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Mood in the Movies Mood disorders often play a role in
Movies About Bipolar These are some of the rare films which portray bipolar disorder and acknowledge that the character suffers from it. Mr. Jones (1993) In this film, Richard Greer delivers a fine performance as a carpenter with bipolar-I. In the first scene he is hypomanic: his confidence inspires others to let him do things they normally wouldn’t, and he is allowed on a construction site where he probably doesn’t belong. As his new-found friends watch him work, his hypomania turns quickly into mania, and they realize they need to stop him (from jumping off the building… he has become too confident and believes he can fly). Several scenes like this one demonstrate the difference between hypomania and mania. In hypomania, people don’t completely lose their judgment, and while their mood is noticeably elevated, and they do risky things, they generally won’t do anything very dangerous. In mania judgment is gone or very impaired, and others become quickly worried about the consequences. As the film follows Mr. Jones, we see him stop his medication because he likes the positive aspects of his mania. For a long time, it was thought that people with bipolar disorder stop their medications in order to bring on mania. This is usually not the reason why people stop their medication, however. For most people, manias are rare. While stopping medication might bring them on, there is usually a 1-3 month delay after the medicine is stopped (this is because mood stabilizers do not simply balance brain chemistry; they actually help brain cells to grow and strengthen and these cells don’t just shrink back overnight). Most people with bipolar disorder stop medication because they don’t feel it is helping enough or they don’t like the side effects. Because bipolar is a long-term condition, it is important to find a medicine which is tolerable. Mood stabilizers can prevent mood swings for years, but usually not forever. It may seem like the medicine is not working if depression comes on again. By tracking moods with a LifeChart, you can see the full effects of treatments over time and determine if they are really doing what they should: reducing the frequency of mood swings. Ludlow is a man whose bipolar disorder is so severe that he depends entirely on his sister to function in the world. Tension develops as his sister embarks into the world of dating, shaking Ludlow’s only sense of security. Bipolar disorder is not portrayed very accurately in this film. Ludlow is severely disabled, but rarely shows signs of mania or depression. Instead, he is portrayed as eccentric and immature. Mania can cause people to act silly, impulsive and unpredictable, but during these phases they would also sleep less, talk fast, and move with hyperactivity. More importantly, manias are usually brief (a few weeks at most) and rare (though there is much variation, on average people with bipolar spend 5%-10% of their lives in some form of mania). While Ludlow’s immaturity is unlikely to be due to active mania, it is possible that he has been robbed of the experiences of life which bring maturity because he has had many mood episodes in the past. Bipolar disorder can cause delays in maturity, but not to the extent that someone would behave like a three year old as Ludlow does. Moreover, living through mood episodes can also bring depth and character: people with bipolar disorder are sometimes wise beyond their years. Movies Almost About Bipolar These movies portray symptoms of bipolarity but do not acknowledge that the character has bipolar disorder. Surprisingly, filmmakers often create a more realistic picture of bipolar disorder when they do not intentionally set out to portray the illness. In these films, the symptoms of bipolarity show up as if by accident, and when they do they come across naturally. In contrast, directors who purposefully try to depict bipolar disorder can be misled by inaccurate stereotypes about the illness. These include the belief that bipolar disorder makes people shift frequently from happiness to sadness, or that it makes people act eccentric or silly. Though these films provide an accurate depiction of bipolar symptoms, it is never possible to say that a character in a film has bipolar illness. Often these characters are identified in the film as having depression or a personality problem rather than bipolar disorder. Unfortunately, this is art imitating life: the majority of people with bipolar disorder are not correctly diagnosed. Indeed, they are often misunderstood as suffering from non-bipolar depression or a personality disorder. Prozac Nation (2003) This film, based on the autobiographical book by the same title, presents the story of a talented young woman who goes to Harvard with great promise but whose mood swings almost wreck her career and relationships. Towards the end she recovers after starting prozac. The film never uses the word bipolar, and instead suggests that her mood swings are due to depression or family-conflict. The age at which her mood swings begin – 18 – is very typical for the onset of bipolar, but would be unusual for unipolar depression. The conflict she has with her family is also typical. Bipolar often runs in families, but may affect each relative differently. The clashes of mood and temperament which result are the source of frequent family conflict. She is often depressed, but more often irritable, and in several scenes the actress captures the state of hypomania very well. She is up all night, furiously writing and pacing the room with her mind racing in a frenzy. Her friends are worried that she has gone too far – after three nights without sleep it is clear this isn’t a normal college all-nighter. Her hypomanic period begins with euphoria (=extreme happiness or excitement) and intense, flowing ideas. By the end of it, she cannot follow her own thoughts and continuously erases what she writes, unable to construct a paragraph. At the very end she has a “nervous breakdown” and goes to the emergency room. This progression from joyful wonder to exhausted distraction is typical of hypomania and mania. The movie takes place in the late 1980’s, when prozac first became available. It is very common for people with bipolar-II to be misdiagnosed with depression and given an antidepressant like prozac when they first come for treatment. Usually the antidepressant works at first, but the benefits wear off after 6-12 months and the mood swings return. I have found that, even for the brief periods when antidepressants work in bipolar, they rarely work fully, and often leave an unpleasant emotional side effect such as apathy, emotional numbing, inner restlessness or even tense irritability. This is conveyed in the movie as she describes the benefits, but also the sense of unease, she feels with prozac. Bipolar-II is a very complex condition with many symptoms, and this film conveys it well. There are many different kinds of bipolar-II, and some people with it will respond very well to antidepressants. For most, however, the treatment which works best for long term prevention of mood swings is a mood stabilizer. The Aviator (2004) Here the screen-writers took extra care to accurately convey the obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) which Howard Hughes suffered from. Despite the stereotypes, people with OCD are usually not super-clean or neat. Instead, the hyper-focus that obsessions cause may keep them from focusing on general cleanliness. This is brought out realistically in the scene where Howard Hughes has every milk glass perfectly clean, but everything else around him is filthy. OCD frequently occurs with bipolar disorder, and although the film does not set out to portray bipolar, there are aspects of Howard Hughes’ character which resemble it. He is impulsive and takes huge risks which cost him fortunes and almost cost his life. In a scene near the end he hallucinates (=hearing voices). This symptom would not occur in OCD, but it is very common for people with bipolar-I to have brief periods of hallucinations during severe mood states. Blue Sky (1994) The main character in this film, played by Jessica Lange, is portrayed as having a personality problem. In actuality, her rapid and unpredictable mood swings, which take her from flirtatious impulsivity to violent rages, are very similar to manic mood-swings in bipolar. Other Movies Slipstream (2007) This art-film by Anthony Hopkins is widely cited as portraying bipolar disorder, perhaps in part because of internet-rumors that Anthony Hopkins has bipolar disorder. The plot is that a film-maker experiences his fictional creations intruding into his life. I found very little in this movie which resembles bipolar disorder. —Updated 9/5/08 by Chris Aiken, MD |
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