# Movies that portray mental illness **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 12, 2010, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-portray-mental-illness/546357 "2010-07-12T03:24:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![beckwall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b487fb/32.png) [@beckwall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beckwall)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-portray-mental-illness/546357/1 "2010-07-12T03:24:13Z")
In early August I am scheduled to teach psych nursing to a class of LVN students. I am looking for accurate portrayals of mental illness in movies. The first one that I thought of was “A Beautiful Mind”, maybe a little bit over the top with Russell Crowe in full Oscar mode, but I am more worried about foul language and I can’t really recall the dialogue in that film. Any suggestions? Movies from the past few years would be best since these students are YOUNG and would be bored by a “crazy” Jack Nicholson. And if you have any links to psych sites (say that 4 times real fast) on the internet, that would be very helpful as well. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-portray-mental-illness/546357/2 "2010-07-12T03:32:57Z")
_Repulsion_, _The Story of Adele H._, and _Vertigo_ are three well known examples of movies about mental illness. I don’t know how accurate their depictations of mental illness are. ---
**Author:** ![SurrenderDorothy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/surrenderdorothy/32/1221_2.png) [@SurrenderDorothy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SurrenderDorothy)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-portray-mental-illness/546357/3 "2010-07-12T03:38:37Z")
Phoebe in Wonderland is about a girl with tourette’s. I really don’t have enough experience with Tourette’s to know how accurate it really is, but it’s a possibility. ---
**Author:** ![trapezoidal\_jellyfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6f9a4e/32.png) [@trapezoidal\_jellyfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trapezoidal_jellyfish)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-portray-mental-illness/546357/4 "2010-07-12T04:22:33Z")
maybe [Ordinary People](http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/abo/1833424874.html)? It’s more about psychotherapy than mental illness, but from what I remember it’s pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-portray-mental-illness/546357/5 "2010-07-12T04:27:19Z")
**Lisa and David, Girl Interrupted, I Never Promised You a Rose Garden**. There’s a whole sub-genre of MPD films ( **Sybil, Three Faces of Eve** , _et al_), but there’s growing skepticism about that whole diagnosis. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-portray-mental-illness/546357/6 "2010-07-12T04:44:06Z")
Do you want movies that portray mental illness, or movies that portray mental illness **well**? There’s plenty of the former, few of the latter. Most are more dry documentary types. Like I think Nash from A Beautiful Mind was more delusional, and I think his hallucinations were mostly auditory (like the majority of schizophrenics), but it makes a better film if he sees things. Matchstick Men is OCD. It’s a bit over the top, but okay. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-portray-mental-illness/546357/7 "2010-07-12T05:15:59Z")
Does alcoholism count? If so, Billy Wilder’s [The Lost Weekend](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037884/) (1945) is tops. As is Blake Edwards’ [Days of Wine and Roses](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055895/) (1962). ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-portray-mental-illness/546357/8 "2010-07-12T05:21:30Z")
A beautiful mind may not work because I don’t think Nash saw people walking around like the characters in the movie. Not sure though, but that may give a false impression of delusional psychosis. Canvas is a good movie. It is about a father and son coming to grips with the fact that their mom isn’t the person she used to be (due to schizophrenia), and may never be again. > **[Canvas (2006) ⭐ 6.5 | Drama](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780492/)** > > 1h 41m | PG-13 [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/czVH-0FVnGM/hqdefault.jpg "Canvas Trailer") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czVH-0FVnGM) ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-portray-mental-illness/546357/9 "2010-07-12T05:21:38Z")
If it does, then let’s add Withnail & I. Requiem for a Dream is a bit dark but has several types of substance abuse. A Scanner Darkly is I guess drugs, in fantasy land, although Robert Downey Jr.'s mannerisms are very addict-y (wonder where he learned that?) ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-portray-mental-illness/546357/10 "2010-07-12T05:23:05Z")
Mozart and the Whale from 2005 deals with the love story of two people with autism. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-portray-mental-illness/546357/11 "2010-07-12T05:24:22Z")
Just about any Joan Crawford movie. ---
**Author:** ![Alpha\_Twit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpha_twit/32/265_2.png) [@Alpha\_Twit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpha_Twit)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-portray-mental-illness/546357/12 "2010-07-12T05:38:29Z")
I don’t like your odds of finding a copy of it but [Promise](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091795/), a made for TV movie from 1986 was an excellent film. Starring **James Garner** who must suddenly take custody of his younger brother following their mothers death. The younger brother, played by **James Woods** , suffers from schizophrenia and epilepsy. The film focuses on the difficulty of caring for such a person at home as well as the state of co-called “care” provided by some facilities. ---
**Author:** ![Lo-Slung\_Denim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f6c823/32.png) [@Lo-Slung\_Denim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lo-Slung_Denim)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-portray-mental-illness/546357/13 "2010-07-12T11:44:17Z")
It’s been a while since I saw _Shine_, but that might have potential. There was one recently with Jamie Foxx as a homeless guy with mental illness but he also had some kind of synaesthesia(if that is the right word) and made beautiful music with beautiful pretty swirly things…only saw the trailer, never watched it, because it looked like patronising rubbish. If you can access BBC stuff, you might be able to get hold of Stephen Fry’s documentaries on bipolar/depression. ---
**Author:** ![Caprese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9a28c/32.png) [@Caprese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caprese)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-portray-mental-illness/546357/14 "2010-07-12T11:49:38Z")
Conrad Aiken’s short story, [“Silent Snow, Secret Snow,”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Snow,_Secret_Snow) was televised on Night Gallery (I think it is on YouTube) and I think perhaps there was another movie of it, as well. ---
**Author:** ![EpicNonsense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c37758/32.png) [@EpicNonsense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EpicNonsense)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-portray-mental-illness/546357/15 "2010-07-12T12:03:44Z")
This may help… (my suggestions happen to all be here) > **[List of mental disorders in film](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_featuring_mental_illness)** > > This is a non-exhaustive list of films which have portrayed mental disorders. > Inclusion in this list is based upon the disorder as it is portrayed in the canon of the film, and does not necessarily reflect the diagnosis or symptoms in the real world. > (Antisocial Personality Disorder should also include psychopathy and sociopathy.) > "Drugs listed from most addictive, harmful or destructive to least (from most to least dangerous, based on a 2007 scientific research study." ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-portray-mental-illness/546357/16 "2010-07-12T15:41:11Z")
> [@beckwall](#): > > In early August I am scheduled to teach psych nursing to a class of LVN students. I am looking for accurate portrayals of mental illness in movies. The first one that I thought of was “A Beautiful Mind”, maybe a little bit over the top with Russell Crowe in full Oscar mode, but I am more worried about foul language and I can’t really recall the dialogue in that film. If you’re looking for an accurate portrayal of mental illness, I think foul language might be part of the territory. Are these students unaccustomed to swearing? If so (seems doubtful, though), they’d better get used to it. ---
**Author:** ![In\_Winnipeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a8b319/32.png) [@In\_Winnipeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/In_Winnipeg)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-portray-mental-illness/546357/17 "2010-07-12T16:01:38Z")
I seem to remember a biographical movie about Sylvia Plath that’s fairly recent (2003). It’s called _Sylvia_. Failing that, I’d still go with _The Snake Pit_ (1948) starring Olivia de Havilland. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-portray-mental-illness/546357/18 "2010-07-12T16:07:09Z")
I recently saw the movie _ **Elling** _ (it’s on the Wikipedia list under “Anxiety Disorders” and it’s very sweet. It’s in Norwegian, tho. And, I can’t remember the language. It’s streaming on Netflix if you have Netflix, you could pre-screen it. The movie did touch on sex a little bit but I don’t remember how graphic it was. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-portray-mental-illness/546357/19 "2010-07-12T17:16:11Z")
_Charly_ with Cliff Robertson - sad movie but maybe a bit dated now (retardation temporarily reversed through medication). _Awakenings_ with Robin Williams and Robert De Niro (catatonia). _Introducing Dorothy Dandridge_ with Halle Berry (depression). _Frances_ with Jessica Lange (nervous breakdown, lobotomy). ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-portray-mental-illness/546357/20 "2010-07-12T17:22:31Z")
For something a little lighter, there’s “Benny & Joon.” A romantic comedy about an eccentric guy (Johnny Depp) trying to have a relationship w/ a mentally ill girl (Mary Stuart Masterson). I thought they portrayed the illness fairly accurately. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-portray-mental-illness/546357.md?page=2)