Silver Linings Playbook

 by Vasudha Sadany

Hollywood has often tried to delve into the realm of abnormal psychology and portray what it is like to be suffering from a mental illness. Silver linings playbook does a decent job at showing what dealing with two of the major mood disorders - bipolar disorder and depression looks like. 

You have the main character, Pat, who’s dealing with bipolar disorder and was institutionalized in a court-mandated psychiatric hospital after having a violent episode where he beats up the man who was having an affair with his wife. And then there’s Tiffany, the love interest whose disorder though not specified, resembled that of depression. 

While the focus of the movie is on how love brings these two people together and helps them cope with their illnesses, it does much more than that. It portrays the nitty gritty of the illnesses seen in seemingly mundane everyday activities.

Bipolar disorder is characterized by episodes of extreme mood swings ranging from manic highs to depressive lows. The tiniest of triggers can start an episode as we saw in the movie where Pat got into a manic episode when he wasn’t able to find his wedding video. Or the time when he got frustrated with a Hemingway book and threw it out the window. These episodes also happened at random hours, usually when everyone else was asleep, supporting the argument put forward by studies that sleep deprivation leads to more bipolar episodes. (Proudfoot et al., 2012) 

Pat is shown to have a reluctance towards taking his medications which is synonymous with general treatment adherence in bipolar disorder. Statistics show that about half of the patients with bipolar disorder become non-adherent to medications during long-term treatment, and 40 to 50 percent do not take their medications regularly (Chakrabarti et al., 2016). There is a scene in the movie where Pat and Tiffany are seen having a conversation about antipsychotic and antidepressant medications and their side effects, which is also pretty accurate to real-life scenarios. A lot of these mood-stabilizing medications have side effects like nausea, dizziness, and weight gain which may interfere with a person’s willingness and regularity in taking their medications. Instead, patients like to rely on other activities such as exercise and physical activity to improve their well-being. For Pat, such activity was jogging. Psychotherapy is also a crucial element of treatment, which Pat undergoes regularly. He also acknowledges and accepts his condition, his manic episodes, and his triggers which are crucial in a bipolar patient’s recovery (Russell & Browne, 2005). His awareness of his condition and desire to lead a normal life with his wife and family furthers his treatment and improved well-being.

The movie also talks about the delusions and hallucinations that patients with bipolar disorder develop. Pat talks about how he used to believe that his wife and the guy who had an affair with her were conspiring against him but we see that later in therapy he was able to say “That was a delusion, this isn’t right.” Bipolar people making progress in their treatment are generally able to look back to an incident and realize that it was an episode and part of their illness. 

A limitation though of the depiction of bipolar disorder in the movie is that although they cover the manic episodes part of the disorder, they don’t cover the depressive episodes enough. But again, the way bipolar disorder presents itself is different for different people. 

Another mood disorder in the form of depression is presented through the character of Tiffany. She often indulges in promiscuous behavior to deal with the loss of a loved one and cope with her depression. Studies have shown that sexual promiscuity is motivated by grief and loss as we saw in the movie. She stays with her family, practices dance as therapy, and looks for companionship and support from strangers. Her character, though left unexplored, presented a pretty accurate picture of what being in grief looks like. 

The movie also takes into account the role of the law in maintaining order and keeping individuals suffering from mental illnesses accountable to themselves and society. Court-mandated rehabilitation, therapy, and parole all fall under the purview of mental health laws.

The movie destigmatizes bipolar disorder and depression and depicts how they present themselves in seemingly trivial activities. It presents the illness as separate from the patient and throws light on how dealing with an illness requires you to be aware of it, actively work against it, and have a support system to keep you on track and hold you accountable for your progress.