12.02 Organic mental disorders

Traumatic Brain Injury: The Lookout

Storyline: An admired high school hockey player with a bright future foolishly takes a drive in the night with his girlfriend and two other friends with his headlights off with devastating results. The former athlete is left with a brain injury that prevents him from remembering many things for extended periods of time. To compensate, he keeps notes in a small notebook to aid him in remembering what he is to do. (IMDb)

Remember: ''The typical movie thing where the guy is just fine except that he can't remember who he is, doesn't recognize his wife -- that's a fiction, and when I see these movies, I am laughing at the naïveté and stupidity of it,'' Mr. Ben-Yishay, director of the Brain Injury Day Treatment Program at New York University Hospitals Center, said. ''I have never seen a patient who does not remember his name and at least some significant part of his history.''

Other notable movies: Momento, Vanilla Sky

__________________________________________________

Alzheimer's Disease: Away From Her

Storyline: Grant and Fiona Anderson have been married for forty-four years. Their marriage has been a generally happy and loving one although not perfect due to some indiscretions when Grant was working as a college professor. Fiona has just been admitted to Meadowlake, a long term care facility near their country home in southwestern Ontario, because her recent lapses of memory have been diagnosed as a probable case of Alzheimer's disease. (IMDb)

Other notable movies: The Notebook

12.03 Schizophrenic, paranoid and other psychotic disorders

Schizophrenia: Donnie Darko

Storyline: Donnie Darko doesn't get along too well with his family, his teachers and his classmates; but he does manage to find a sympathetic friend in Gretchen, who agrees to date him. He has a compassionate psychiatrist, who discovers hypnosis is the means to unlock hidden secrets. His other companion may not be a true ally. Donnie has a friend named Frank - a large bunny which only Donnie can see. (IMDb)



Remember: There are other possible diagnosis that involve psychoses and delusions including schizoaffective, psychosis NOS, schizotypal disorder that are rarely seen in movies because schizophrenia is the most sensational version.

Other notable movies: The Soloist, A Beautiful Mind, Through A Glass Darkly, I Never Promised You a Rose Garden, The Fisher King

_______________________________________________

Substance Induced Psychosis: Requiem for a Dream

Storyline: Drugs. They consume mind, body and soul. Once you're hooked, you're hooked. Four lives. Four addicts. Four failures. Doing their best to succeed in the world, but failing miserably, four people get hooked on various drugs. Despite their aspirations of greatness, they succumb to their addictions. (IMDb)

Other notable movies: Fear and Loathing in Los Vegas, Trainspotting

12.04 Affective Disorders

Depression: The Hours

Storyline: The story of how the novel "Mrs. Dalloway" affects three generations of women, all of whom, in one way or another, have had to deal with suicide in their lives. (IMDb)

Other notable movies: Virgin Suicides, On the Edge, What Dreams May Come

_________________________________________________

Bipolar Disorder (Mania): Mr. Jones

Storyline: The story about the relationship between a manic depressive man, Mr Jones, and the female doctor who takes more than a professional interest in his treatment. (IMDb)

Other notable movies: Ed Wood, Mad Love

12.05 Mental Retardation

Mental Retardation: I Am Sam

Storyline: A mentally retarded man fights for custody of his 7-year-old daughter, and in the process teaches his cold-hearted lawyer the value of love and family. (IMDb)

Other notable movies: Radio, Sling Blade, Forrest Gump

12.06 Anxiety-related disorders

Anxiety Disorder with Agoraphobia: Thomas In Love

Storyline: Thomas is a young agoraphobic man; he's afraid of coming to any kind of contact with other people, so he lives totaly isolated in his appartment. The story takes place in the near future where everything can be done through computers, so Thomas hasn't left his appartment for eight straight years. However, although his life seems complete, he misses human contact, so his psychoanalyst consults him to meet a woman through some on-line service. (IMDb)

Other notable movies: Naked Fear, I Am Sam (the neighbor)

___________________________________________

Panic Disorder: Analyze This

Storyline: Ben Sobol, Psychiatrist, has a few problems: His son spies on his patients when they open up their heart, his parents don't want to attend his upcoming wedding and his patients' problems don't challenge him at all. Paul Vitti, Godfather, has a few problems as well: Sudden anxiety attacks in public, a certain disability to kill people and his best part ceasing service when needed. One day, Ben unfortunately crashes into one of Vitti's cars. The exchange of Ben's business card is followed by a business visit of Don Paul Vitti himself, who wants to be free of inner conflict within two weeks, before all the Mafia Dons meet. (IMDb)

Other notable movies: Analyze That (lol)

______________________________________________

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: Ordinary People

Storyline: Beth, Calvin, and their son Conrad are living in the aftermath of the death of the other son. Conrad is overcome by grief and misplaced guilt to the extent of a suicide attempt. He is in therapy. Beth had always preferred his brother and is having difficulty being supportive to Conrad. Calvin is trapped between the two trying to hold the family together.

Other notable movies: The Accused

______________________________________________

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: As Good As It Gets

Storyline: Melvin Udall, a cranky, bigoted, obsessive-compulsive writer, finds his life turned upside down when neighboring gay artist Simon is hospitalized and his dog is entrusted to Melvin. In addition, Carol, the only waitress who will tolerate him, must leave work to care for her sick son, making it impossible for Melvin to eat breakfast. (IMBd)

Other notable movies: What About Bob?, The Odd Couple

12.08 Personality disorders

Borderline Personality Disorder: Play Misty for Me

Storyline: Disc jockey Dave Garver attracts the amorous attentions of a demented fan named Evelyn Draper. Evelyn lets Dave pick up at a bar; later at her apartment, Evelyn admits that she is the cooing caller who repeatedly asks Dave to play the Erroll Garner classic "Misty." From then on, the film is a lesson in how one casual date can turn your whole life around. Evelyn stalks Dave everywhere, ruins his business lunch, assaults his maid, mutilates his house and all of his belongings, and finally threatens to butcher his girlfriend Tobie Williams. (IMDb)

Other notable movies: Fatal Attraction, Girl Interrupted

__________________________________________

Antisocial Personality Disorder: The Silence of the Lambs

Storyline: Young FBI agent Clarice Starling is assigned to help find a missing woman to save her from a psychopathic serial killer who skins his victims. Clarice attempts to gain a better insight into the twisted mind of the killer by talking to another psychopath Hannibal Lecter, who used to be a respected psychiatrist. FBI agent Jack Crawford believes that Lecter who is also a very powerful and clever mind manipulator have the answers to their questions to help locate the killer. (IMDb)

Remember: Psychopaths in popular fiction and movies generally possess a number of standard characteristics which are not necessarily as common among real-life psychopaths. The traditional "Hollywood psychopath" is likely to exhibit traits which make them ideal villains. These traits, especially in unison, may not be present in real psychopaths/sociopaths.

Other notable movies: Blue Velvet (best non-serial killer version), Se7en, Cruel Intentions, Inglorious Basterds, The Dark Knight

_______________________________________________

Narcissistic Personality Disorder: The Talented Mr. Ripley

Storyline: In late 1950's New York, Tom Ripley, a young underachiever, is sent to Europe to retrieve a rich and spoiled millionaire playboy, named Dickie Greenleaf. But when the errand fails, Ripley takes extreme measures. (IMDb)

Other notable movies: The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, White Oleander, Wall Street

12.09 Substance addiction disorder

Polysubstance Abuse: Fear and Loathing In Los Vegas

Storyline: The big-screen version of Hunter S. Thompson's seminal psychedelic classic about his road trip across Western America as he and his large Samoan lawyer searched desperately for the "American dream"... they were helped in large part by the huge amount of drugs and alcohol kept in their convertible, The Red Shark. (IMDb)

Other notable movies: The Basketball Diaries, Drugstore Cowboy, Kids, House of Sand and Fog

_________________________________________

Alcoholism: Barfly

Storyline: Henry Chinaski never cared for the American dream, the thought of needing to become 'something' and fit into the system disgusts him. He believes that life is free and yours to live like you see fit, and if that in some cases involves copious amounts of whiskey then so be it. (IMDb)

Other notable movies: Bad Santa, Arthur, Leaving Los Vegas

12.10 Autistic disorder and other pervasive developmental disorders

Autism Savant: Rain Man

Storyline: Selfish yuppie Charlie Babbitt's father left a fortune to his savant brother Raymond and a pittance to Charlie; they travel cross-country. (IMDb)

Remember: Rain Man 's portrayal of the main character's condition has been seen as inaugurating a common and incorrect media stereotype that people on the autism spectrum typically have savant skills, and references to Rain Man, in particular Dustin Hoffman's performance, have become a popular shorthand for autism and savantism.

Other notable movies: Mercury Rising

________________________________________

Asperger's Syndrome: Mozart and the Whale

Storyline: A dramatic-comedy, inspired by the lives of two people with Asperger's Syndrome, a form of autism, whose emotional dysfunctions threaten to sabotage their budding romance. (IMDb)

Other notable movies: Little Man Tate

____________________________

Autism: What's Eating Gilbert Grape?

Storyline: Centered around the Grape family Ellen and Amy and their two brothers Arnie and Gilbert, who, along with their morbidly obese widowed mother Bonnie Grape are striving to survive and coexist with the absence of a father figure, low wage work and seventeen-year-old Arnie's severe mental condition. (IMDb)

Other notable movies: Backstreet Dreams, The Boy Who Could Fly