Talk:List of films about mental disorders

Asperger's?
Why is there a separate section for Asperger's while it isn't even a diagnosis anymore. There's only Autism Spectrum Disorder. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Kelevkatan (talk • contribs) 01:50, 29 August 2017 (UTC)

Some thoughts for keeping this term: Asperger's is still included in the ICD. Many papers, books, and websites still use the term Asperger's. Most importantly, many people on the spectrum identify as Asperger's. — Preceding unsigned comment added by LaRaine Mae (talk • contribs) 20:16, 27 July 2020 (UTC)

Efficacy
This page should be reformatted to reflect the DSM-5 as the current order is too cumbersome and disorganized. Also maybe there should be a list of movies where the metal disorder is of a main character of the movie, and another list for those movies that portray mental disorder but by a non-main character (and as such is only a small part of the movie as opposed to a greater part of the movie such as if one of the main characters portrayed a mental disorder) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Kuzad (talk • contribs) 14:44, 6 July 2017 (UTC)

Mental disorders are problematic to define: There are multiple versions of DSM. Do we really need a DSM-5 list of movies? Then a DSM-6 list? There is also the ICD-11. Do we have a separate page for that? The word disorder itself can be an issue, people with autism for example may not consider themselves to have a disorder. So who owns the name? The medical profession or the people who have it. I would think keeping it more vague/flexible is more neutral and there could always be cross referencing notes to the correct section.Michelledawnfleming (talk) 00:48, 7 March 2020 (UTC)

The DSM is an American manual. It is not accepted universally. (This list has another problem, i.e. it lists almost exclusively American films with one or two from elsewhere.

Redundancy
Either this page, or Mental illness portrayed in media is redundant. One should be removed or the two should be merged.

Donnie Darko
Why is Donnie Darko on the list? Richard kelly said on the DVD commentary of the film that Donnie was not mentally ill and only was perceived by others to be.66.146.59.114 (talk) 22:24, 12 February 2011 (UTC)

Category?
Would this not work better as a category? Unless there is something substantial to say about this as a subject, it seems to be merely a list of related films, i.e. a category. In fact, it seems closely related to. Cheers, Doctormatt (talk) 06:56, 17 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Or a list?GuySperanza (talk) 19:30, 13 June 2009 (UTC)
 * I agree, this page suites better for a category. Actually I couldn't find any suitable category for some films which features mental illness, such as Bipolar disorder. ʂaɳɖaƙɘɭʉɱ  ʈaɭƙ 02:31, 27 May 2012 (UTC)

Additional movies to add?
I think you should add the movie The Swimmer (1968). It certainly deals with a main character dealing with some form of mental illness.

Also, I would consider adding the movie The Rain People (1969) since that involves a main character with mental instability although that was caused by physical trauma and not necessarily  by an illness.

Thanks G2thef (talk) 06:41, 27 September 2008 (UTC)g2thef

Also, Prozac Nation with Christina Ricci. No debate there.

Numerous examples spring to mind of "Movie Madness" (entry title proposed) with "Mental Illness In Film" as their theme: One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest; Rain Man; Sling Blade; Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde; The Color Of Night; Play Misty For Me; Fatal Attraction; Psycho; Primal Fear; The Swimmer; Sunset Boulevard; The Three Faces Of Eve; Vertigo; Spellbound; Basic Instinct; Single White Female; The Silence Of The Lambs; Regarding Henry; Marnie; As Good As It Gets; The Number 23; Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind; Forest Gump; Away From Her; On Golden Pond; The Notebook; Mommie Dearest; The Cable Guy; Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf; One Hour Photo; etc.. ChApogee (talk) 18:31, 14 December 2014 (UTC)chApogee — Preceding unsigned comment added by ChApogee (talk • contribs) 17:14, 14 December 2014 (UTC)

I think a good movie to consider adding is All the Bright Places (2020). It deals with bipolar disorder, depression, and suicide. Another good one is Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012) in which the main character struggles with PTSD. Cro19029 (talk) 22:27, 1 October 2020 (UTC)

Way too broad
One can argue that even Passchendaele or Patton deal fundamentally with mental illness even if there is no dialogue to support that conclusion, as certainly the main characters suffer from issues of some sort related to mental function. Really, who doesn't? Was Anakin Skywalker really a well man after becoming Darth Vader? Where does one draw the line? The mention of John Rambo in this article suggests that isn't a fatuous question. 139.48.25.60 (talk) 18:56, 22 October 2008 (UTC)

Whether Anakin overcame his his potential BPD after becoming Dark Vader is an interesting question. The boring answer is it may not be an intentional depiction but yet recognised by people who have BPD, it may be that it is simply a lack of consistency considering how wide apart and how the movies were created, and people with BPD aren't seeing their condition reflected in Darth Vader so much or because it is an old film and nobody can be bothered to blog about it as much. A slightly more interesting thought is that people's attitudes towards showing mental illness and emotion in men has changed over the years as the films were made and BPD is an emotional condition. The interesting answer is that BPD improves with age. A mature Darth Vader may simply not be so badly affected. Also I haven't searched for the older movies. Perhaps people do think he still had BPD. Michelledawnfleming (talk) 01:05, 7 March 2020 (UTC)


 * I suspect that one inappropriate listing might be Fight Club, judging by the description in its article. But since I've seen only a few minutes of this film, I'll defer to someone who has seen the whole thing.  I also agree regarding Rambo and some of the other films of mayhem.  I think the thing to do, if a film clearly is not principally and bona fide about some aspect of mental health, is simply to delete it from the list.  Nihil novi (talk) 03:08, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
 * If you ever see the rest of "Fight Club", you'll find that it's completely appropriate. Whether it contains a realistic depiction of a disorder may be another story, but mental illness is a central theme of the movie. John Rambo (his post-traumatic stress disorder was the driving motive behind the events of "First Blood") is also a fairly explicit example. Where I'd take exception is that list of characters where mental illness is used to comic effect. A couple of them are tagged as "dubious", but I don't see a single good example in the bunch. In fact, that list is so bad (Joey Tribbiani? Are you kidding?) as to make me wonder whether it's the work of a vandal.GuySperanza (talk) 19:23, 13 June 2009 (UTC)
 * You may be right. Try making some changes! Nihil novi (talk) 20:25, 13 June 2009 (UTC)

Temple Grandin?? Autism is not a mental illness at all 118.210.14.71 (talk) 11:40, 15 February 2012 (UTC)

Autism is currently still considered a disorder by both DSM and ICD-11. Less affected people with this would like it to be solely considered as a neurological variation which society needs to adapt to. This possibly may not be helpful for everyone on the spectrum and as yet hasn't been accepted by the main manuals that define mental disorders. There are similar issues with PTSD and the argument that it is an injury not a disorder. Michelledawnfleming (talk) 00:56, 7 March 2020 (UTC)

Another thought on breadth is that there is a danger of limiting down depictions or recognitions of mental disorders down to only allowing them if they show people suffering from them and the focus is all about treatment or management of the disorder. Basically you aren't a person with a disorder but you ARE the disorder. Character depictions where the film isn't about that are helpful in that they show very an everyday thing: People with a mental health problem just getting on with important things in their life like becoming a sith lord, their disorder will impact their life but their life doesn't have to be about the disorder. These are more positive and therefore important depictions. Michelledawnfleming (talk) 13:54, 7 March 2020 (UTC)

Mental illness for comedic effect
The first two sentences are tagged as dubious. As I see it, they're OK, they just need a citation. Where it falls apart is the list of examples. The only goofier thing than those characters themselves, is the idea of trying to present them as examples of mental illness. This should be a list of characters who are explicitly mentally ill. For a starting point, consider "Crazy People" (numerous patients' conditions are played for comedy), Cpl. Klingler in "MASH" (malingerer with faked symptoms), Jim Carrey's multiple-personality character from "Me, Myself and Irene", Bobcat Goldthwait's depressive/suicidal character in "Bachelor Party", and nearly every male character in "There's Something About Mary", including the developmentally disabled Warren.GuySperanza (talk) 19:40, 13 June 2009 (UTC)
 * Why not give it a try? Nihil novi (talk) 20:21, 13 June 2009 (UTC)

Inception
Perhaps I'm remembering Inception incorrectly but I can't remember any real instances of mental. Maybe Mal, but I'm not too sure. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Wickedxjade (talk • contribs) 10:29, 30 March 2011 (UTC)

Not a condition but a major symptom: Derealisation. Michelledawnfleming (talk) 01:08, 7 March 2020 (UTC)

I am Sam?!?
Pretty sure that Sam had a mental handicap. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.116.216.83 (talk) 03:37, 27 January 2012 (UTC)

I hope movies other than in English is also fine
I hope movies in other languages such as Hindi and Tamil are fine. So, I added 2 movies, 3 (2012) and Ghajini (2008). Feel free to remove them, if authors found it is not relative. But allow me, they are great movies which describes the situation through unimaginable emotional tales. Thank you. ʂaɳɖaƙɘɭʉɱ ʈaɭƙ 02:29, 27 May 2012 (UTC)

Suicide
I would like to remove suicide, because it is not a mental illness. Please comment! Lova Falk    talk   18:03, 12 November 2012 (UTC)

Proposed merge with List of films featuring mental disorders
These seem to be similar ideas and could be combined Jackson Peebles (talk) 19:54, 21 June 2013 (UTC)
 * I would support merger of "Mental illness in film" with "List of films featuring mental disorders", if
 * 1. the resulting article took the title "Mental disorders in film", which is more concise and terminologically precise;
 * 2. the disorders were reconciled, with inclusion in the merged article of some disorders from "List of films featuring mental disorders" that are absent in "Mental illness in film", e.g., "histrionic personality disorder" (again, I prefer the overall classification found in "Mental illness in film", because it is simpler and more direct, and avoids certain controversial diagnostic bundlings, e.g., of post-traumatic stress disorder as an anxiety disorder);
 * 3. the film entries within the disorders were reconciled between the two current articles.
 * It would also be desirable to provide an expanded introduction, based on information from published sources, on the character and history of film portrayals of mental disorders.
 * Nihil novi (talk) 23:03, 24 June 2013 (UTC)


 * Support proposal. 1) The proposed "Mental disorders in film" title is good except I would not italicize disorders in the new title. 2) We need to spell out the inclusion criteria per WP:LSC. For example, last night I watched Videodrome and see that it's listed on List of films featuring mental illness. I don't recall "schizophrenia" ever being mentioned in the film nor the commentary videos that came with the DVD. Getting back to WP:LSC - should we only include films where one of the main characters is identified as by a "medical professional" in the movie as suffering from a specific named illness? 3) Mental illness in fiction has a nice introduction that we can take and use for the merged article. --Marc Kupper&#124;talk 18:54, 29 June 2013 (UTC)
 * Excellent points. I italicized "disorders" only to suggest a change of "illness" to "disorders", as has been done in the sister article's title.  The "Mental illness in fiction" introduction could indeed be adapted for the merged article, especially if a more specific reference (if only a "passim" and publication information) could be provided to "Hockenbury and Hockenbury, 2004".  Nihil novi (talk) 18:57, 6 July 2013 (UTC)
 * Mental disorders is better in the title than mental illness, because many people say that autism, ADHD and personality disorders are not mental illnesses; they are however, undoubtedly mental disorders. Jim Michael (talk) 01:33, 12 November 2013 (UTC)

✅
 * Support This question has been open since June, is there any reason not to start merging? Liz  Read! Talk! 01:03, 13 November 2013 (UTC)

"General list"

 * Could someone please explain the meaning and purpose of the "General list" that has been added at the top of this article?
 * Do all of its film entries duplicate entries found in the article's diagnostic listings? Some (e.g., "A Beautiful Mind) do.
 * Nihil novi (talk) 01:12, 13 April 2017 (UTC)
 * The current "General list" of 24 random films, released between 1957 and 2012, at the top of the article, duplicates those films' entries in the diagnostic categories that follow and does not provide any sort of representative cross-section of films.
 * It differs from those films' categorized listings only in including IMDB ratings.
 * I propose eliminating the "General list".
 * If IMDB ratings are deemed helpful and accurate, they could be added to the films' categorized entries.
 * Thanks.
 * Nihil novi (talk) 21:29, 22 April 2017 (UTC)
 * An almost identical table appears in "Mental illness portrayed in media: Movies", where it may serve a useful purpose.  It serves no discernible purpose in our article on "Mental disorders in film".
 * I have therefore deleted it here.
 * Nihil novi (talk) 09:23, 23 April 2017 (UTC)

Any objections to adding Red Band Society to Eating Disorders?
Seeing as there are TV shows in here (like 13 Reasons Why), does anyone have any objections to adding the show Red Band Society to the sections Eating Disorders as Emma on the show had Anorexia Nervosa? --Hiway202 (talk) 07:35, 3 May 2017 (UTC)
 * If the anorexia nervosa is a substantial feature of a major character, I don't see why the Red Band Society couldn't be included.
 * Thanks.
 * Nihil novi (talk) 10:13, 3 May 2017 (UTC)

Calling out Dissociative Identity Disorder with outdated references and information
I think it's unneeded to call out DID with 1 citation, and saying that it's "one of the most controversial" diagnoses (judgement call) backed by an outdated article (2008) that predates the current 2013 DSM-V standards. There's plenty misinformation and dispute about DID which is far more suitable to be consolidated under the page for that disorder so that it does not need to be kept up-to-date in 2 places. Simply list the films and keep opinions, with or without a citation, out of it. The shaky nature of the film depictions of disorders (it's mainly a list, so possibly still uncalled for here) is sufficiently portrayed by the mention of 50 First Dates and a fictional style of amnesia — a fair and factual example of a specific movie that inaccurately portrays illnesses for the sake of a story arc without further demonizing or targeting a specific disorder and with no need to keep references up-to-date. Leave the controversy as to whether DID is real or not to its page where people can monitor its accuracy and there are boundless citations. The Crisses (talk) 18:00, 29 July 2017 (UTC)

Yes, the DID paragraph has no place here and is factually incorrect. Clear diagnostic criteria exist in DSM and ICD, treatment has long been therapy/psychology with supporting meds. There are thousands of books and references available on this. Michelledawnfleming (talk) 19:29, 1 March 2020 (UTC)

Wikipedia is available in most countries. The DSM however is an American manual and so not universally accepted. (There is a lot of US-centrism in this article overall, including the films listed.) One problem for this list is the constant (and maybe often unnecessary) renaming of various conditions. In many cases, the common name for a condition is not the DSM's.

unreferenced, disputable, original research...
It's nice if Wikipedians decide that this or that film displays a mental disorder... but the article needs As it is, this creative and original list is... not up to Wikipedia standards. --Ibn Battuta (talk) 15:23, 10 October 2017 (UTC)
 * a definition of what consists of a mental disorder (see above for the valid criticism of including suicide or the debate about dissociative identity disorder)
 * references that a certain mental disorder is indeed portrayed in the film (just look at the films about "depression": Many of them have nothing to do with mood disorders according to ICD-10 or DSM-5)
 * some guideline as to how prominent a mental disorder needs to be in the movie for the film to be listed here (if a film once mentions a mental disorder, that's obviously not enough... so where to draw the line?).
 * a guideline to deal with mental disorders that are not recognized anymore today to be mental disorders at all (e.g., homosexuality!... but also certain personality disorders after the introduction of DSM-5)
 * ... and probably more

Psychopathy
Might be shouting into the void here, but does anyone have a reason Psychopathy should not be listed? Doctorhawkes (talk) 04:07, 25 February 2020 (UTC)

Ok from a psychiatric point of view psychopathy became sociopathy then became Antisocial Behaviour Disorder. Some psychologists and people in media like to use those terms for a variety of things it seems. Officially it should be listed under the DSM classification Antisocial Behaviour Disorder and wait for bucket loads of films stigmatising people with this to be listed. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Michelledawnfleming (talk • contribs) 15:00, 29 February 2020 (UTC)


 * The DSM is not accepted as authoritative worldwide.

Disambiguation fixed
How does the tag get removed?

Michelledawnfleming (talk) 22:41, 2 March 2020 (UTC)


 * Good work. Tag removed. Doctorhawkes (talk) 23:06, 2 March 2020 (UTC)

TV and Films
I would think there is no problem in having TV series listed here as long as the relevant episodes are specified if it is limited to one episode only. After all the page is about depictions of mental illness. Film is a broader word than films and can encompass TV even though I don't don't think much actual film is used in the making of them nowadays as it is all digital. And we don't watch TV on TV anymore either so yeah that... I don't know if anyone who has studied media studies can clarify. However we phrase it I believe anyone looking at this list would want to see the series also. Unless we make another page for anything that has more than one consecutive episode (which will include some films as well). Michelledawnfleming (talk) 01:25, 7 March 2020 (UTC)

Long Term
There are so many entries likely to end up on here as mental health depictions are booming I would say include TV Series and when the listing goes over something like 25 for a single mental disorder to split it off and add it as a related page to the mental disorder discussed and any relevant media studies pages. Michelledawnfleming (talk) 01:25, 7 March 2020 (UTC)

Major Symptoms
I think there is a place for major symptoms here or set up on a different paged linked in somehow. Prosopagnosia for example deserves a section (there are films where people have this), as does self and injury and self harm with a trigger warning banner or whatever there and a suggestion on how to get help so information is shared responsibly as it is 2020 and we should be Papagenos not Werthers (Copycat_suicide).Michelledawnfleming (talk) 01:25, 7 March 2020 (UTC)
 * Prosopagnosia is not a psychiatric symptom but a neurological disorder.
 * Listing symptoms or signs separately in this article would be impracticable. A given sign or symptom – or constellation of signs or symptoms – may be shared by many psychiatric diagnostic entities; even, for example, by such distinct ones as schizophrenia and bipolar (manic-depressive) disorder.
 * Nihil novi (talk) 01:12, 3 August 2020 (UTC)

List of mental disorders in film
As suggested during discussion of a proposal to delete this article, closed today in the negative, I would like to move renaming the article from "Mental disorders in film" to "List of mental disorders in film". Thank you. Nihil novi (talk) 04:47, 3 August 2020 (UTC)
 * Makes sense. Doctorhawkes (talk) 07:27, 3 August 2020 (UTC)

Problem of this article
All the subheadings of disorders in blue link causing accidentally redirecting to the disorder article. I suggest remove all the sub-section title blue links and these links in the sub-section. Newton Euro (talk) 07:50, 7 December 2021 (UTC)


 * I agree. Remove the link s in the subheaders themselves, and add them as the first line within each section, as appropriate. Nick Moyes (talk) 14:50, 7 December 2021 (UTC)
 * and, I've went WP:BOLD and removed them.  Gerald WL  15:10, 7 December 2021 (UTC)

Obsessive compulsive Disorder (OCD)
... is missing from this article, Lionardo DiCaprio played a OCD suffering caharacher in Aviator film. Newton Euro (talk) 07:52, 7 December 2021 (UTC)

Neurological Disorders?
This list is a mess. It's missing so many categories. No mention of ASD or ADHD? And some of the personality disorder categories can be condensed surely..? And what about depression and anxiety? ElleBlair (talk) 22:23, 24 January 2024 (UTC)


 * ASD is discussed earlier. I believe it is known as ASC now as not everyone considers it a disorder, which highlights a common problem — doctors are constantly renaming conditions even when it isn't necessary

The onscreen portrayals of both these conditions are pretty terrible in my experience.

US-centrism
A lot of US-centrism on this list from the fact it is almost entirely made up of US/Hollywood productions and the assumption by some people that the American DSM is the standard guide internationally. (It has a wide influence but medics in many countries either don't use it or use it and don't accept all its conclusions.