Schizophrenia

In 2001 the movie "A Beautiful Mind" hit the screens portraying the life of John Nash who suffered from Schizophrenia but he was an amazing mathematical mind, so much that he was the recipient of the Carnegie Prize for mathematics where he arrives at Princeton University as a new graduate student. Here at Princeton University is where his altered reality begins with his concoction of his roommate Charles Herman who is supposed to be a literature student. Nash eventual ends up at MIT teaching Calculus and also meets a fellow professor who eventually ends up being his wife. Upon a return visit to Princeton he runs into his friend Charles who introduces his supposed niece, Marcee who is also an altered reality. Nash eventually is invited by the Department of Defense to a secret facility in the Pentagon where he deciphers mentally a complex encryption of some enemy telecommunications. Here he meets Parcher who supposedly belongs with the United States DoD where in actuality is another hallucination. Parcher steady demands work to be done by Nash which eventually causes paranoia in Nash's altered reality which of course effects his real life with his wife and child.

In chapter 14 I was able to read about Schizophrenia and instantly thought of this movie because of all of the hallucinations that Nash experienced and how real the producers of that movie made the altered reality for the audience to experience so that it could be understood somewhat how lifelike these hallucinations are for the suffering individual. Also, it was interesting how some of the medication that is in the text was in the movie and how in the movie it gave him some relief from the altered reality but handicapped his gift for mathematics. Eventually, Russel Crowe's character John Nash simply learns to ignore his hallucinations since he needed to not take the medication so that he could continue to be the brilliant mathematical mind at Princeton University where he eventually earns the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

In 2004 Leonardo DiCaprio had the opportunity to play the role of the aviation pioneer Howard Hughes in the Academy Award winning movie "The Aviator". The movie begins with Hughes getting bathed by his mother at a very young age where the audience is able to see how his mother potentially set off his disorder. She is seen bathing him and warning him of disease stating, "you are not safe". Howard Hughes suffered from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) which is portrayed amazingly by Leonardo DiCaprio throughout this film. Even with this disease Hughes managed to stay extremely successful in aviation, business and production of movies, in fact today his legacy lives on and continues to thrive on the international stage through the satellite communications industry.

In chapter 14 in our text we were able to learn a bit on OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder). OCD is defined as a disorder in which intruding thoughts that occur again and again (obsessions, such as a fear that germs are on one's hands) are followed by some repetitive, ritualistic behavior (compulsions, such as repeated hand washing). I found it extremely interesting when reading about OCD in our text because of how much of this disorder was in the movie of The Aviator and how even in the definition of the disorder there was scenes from the movie. Hughes washed his hands so much one time that he drew blood from the excessive and vigorous scrubbing of his hands. According to the text the rituals occur due to a feeling of relief from the anxiety and the intruding thoughts.

Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome

In 2006 Black Snake Moan hit the screen starring Samuel L. Jackson as Lazarus, Christina Ricci as Rae and Justin Timberlake as Ronnie. Rae suffers sexual abuse at the hands of her mother's partner when she was a young girl and as a result turns into a nymphomaniac that has an addiction to drugs and alcohol as well. She has a boyfriend that is in the service who gets deployed for duty but later is discharged due to his anxiety disorder. Prior to his return to home his girlfriend, Rae gets severely beaten and left for dead on the side of the road by Ronnie's friend but is found the next morning by a religious farmer who was a former blues guitarist named Lazarus. Lazarus believes that it was the Lord's doing that put Rae in his life and he decides to chain her up to his house and cure her of her sinful ways.

Our text in chapter 11 talks about Stress and Stressors which prolonged or acute stress can cause stress related disorders that have symptoms including anxiety, reoccuring nightmares, sleep problems, problems concentrating and "reliving" the experience through flashbacks or dreams. Watching this film you would see how Rae would experienc nightmares and would relive the abuse that she endured when younger. Rae's condition was something that appeared to be ongoing and lasting for more than a month therefore, per the text she is experiencing PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder).

Insomnia

In the year 1999 a hard hitting (literally) movie came out that starred Edward Norton and Brad Pitt as the same character, imagine that. The movie began with Norton's character narrating about his life. He goes on to include that he has difficulty sleeping, so when he is diagnosed with insomnia his doctor in place of prescribing him with some kind of drug recommends him to try some support groups of many kinds so that he may witness more severe suffering. After finding himself attending many different support groups pretending to have all these issues he finds that it relieves his insomnia, that is until he runs into a female that is doing the same thing that he is which in turn disturbs him and brings back his insomnia and more. As a result he develops dissociated personalities which is where Brad Pitt's character comes in to play as Tyler Durden. Tyler Durden is the more free spirit of the two and ultimately gets him into a lot of mischief throughout the movie.



In chapter 4 in our text it discusses how insomnia is a sleep disorder which is the inability to get to sleep and stay asleep. Having anxiety, focusing too much on trying to sleep and being a worry wart are some reasons why someone may experience insomnia. And then of course there are those physical reasons like too much intake of caffeine or indigestion that could also produce insomnia. Besides medication to relieve insomnia a new treatment for example like the use of cognitive-behavior therapy which is a type of therapy in which both rational thinking and controlled behavior are stressed to cure insomnia.

Aggression

In 2003 Adam Sandler produced and performed in an extremely funny comedy titled Anger Management. It was about a man who at a very young age suffered an extremely traumatic event which would effect his way of life up until his girlfriend finds a way to cure him. While in grade school young Dave Buznik attempts to kiss the girl of his dreams when the school bully decided to "pants" him, pulls down Dave's pants, in front of all the school. As a result of this event he develops aggression that he keeps buried deep inside of him that comes out later in life. Dave's girlfriend, Linda decides to seek professional help for him without Dave knowing that she has. The therapist and the therapy that Dave experiences is very unorthodox and pushes him beyond any limit that he has ever experienced. Eventually Dave graduates from the therapeutic program and moves on to propose to his girlfriend and he develops a good friendship with the "crazy" therapist.



In chapter 11 "Aggression" is discussed in our text books. Aggression by definition are actions meant to harm or destroy. In the movie Anger Management Adam Sandler's character ends up hurting a flight attendant, a therapist, and a girlfriend which ultimately destroys his life before he is cured. Also, in chapter 11 "Displaced Aggression" talks about how this is when one takes out one's frustrations on some less threatening or more available target. It also points out how frustration is generally a precursor to the aggression which is used throughout the film for example; their was a scene where Dave attempts to sleep on a flight and his flight neighbor insists that he watch the in flight movie with him and of course becomes extremely frustrated which causes him to accidentally strike the flight attendant.