Personality Disorders In The Film Harold And Maude

Focusing on a twenty year old obsessed with death and suicide who falls in love with an eccentric almost-eighty-year-old woman, Harold and Maude is a somewhat unconventional romantic comedy widely regarded as a cult classic. This movie’s use of suicide and other sensationalized ideas from Psychology is jarring to say the least, but its Psychological principles are not limited to those. There are many everyday aspects of Psychology immortalized through this film that would hardly make one bat an eye. In the movie, twenty year old Harold lives, mostly, with his mother. During the time he is not living with his mother, he is faking suicide for her attention, bringing home a hearse as his first car, or attending funerals, presumably for fun. Harold’s quirks seem to at least somewhat

Film portrayals of the mentally ill, have contributed to the stigma faced by people with these conditions. Films tend to create and reinforce the same certain stereotypes of the mentally ill. The film Silver Linings Playbook, is a refreshing departure from from this pattern. Exaggerated cinematic portrayals have largely bypassed mental illnesses , such as; Bipolar disorder, Anxiety Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder, Depression, etc. This film Silver LInings PLaybook, accurately depicts these common disorders among several characters in this film. The three main characters that blatantly show this depiction, are; Pat, Tiffany, and Pat’s best friend Danny Mcdaniels.

People with Histrionic Personality Disorder do not limit their seduction to people with whom they have romantic interest, but it extends to a variety of social, occupational and professional relationships beyond what is appropriate for the social context.10

Generally people with mental issues are cast aside in society. The mentally impaired are immediately labeled as different. Questions on what to do with these people are common. In literature they are seen being locked into a tower room where they are forced to live their days peeling back the yellow wallpaper. This confines the characters to a world where it's just them and their insanity. These characters are present in many different stories. Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland and Shakespeare's King Lear are two prime examples of characters suffering from mental disabilities and disorders. Although they are not locked in a tower, the mental illnesses are apparent when studying the Mad Hatter, Alice, King

Personality disorders are the maladaptive way of thinking and behaving that can interfere with the individuals’ personal relationships and their integration to society. An individual who suffers from a personality disorder would typically behave and think outside of the societies’ norms. Although, there are ten personality disorders, in this essay we will be analyzing and focusing on the borderline personality disorder and its portrayal in the popular film, Silver Linings Playbook.

There are two different kind of disorders, personality disorders and psychological disorders. Psychological disorders are illnesses that an individual experiences as episodes. Personality disorders are enduring traits that are major components of the individual's personality (Rathus, 2010). No matter what kind of disorder a person may possess their lives are affected everyday by them, it takes over their body and consumes them as a person. Disorders are often misunderstood. You do not have the ability to make a split second decisions and then continue life without that disorder, it will take lots of counseling. While we are not trained psychologist everyone can learn or identify disorders in popular movies or television shows. In the movie, Mommie Dearest, directed by Frank Perry, Joan Crawford possesses several of these disorders including bipolar, borderline personality disorder, obsessive compulsive personality disorder and narcissistic.

We are born into this world with the realization that life is hard and that life is like a box of chocolates and it is hard to take it at face value. The majority of our time is spent trying to answer an endless stream of questions only to find the answers to be a complex path of even more questions. This film tells the story of Harold, a twenty year old lost in life and haunted by answerless questions. Harold is infatuated with death until he meets a good role model in Maude, an eighty year old woman that is obsessed with life and its avails. However, Maude does not answer all of Harold’s questions but she leads him to realize that there is a light at the end of everyone’s tunnel if you pursue it to utmost extremes by being whatever you

Many people believe that psychological disorders are unique, however they are becoming a more common, in fact around 26.2 percent of people suffer from a psychological disorder in a given year. Psychological disorders are behavior patterns or mental processes that cause serious personal problems and interferes with daily life. Disorder types expand beyond only psychological, many other disorders fall under the category of being personality disorders, which is defined by, patterns of uncompromising traits that affect and disrupt one’s ability in everyday life. When looking at disorders it is important to be able to dysgenic the difference between psychological and personality disorders. Psychological disorders are illnesses a person undergoes as an “episode,” however, personality disorders constant traits that play an important role when developing a person’s personality. One way to identify these types of disorders is through movies. For example, the film Mommie Dearest, directed by Frank Perry is a story told from the perspective of Joan Crawford’s adoptive daughter, Christina. Joan Crawford expresses many disorders shown throughout the movie, while Christina displays how these experiences affect her life. Throughout the movie Joan Crawford demonstrates psychological and personality disorders of, bipolar, obsessive compulsive disorder, narcissistic, and histrionic.

This disorder occurs in most by early adulthood. The unstable pattern of interacting with others persists for years and is usually closely related to the person’s self-image and early social interactions. The pattern is present in a variety of settings, and often is accompanied by a similar fluctuation in a person’s emotions and feelings. Relationships and the person’s emotion may often be characterized as being shallow. People with BPD often have odd thinking and

In this particular film Harold was very interested in death, and because of this he attempted many fake suicide attempts as a cry for help and attention. When Harold meets a woman named Maude, she teaches him many life lessons and the importance of living life to the fullest. In turn Harold opens up to her about his thoughts and feelings and the two of them become great friends. This film relates to She’s Come Undone because just like Harold, Dolores battled her own issues and attempted suicide. Both of these characters meet people who help them understand that life is worth living no matter the struggles or hardships we face. With Harold, there was Maude and for Dolores, there was Dr. Shaw. Dr. Frost mentioned something in the notes that I believe helped both of these characters get through there hard times and that is: One of the most powerful and saving emotions is laughter. It helps keep us healthy both emotionally and physically. We can literally laugh our way out of illness! During the talks with Maude and the therapy sessions with Dr. Shaw, both Harold and Dolores were able to laugh through their troubles.

This disorder occurs in most by early adulthood. The unstable pattern of interacting with others has persisted for years and is usually closely related to the person’s self-image and early social interactions. The

Harold is a young boy who is an attention seeker, a disturbed child and one who is obsessed with death. He loves to act out suicide scenes for a hobby, which usually means that there are deeper issues. Maude, who is an older lady is also interested in death but she is as some people describe her to be “high on life” is always joyous and looking to live life to the fullest.

In 1997, the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress selected the movie, “Harold and Maude “by Hal Ashby, 1971, for preservation for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”1 This movie was dealt with black comedy and, at the same time, romance that leaves uncertainties in the ending which was significant at that time because it was unusual for Hollywood films making vague endings where the viewers expected solid happy endings or has clear noticeable thriller at the end. Not surprisingly, the last scene from the movie, where, the protagonist, Harold, throws himself off the cliff and weirdly comes out

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.; DSM-5, American Psychiatric Association, 2013) defines personality disorders as a pattern of internal experience and behavior that greatly differs from what is normally expected in the person’s culture. They are also considered omnipresent and inflexible that is stable and causes both distress and impairment. Antisocial personality disorder is a severe disorder of personality. It is a disorder that helps compromise the dramatic, emotional, or erratic disorders, also known as the Cluster B disorders. The Cluster B disorders are also composed of borderline personality disorder, narcissistic personality disorder, and histrionic personality disorder. The

Inspired by actual events, this film is a story of the suffragette as told through the experiences of the fictional character of Maud Watts (played by Carey Mulligan). Reluctant at first, Maud commits herself to the suffrage cause when her husband throws her out of the house, she loses her job, and her only child is put up for adoption. While there are many poignant scenes in this film, one was when she told her son to remember her name and pleaded with him to look for her when he was older.