Need your opinion agree or disagree with each problem

1.

I chose the new TV show “The Good Doctor”.

Dr. Shawn Murphy is a surgeon who lives with autism and savant syndrome. He displays certain behavioral and emotional symptoms such as poor eye contact, impulsivity, unawareness of others’ emotions and frequent changes in voice.

Since Shawn is still a teenager and autistic he is treated as an outsider and frequently viewed as some sort of “freak”. He is constantly disregarded, talked down to, belittled/berated and viewed as inferior despite his age and obvious talents. He constantly

has to prove himself and often has to step outside of his character to break the rules to save a life.

ABA or Applied Behavior Analysis is one of the most recognizable therapy forms for autism. It uses a variety of techniques such as positive reinforcement to help in bringing about a positive change in behavior and teach new skills (Center for Autism and Related Disorders, n.d.).

2.

Silver Linings Playbook is one of my favorite movies relating to the topic of mental illness. The movie is centered around Pat Solitano, a man with bipolar disorder that was recently released from eight months in a psychiatric hospital. Pat is living with his parents, as the reason for his commitment to the facility was beating up his wife’s boyfriend. Pat is convinced that he can win his wife back. He meets Tiffany, a depressed widow that resorts to using casual sex with strangers as a way to alleviate her depression. Tiffany promises to help Pat win back his wife in exchange for him participating in a dancing competition with her. Both Pat and Tiffany end up developing a co-dependent relationship, becoming each other’s support network and falling in love at the end of the movie.

The film is an excellent example of two mental illnesses that seem to be becoming more commonplace in society: Bipolar disorder and severe depression. The film is ripe with references to the term ‘crazy’, including a scene depicting Tiffany reacting rather violently to the realization that Pat feels she is the ‘crazier’ one in the relationship. Tiffany’s character appears in several parts of the movie to be suffering from more than just depression; I agree with Dr. Schlozman’s categorization of her character as someone suffering with borderline personality disorder. (Watkins, 2012). Pat has multiple manic episodes throughout the film, though rarely exhibits the deep levels of depression that typically occur with Bipolar disorder. It seems like his ‘depressed’ state reverts to what outside observers might consider ‘normal’. Their behavior puts a great deal of strain on their relationships with their families, though Pat ends up being able to bond with his father over their mutual love of sports.

It ends up being clear that the author of the book that inspired the film is not the biggest fan of psychiatry or medication. There are multiple reference to the negative aspects of ‘medicating’ throughout the film, which I feel is an unfair categorization of something that actually helps so many patients. Overall, this film provides a condensed but comprehensive view of two individuals coping mental illness in their own way, eventually resulting in them falling in love. The viewer is left feeling that there is still much more to come – as Dr. Schlozman states in his interview regarding the film, “ …[love is] not going to cure bipolar disorder any more than it’s going to cure diabetes.”

I was able to witness sever mental illness firsthand. A family member struggled with it, putting severe strain on our extended family. This illness went predominantly untreated, as our Russian culture does not view Psychiatric treatment in the same light as typical ‘Western’ society. Should it have been addressed and treated forthright, I believe that it wouldn’t have caused the level of lasting, lifelong damage that it did. Treatment for this particular illness, much as with Bipolar Disorder and severe Depression is typically medication. Patients suffering from these types of mental illnesses benefit from the introduction of one or more of three classes of medication: mood stabilizers, antipsychotics, and antidepressants. (WebMD, n.d.). Lithium is an example of a commonly used drug that can treat depression, and is extremely effective at reducing mania in patients.