Silver Linings Playook:

Psychological Analysis

By Maxy Jean-Pierre

PSY2012, Mondays & Wednesdays, 2:00p.m. – 3:15p.m.

Department of Behavioral Sciences Broward College, Central Campus December
9, 2020
In the movie The Silver Lining Playbook, directed by David O. Russel, we are bought into the

life of two mentally ill adults that have a lot more in common than they initially believe. The

movie starts off with a Pat, a middle-aged man, coming out of a mental institution that he was in

thanks to his little burst. However, this “little burst” turned out to be a completely understandable

moment since he just caught his wife cheating on him with a coworker. Yet, I am overall happy

that he was getting the help he needed, and that this situation helped with that. As somebody who

has grown up around bipolar depression, this movie has an effective way of showing what it can

be like at times but some scenes in the movie are left open to misinterpretation. For example,

when Pat catches his wife cheating on him with a history teacher in the shower, he explodes and

almost beats the teacher to death. This could seem as if his very extreme actions had reasoning

behind them when they do not and there are several instances just like that.

To begin, I would like to discuss the deviance of Pat. He is a person who doesn’t follow society’s

rules. One instance of this can be shown through his way of speaking. Often, Pat is found saying

the first thing that comes to his mind and sometimes this gets him in trouble, especially after he

meets tiffany. Tiffany, Pat's ex-wife's friends’ little sister, is introduced to Pat by her sister and

brother-in-law during a dinner. She doesn’t show any signs of enjoyment during the introduction

process but eventually warms up to everybody there, including Pat. Several of the two’s

interactions show that Pat “does not have a filter” due to the fact that he has called tiffany a

variety of names from whore to slut that could be considered as hurtful. However, this might

have been normal behavior for him in the mental institution.

On to the distress of Pat's situation, we see that his wedding is an overall trigger for some of his

manic episodes. For example, when Pat hears his wedding song in the therapists’ office, he

begins to take the bookshelf apart while looking for the speaker that the song is coming from.
We are then transferred into the office where he openly admits to the song being a trigger for

him. Later in the movie, he has a breakdown when trying to find his wedding video, wakes up

everybody in the neighborhood, and even accidentally hurts his mom (which, he quickly regrets).

There are many scenes that can be brought up that show a great deal of emotional pain and the

constant hitting of people and objects at a time would cause physical pain.

Now for dysfunction, which is the 3rd D in creating a diagnosis when it comes to psychology.

Amongst each other, each of the characters display several dysfunctions whether cognitively,

emotionally, or through behavior. One instance of this can be seen when a look is taken into not

only the type of household he was raised in, but the parents that raised him. Throughout the

movie, we watch Pat's father show symptoms of ocd but he continuously disguises it as if it were

just typical superstition. This can be seen when he fixes the remotes to turn at a certain angle and

tells Pat that his presence is what is making the Philadelphia Eagles football team win their

games.

The movie also does not show any depressive moments when that is an important part of Pat's

disorder. Hence, reasoning as to why his diagnosis doesn’t necessarily fit his scenario since it

only tends to manifest in loud, aggressive, and hostile episodes. While, according to the five

levels of DSM, bipolar disorder is described as having both manic and depressive episodes.

Hence the name bipolar disorder. Therefore, I believe that Pat should not have been diagnosed as

a person with that specific disorder, but instead a person suffering from manic disorder. I believe

that this diagnosis would have brought fewer negative comments and more positive comments

than the movie initially received. This type of mistake in diagnosis can be complicated for both

people with manic and bipolar disorder to see due to the fact that they may start to believe that

they were misdiagnosed.

Therefore, to ask if the film accurately depicts what having bipolar disorder is like for the

Patient, friends, family, and anybody else that is bound to cross Paths with them is to ask a

question without an answer thanks to an unexpected closing with the typical “happy ending”

instead of giving out required information to the viewer. Without this very much needed

information, it is up to the viewer's assumption as to whether he started taking his medication or

through therapy and support from his loving family. which can also give a misleading impression

of what life is like for those battling bipolar depression. However, the movie is just a movie and

should not be discredited for playing to the fantasy. It made for an interesting way to spark a

conversation about mental health with my mom that I really did not want to have at first but

seemed as if it was something I needed at the same time.

Personally, I believe that the media plays a huge role in what today’s society considers mental

health issues. Many of today's health issues in general are either overdramatized through

technology or not dramatic enough. Which can provide people with reasons to not take the

medication/proper dosage or put themselves at risk of taking too much. As a person that has

grown up with all kinds of different technologies, it is safe to say that the public associate's

mental health with heavy medications that they think are going to prevent them from feeling how

they would feel as if it was a typical day. However, that is not necessarily the case that presents

itself in The Silver Lining Playbook. Instead, we watch as a male adult diagnosed with bipolar

depression goes on with his life without taking his prescribed medication, but the most powerful

drug known to man, love.