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Films About Mental Health/Illness


Neonmoon

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Top 10 films about mental illness. This is a broad category as you can go thriller, horror, drama, or comedy. So might be hard to rank against the genres 

1. Fight Club
2. The Perks of Being a Wallflower 

3. Rain Main

4. The Joker 

5. As Good As it Gets 

6. Split 

7. Silver Linings Playbook 

8. Skeleton Twins 

9. Shine 

10. Girl, Interrupted 

I feel like I’m missing a bunch of good ones 

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2 hours ago, futureman said:

mental illness?  who was mentally ill?

Bigtime depression.  Will was needing the therapy he so desperately avoided.

 

From OP's list, Rain Man is not about a mental illness.  Ray had a physical  condition that was never going to improve.

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2 hours ago, Prepuce of Doom said:

Donnie Darko. 

The Shining. 

Falling Down? 

And I don't know whether it truly fits, but I have always thought that They Live might be an (unintentionally?) accurate portrayal of certain aspects of schizophrenia. 

Dammit. The Shinning is a great answer 

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9 minutes ago, slorch said:

Bigtime depression.  Will was needing the therapy he so desperately avoided.

 

From OP's list, Rain Man is not about a mental illness.  Ray had a physical  condition that was never going to improve.

Will had some trauma as a child and it fucked him up a little, as it would anyone. not sure that’s mental illness. I also wouldn’t call what he was dealing with “bigtime depression.”  is mild depression considered mental illness? seems more like the human condition. 

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2 minutes ago, futureman said:

Will had some trauma as a child and it fucked him up a little, as it would anyone. not sure that’s mental illness. I also wouldn’t call what he was dealing with “bigtime depression.”  is mild depression considered mental illness? seems more like the human condition. 

Inability to have human relationships beyond his core buddies was a bit beyond' mild depression.'    His childhood trauma was absolutely part of that, and I agree it "fucked him up a little."  that is another way of saying he had some mental illness going on.

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7 minutes ago, slorch said:

Inability to have human relationships beyond his core buddies was a bit beyond' mild depression.'    His childhood trauma was absolutely part of that, and I agree it "fucked him up a little."  that is another way of saying he had some mental illness going on.

Trauma and depression absolutely would qualify as mental health issues for this discussion 

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2 minutes ago, futureman said:

I don’t know. Will didn’t seem “mentally ill” in the sense that some of the other characters mentioned very clearly are. 

Avoidant personality disorder (Cluster C) with PTSD, possible mood disorder, and inferiority complex. 

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Will’s depression is situational. I did some research online (no big deal) and “adjustment disorders” are technically listed in the DSM-5 but it’s still a reach. they are temporary and not close to level of illness of tyler durden, the joker, melvin udall, the guy from split, silver linings playbook, et al. Will was not crazy, he was situationally depressed. 

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the best depiction of mental illness that i've ever seen -by far- was in that episode of Dave where Gata has a manic/bipolar breakdown. that episode is the gold standard for depicting this particular illness in a realistic light, from beginning to end. i found it be a very impactful episode of television, and i'd recommend that episode to anyone who's dealt with this sort of thing.

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12 minutes ago, futureman said:

Will’s depression is situational. I did some research online (no big deal) and “adjustment disorders” are technically listed in the DSM-5 but it’s still a reach. they are temporary and not close to level of illness of tyler durden, the joker, melvin udall, the guy from split, silver linings playbook, et al. Will was not crazy, he was situationally depressed. 

Mentally ill doesn't necessarily mean insane or crazy motherfucker

It's an important distinction that many folks refuse to make( not directed at you.)  You can be in very real need of help/ treatment and not be Private Pyle in Full Metal Jacket.

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2 minutes ago, slorch said:

Mentally ill doesn't necessarily mean insane or crazy motherfucker

It's an important distinction that many folks refuse to make( not directed at you.)  You can be in very real need of help/ treatment and not be Private Pyle in Full Metal Jacket.

yeah. I think it would be fairly difficult, if not impossible, to eliminate absolutely everything in the DSM from afflicting someone at some point in their lives. so I just assumed this thread was dedicated to the more obvious forms of crazy present in movie characters. 

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27 minutes ago, shadow_operative said:

the best depiction of mental illness that i've ever seen -by far- was in that episode of Dave where Gata has a manic/bipolar breakdown. that episode is the gold standard for depicting this particular illness in a realistic light, from beginning to end. i found it be a very impactful episode of television, and i'd recommend that episode to anyone who's dealt with this sort of thing.

Chris Stapleton did a pretty damn good job in 4 minutes with the Fire Away video 

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1 hour ago, futureman said:

I don’t know. Will didn’t seem “mentally ill” in the sense that some of the other characters mentioned very clearly are. 

Idk why you keep saying it has to be mentally ill. The thread said mental health as well. 

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The Voices, starring Ryan Reynolds and Anna Kendrick. Reynolds voiced the animals too, which is a nice touch. It’s a dark comedy but honestly it’s… i don’t know nearly enough about schizophrenia but it also seemed like maybe a decent portrayal

 

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1 hour ago, MissingInAction said:

If there is someone you care about suffering from depression then watch Melancholia.  Its the most accurate portrayal of the disease I've ever seen.

I saw that. it was a real pick-me-up. left you with such a good feeling. 

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6 hours ago, futureman said:

I saw that. it was a real pick-me-up. left you with such a good feeling. 

Melancholia had great sci-fi cinematography. It's too bad so few watched it on a big screen. You saw the gravity of what's coming - like a slowed down scene from Tenet. 

Of course it didn't help when the Director pretended to be a nazi in Cannes . . . those crazy europeans.

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15 hours ago, Neonmoon said:

Top 10 films about mental illness. This is a broad category as you can go thriller, horror, drama, or comedy. So might be hard to rank against the genres 

1. Fight Club
2. The Perks of Being a Wallflower 

3. Rain Main

4. The Joker 

5. As Good As it Gets 

6. Split 

7. Silver Linings Playbook 

8. Skeleton Twins 

9. Shine 

10. Girl, Interrupted 

I feel like I’m missing a bunch of good ones 

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is #1

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