In Wonderland
Scene demonstrating her need to wash her hands
These compulsions can be seen in real life, but the way Phoebe reacts to being unable to fulfill these in certain scenes is less realistic. She describes her thoughts and feelings as “being on the edge of the roof, all the time” (Barnz & Barnes, 2008, Phoebe in Wonderland). That description can be interpreted as major feelings of anxiety and a perpetual desire to give in to compulsions. When considering her jump from the catwalk that is associated with her obsessions and compulsions, the danger of severe OCD is seen, but at the detriment of her reactions being over exaggerated. These compulsions that would in most circumstances be brushed off by a nine year old without OCD, became all that Phoebe can think about until she eventually put herself in harm’s way. This shows a way in which the portrayals in movies can seem accurate, but underneath the surface it is unrealistic to believe that such uproar would be caused by a small child with obsessive compulsive disorder.
In addition to Phoebe in Wonderland portrayal, inaccurate portrayals occur regularly. For example, in Matchstick Men, Roy Waller, the main character is a middle aged con artist suffering from OCD (Bailey & Scott, 2003). One crucial scene involves Roy fiercely overreacting to a situation he cannot control. In this scene, he is attempting to obtain a prescription that pharmacists, at first, refuse to fill. During this time, Roy is hysterical. He is bouncing from one side of the store to the other, cutting people in line, and yelling.
Matchstick Men
Scene demonstrating
adverse reactions to difficulties
Assumptions
In other words, upon quick examination, someone would think of him as deranged. Even as I watched the scene play out, I was judging the character for letting his disorder get to him. Then, I realized that even as someone who is educated about how OCD works, I was making assumptions about people with OCD because of the movie. This portrayal is inaccurate because according to Sarah Newth and Stanley Rachman (2001), a previous clinical psychology student of Rachman at University of British Columbia, many patients dealing with OCD tend to conceal their unwanted thoughts from those around them. A common face of someone with OCD according Newth and Rachman is a person who has “repugnant blasphemous thoughts [that] lead to doubts” (p. 459). This quote is referring to the concept of concealment of intrusive thoughts. In some cases, intrusive thoughts can haunt a person and make them believe that they are dangerous because they may think of harming someone (p.459). From this some people with OCD can develop social anxiety, creating a situation where they start to avoid being around people to prevent them from acting out in anyway (p.461). This concept of avoidance clearly dispels the notion that someone with OCD would have such adverse reactions displayed by Roy. Even though I had known the characteristics of a person with OCD before watching the movie, I still allowed myself to get sucked up into the stigma. I ignored the knowledge that outbursts are uncomfortable for people with OCD and usually the last resort, which has made me think long and hard about what other stigmas I have fallen into because of movies.
The personality traits previously discussed by Newth and Rachman of how someone with OCD would act are very different from the portrayal made in Matchstick Men (Bailey & Scott, 2003). While many of the generic signs of OCD are shown, the deeper psychological issue is missed, which causes more issues with the integrity of the movie throughout. The Obsessive Compulsive Cognitions Working group (1997), a group of professionals in the field of psychology ranging from professor to psychologist, did an analyses of studies to determine which characteristics were specific to OCD and which ones were common across the board when it comes to mental illness.
In this collaboration, they found that “people with OC (obsessive compulsive) symptoms, compared to controls, appear to be more cautious” meaning every actions is detailed meticulously (p. 673). This debunks the concept that someone with OCD would have a wild reaction because it goes against everything that makes them function as a person with this disorder. Obsessive Compulsive Cognitions Working group (1997), states that those with OCD tend to have a heightened sense of perfectionism as well as inflated responsibility of actions, two factors that do not allow for rash reactions (p. 671). OCD is an anxiety disorder than can involve many different compulsions, therefore, in some cases cause outbursts, but the hysteria shown in Phoebe in Wonderland and Matchstick Men while the characters deal with change is far from reality.
As previously shown, twenty-first century movies are in fact portraying those with obsessive-compulsive disorder as hysterical. This is not only an issue of integrity, it also has many repercussion in the public, especially in the mental health community. Donald Diefenbach and Mark West, professors at University of North Carolina Asheville, state that television is the source of education on mental illness for many and it can cause warped views of reality. One aspect of the study was to determine how people rely on television as a reputable source for information on mental health, this number came out to 87% in the sample (p.183). To put this on a larger scale, if 87% of the whole country based their opinions of the mentally ill on television, then the majority of the country would have false assumptions about it. These assumptions even create prejudice when it comes to the mentally ill, where people admit that “they [do not] not want to live next door to someone who is mentally ill” (p.191). The reason for this is people are afraid of what television has shown them about the dangers of the mentally ill, when in reality, especially in cases of OCD patients, they are afraid of hurting anyone. Previously, I discussed my own bout of perpetuating stigma by believing the movie without thinking, which put on the larger scale of the country could be incredibly detrimental to the mentally ill.
Diagram showcasing behaviors associated with each disorder
Diagram representing the cycle of OCD
SEVERity
Despite obsessive-compulsive disorder having a wide range of severity, twenty-first century movies tend to depict only the most severe case otherwise implying that there is a lack of variety within the OCD scale. In many different research studies, there are descriptions of scales and tests that help to determine how severe a person’s OCD is. The Obsessive Compulsive Working Group (1997), states that the “format for the new scales follows that of the Dysfunctional Attitudes Scale using the criteria described earlier for self-report scales from the working subgroup” (p.679). This quote describes one of the many scales that can be used to determine an OCD patients level of severity. The self-report format is one depicted in many studies, but in this case study it truly dissected the report system itself. Mostly focused on how the “dual belief system”, a concept that discusses having two conflicting beliefs surrounding a situation, that is usually present in anxiety disorders, shapes the reporting systems making them more accurate in assessing a patient. As previously stated, there are a number of scales that determine severity, but another idea that can come into play is what the responses on the scales tell us. Sarah Newth and Stanley Rachman (2001), state that obsessions in OCD patients are commonly overlooked, but the most important part to distinguish is what these are and what they mean. Newth gives us many examples, but the two that contrasted most were “I wish to attack an infant” and “I will shout obscenities in church” (p.458-9). While these thoughts in general are extreme, the differences in danger levels are cause for concern. The differences also demonstrate how obsessions of those with OCD can vary so widely. So not only do scales provide the knowledge that OCD is felt and scene in different ways and to different extremes, intrusive thoughts give insight on the wide ranges that can occur.
Children’s Yale–Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale scores at baseline and follow-up.
One example of how twenty-first century movies can depict only the most severe cases is The Road Within (Gallo & Wells, 2015). This movie is about three mentally ill patients who escape their compound to go on a road trip, the character to focus on is Alex. Alex is showcased to have a severe case of OCD that focuses in on the germophobia aspect. He is actively cleaning everything to point that even the thought of having a roommate makes him freak out. It is discussed in the movie, that Alex has been at the treatment center for quite awhile, yet no positive changes have been made. He was still showing major symptoms that include, washing and re-washing hands, wearing gloves, a mask, and yelling at those who refused to follow his rules. The issue here is, this paints only one picture of OCD and it is not a good one. There is no range, it just shows OCD as being incredibly awful all the time. If the movies had shown more than one person suffering from OCD in a way that gave hope, the stigmatizing nature of the film would have been less.
The Road Within
Scene showcasing Alex's reaction to getting a roomate
Recovery
Diversity
One of the major issues of depictions being so severe is the fact that recoveries in movies are almost instant. In the real world, coping with OCD is a long and hard process that takes many years to overcome, but in many movies recovery occurs instantly or symptoms cease in certain situations. Juliana Diniz et al.(2006), each of which has work in the Journal of Psychiatric Research, discuss the many differences between the OCD subgroups and how that relates to the spectrum of the disorder. Diniz et al. found that “this study was able to show that there are phenotypic differences in OCD patients according to the presence of TS or CMVT” (p.491). A phenotype is a physical manifestation of genes. This study dissects the differences between varied OCD disorders which implies different levels of severity.
The quote itself, works to show that there are different expressions of OCD symptoms, therefore, not allowing the idea of one singular depiction define a multifaceted disorder. Another concept that comes into play is what type of obsessions are the driving force. Eric Rassin and Peter Murris (2007), discuss the differences between normal and abnormal obsessions. The reason this relates to depictions is because certain obsessions could have a different depiction that is less severe than what is normally shown. It is stated that “clinical obsessions are not as readily discernible—even to experienced clinician” (p.1067). This is referring to the fact that clinicians in the study were only able to determine whether a thought was normal or abnormal by chance, not experience (p.1068). The difference between normal and abnormal obsessions is slim, as can be seen by the observations in this study. Due to that slimness, it hard to justly say that OCD is one level of severity when there is such a wide range of obsessions to dispute that idea.
In the movies, the idea of unrealistic symptoms shows up quite often. For example, in The Aviator, the main character Howard Hughes suffers from OCD in his journey throughout life as a pilot (Mann & Scorsese, 2004). The most unrealistic part of this movie is the how much of a risk taker Hughes is. OCD feeds on reassurance and safety, while this character throws caution to the wind. While watching this movie, I became very confused because over the course of ten minutes one could be watching a breakdown and then next scene would depict him exuding confidence. So despite the fact that his case of OCD does seem incredibly severe in many scenes, somehow he defies the ideals of the disease itself, which makes the depiction not only unfair in severity, but unrealistic.​
The Aviator
Scene demonstrating the risk taking nature of Howard
Tourettes
Differences
In some scenarios, twenty-first century movies will showcase the correlation between obsessive-compulsive disorder and Tourette’s syndrome. A strong majority of those with OCD shows symptoms of Tourette's Syndrome. Tourette’s syndrome (TS) is a neurological disorder that involves involuntary tics and vocalizations. Gideon Anholt et al. (2005), authors in Behaviour Research and Therapy journal, state that obsessive-compulsive disorder and Tourette’s syndrome can share symptoms in both directions. This means that someone who has OCD has show symptoms of TS and someone with TS can show symptoms of OCD.
Correlation
According to Anholt et al. (2005),“30% to 50% of TS patients meet the diagnostic criteria for concurrent OCD” (p. 1538). This means that a large percentage of TS patients suffer from OCD related symptoms, therefore demonstrating a correlation between the two disorders. Daniella Cath et al. (2008), authors in the Psychiatry Research journal, agree with Anholt et al (2005) about the correlation providing evidence of her own. In the study Cath et al.(2008) conducted, it was found that “family studies of OCD probands revealed tics in at least 17% of adult patients” (p. 172). Although there is a discrepancy in the percentages between these two scholars, the overall idea rings true.
While a correlation has been demonstrated of the two disorders, a key idea in the field is the differences between OCD and OCD with tics. Concepts dealing with how the different versions of OCD manifest and the motives for behaviors are discussed. A leader in this discussion is Danialla Cath et al. (2008), who states that there are differences in motive and manifestation of symptoms in those who have OCD and those who have OCD with tics. One example is when Cath et al. (2008) state that there is “more violence with ocd than tic related ocd” (p. 181). This means that run of the mill OCD without tics tends to be a more violent brand than those that have tics. Juliana Diniz et al.(2006), agrees to the extent of there being differences in the two related disorders, but offers other ideas on how they manifest. For example, Diniz et al.(2006) found that hoarding was associated with tic related OCD more often than OCD without tics (491). This means that a patient who has OCD with tics is more likely to develop an issue with hoarding, therefore, further differentiating the two types of OCD. Another way in which OCD with tics is different is the stronger association with Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD). Cath et al. (2006) found “BDD to be more frequent in the OCD +TS group” (491). Although, there is no conclusion as to why it is stronger when OCD is associated with tics, evidence suggests that the genetic correlation is stronger.
A portrayal of these differences can be found in two movies previously discussed, Phoebe in Wonderland and The Road Within. In Phoebe in Wonderland the main character, Phoebe suffers from Tourette’s Syndrome. This is demonstrated in one scene when all of the children in her class are ganging up on her about killing the class pet. When she is backed into this corner, she ends up spitting on the girl impulsively. This reaction is due to her lack of impulse control brought on by the tourette’s syndrome. In addition, it can relate to the idea that those with OCD and tics are less violent. It can be theorized that had Phoebe been without her tics, it is very possible that her reaction could have been much worse and landed her in greater trouble. The opposing view of this is Alex from The Road Within, who does not suffer from TS or tics and simply has OCD (Gallo & Wells, 2015). The greatest difference between these two movies, is the reactions to compulsions and the reasoning behind actions. For Phoebe, who compulsively washes her hands, it is about counting the number, while for Alex it is about satisfying his germophobia. Both have OCD and the same physical action, but the motives are different based around the differences in their disorders.
In addition, the reactions show diversity between characters. Alex lives up to the standard put in pace by Cath of those with plain OCD being more aggressive. Whenever a compulsion is unable to be fulfilled or someone invades his space, the reaction is fierce. He will yell and curse, even going as far as planting illegal drugs with his roommate’s stuff to get him expelled from the program so that he would have a room to himself. This showcases how vindictive those with OCD can be because they are blinded by need to complete compulsions. Phoebe, on the other hand, is more focused on self harm and judgement. When a compulsion cannot be completed, she internalizes the hatred and blames herself instead of turning the blame outward as Alex does. This demonstrates self-destructive behavior that is a symptom of both types of OCD so it pulls away from the differences outlined by Cath and Anholt.
Phoebe In Wonderland
Scene demonstrating her reaction to being cornered
The Road Within
Scene demonstrating Alex's unwillingness to get a roommate
Conclusion
To some, a movie is just a movie. They watch it for entertainment and believe that the ideals in the movie are only applicable within that two hour time frame. After doing the extensive research for this project, I realized how wrong these people are. Movies affect us in many ways, which means that their content sticks with us. This is fine when a movie depicts a cute talking dinosaur that likes to help his friends, but when a real mental illness is involved that people actually have to deal with, it becomes an issue. Movies do not have the right to falsely depict a mental illness because that depiction has repercussions on the people who actually suffer from them. Whether those with a mental illness are affected through stigmas or embarrassed to discuss their disorder after seeing the movie, it is not okay. Movies have always been about imitating real life with a twist of embellishment, but at what point does the industry get held accountable for what they put out? For the stigmas that they create? It is time to take a stand against stigma, which means it is time for the movie industry to be held accountable for their part in facilitating false ideas about mental illness.