Analysis of Major Characters in Silver Linings Playbook

The essay analyzes the mental health issue that the main character suffers from in the movie Silver Linings Playbook. It provides an initial diagnosis of the main character, rules out diagnoses that do not associate with the main character, and suggests a tentative treatment plan utilizing the Evidence Based Best Practices (EBBP).

Running head: ANALYSIS OF MAJOR CHARACTERS IN SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK
ANALYSIS OF MAJOR CHARACTERS IN SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

1
ANALYSIS OF MAJOR CHARACTERS IN SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK
Introduction
The aim of the essay is to understand the mental health issue that the main character
suffers from in the movie Silver Linings Playbook. The essay will follow a systematic order
starting with a brief synopsis or summary of the movie. This will be followed by providing an
initial diagnosis of the main character. The next step will be to rule out those diagnoses that do
not associate with the main character wile gradually understanding the character. A tentative
treatment plan utilizing the Evidence Based Best Practices (EBBP) shall be prepared as well.
Initial diagnoses of the character shall be done followed by cancelling out the diagnoses as the
character evolved. The essay will also include the preferred EBBP treatment plan for the
character including its benefits and negative effects.
Discussion
Silver Linings Playbook, released in 2012 narrates the story of Pat Solitano (played by
Bradley Cooper) who suffers from bipolar disorder (Imdb.com, 2018). Directed by David O.
Russell, the film also has another character with bipolar, Tiffany (played by Jennifer Lawrence)
who is shown being a major influence in Pat’s life. The film begins with Pat being released from
the mental health institution by his mother, Dolores (played by Jackie Weaver) (Imdb.com,
2018). After coming home, Pat finds it difficult to adjust to the normal life and often looses
temper on petty things. He assures his parents that he is completely cured now and that he would
only think about positive things and brings his wife Nikki (played by Brea Bee) back in his life.
His father, Pat Solitano Sr. (played by Robert De Niro) had no clue about his son’s release since
Dolores did not inform him. Pat visits Dr. Cliff Patel (played by Anupam Kher) on couple of
occasions to discuss his issues but refuses to take any medication as he believes the medicines

2
ANALYSIS OF MAJOR CHARACTERS IN SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK
escalate his condition. He initially runs away from Tiffany assuming that her bipolar is far worse
than his is but gradually, they collaborate and things begin to improve.
In the movie, Pat is diagnosed with bipolar disorder but with mild symptoms. He was out
into the mental health institution for eight months after he beat his wife’s lover almost to death.
His mother has him released getting a court order and brings him home. On the first day of his
return, Pat starts showing symptoms of bipolar disorder, as he is over excited and pumped up to
be back and plans to get his wife back. During the night, Pat shows extreme signs of anger when
he throws away a book of Ernest Hemingway through the window because he did not like the
story. He storms into his parent’s room and expresses his anger even though they tell him that is
four in the morning. The movie excels in the part where it shows the father having a mental
health issue of his own, which Obsessive Compulsive Disorder or OCD. The OCD, similar to
bipolar disorder is where an individual has reoccurring and uncontrollable behaviors and
thoughts the she or he has the “urge to repeat over and over” (Nimh.nih.gov, 2018). In case of
Pat Sr., the obsession is with the game and the superstition to keep things in a specific order to
make his team win.
As per the DSM-5 criterion, a person is diagnosed with bipolar disorder when he or she
demonstrates symptoms of anxiety, unusual restlessness, and feeling tensed among others
(Severus & Bauer, 2013). These symptoms align with those demonstrated by Pat when he returns
home and tries to improve his life. Other initial diagnosis reveal that Pat has rapid and pressured
speech toggling from loud to illogical, mood switch, flashbacks concerning manic episodes. In
addition, the diagnosis also included severe and sudden mood changes, delusions before
traumatic incident, low grab of desire control and fair insight and extreme obsession with wife
(Vancampfort et al., 2013).

3
ANALYSIS OF MAJOR CHARACTERS IN SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK
As one moves ahead with the character gradually, one would have to cancel out certain
diagnoses as the character shows improvement over the course of time. The first diagnosis that
would be ruled out is rapid and pressured switching of speech. Then, other diagnoses such as
severe changes in mood, and hallucinations before the traumatic event, impulse control and
obsession with the wife will be listed out as well. However, the labile effect or mood switching
in different topics and irrational thought processes would not be cancelled out. Pat first states
confidently that he would take all the negativities and turn those into positives but switches
constantly. He becomes excessively angry and uncontrollable especially when he fails to find his
wedding video tape one night. The irrational thought process was demonstrated by Pat when he
decides to write a letter to his wife Nikki and deliver it through Tiffany, as she is in touch with
her through her sister. The thought is irrational because he knows that his wife has secured a
restraining order from the court against him.
The Evidence Based Best Practices or EBBP include treatments that are based on
evidence and best practices (Buscemi & Spring, 2014). These treatments have been academically
and scientifically researched, proven efficient, and duplicated in numerous studies and
investigations. The EBBP model integrates individual values of the patients with evidences that
are researched medically and with clinical knowledge of the provider. Cognitive Behavioral
Therapy (CBT), exposure therapy, functional family therapy, dialectical behavior therapy and
motivational interviewing amongst others are some of the best-known EBBP treatments.
The therapy chosen for Pat is the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), which focuses on
exploring relationships between an individual’s behaviors, thoughts and feelings. During the
CBT session, the therapist would actively engage with Pat in conversations that would help
unravel the detrimental patterns of thought that are resulting in self-destructive behaviors.

4
ANALYSIS OF MAJOR CHARACTERS IN SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK
The length of the treatment would last around 20 to 30 weekly or fortnightly sessions
with every session having duration of 30 to 60 minutes. In Pat’s case, the session treatment
would take around 20 sessions with 30-minute duration, as Pat does not have severe symptoms
of bipolar (Allen et al., 2015)
The methodology that would be used in the treatment includes journaling, by which the
counselor would be able to gather data about Pat’s thoughts and moods. The next technique
would be to unravel cognitive distortions where the counselor has no role to play but the client
himself has to do the work. Pat must first become aware of his distortions that he is most
vulnerable to and then work on those. The last but very effective methodology is the exposure to
response prevention. With the help of this technique, Pat would be able to refrain from any
compulsive behavior when he is exposed to any situation or object that instigate such behavior.
The CBT under the EBBP is an extremely effective treatment for bipolar patients like Pat
and has several benefits. First, the therapy helps identify and remove negative thoughts in the
patient. The major theory of CBT is that people’s own thoughts, behaviors and feelings cause
them to act in a certain way and not the people or environment. Second, it makes people able to
control their feelings through strategies and techniques. Third, it changes the beliefs people have
about themselves and help them learn new things about themselves. Fourth, the CBT helps
manage excessive anger through various mental exercises like meditation and so on. Fifth, the
therapy helps the individual develop positive thoughts about the future as well.
Along with the benefits, the CBT however has certain negative effects as well. Primarily,
for the treatment to be successful the counselor has to have the cooperation of the client without
whom, it would not work. Secondly, the therapy requires too much time from the client and

5
ANALYSIS OF MAJOR CHARACTERS IN SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK
hence, it takes a toll on both the counselor and the client. Thirdly, as CBT involves talking about
the negative thoughts or feelings and/or traumatic events, it might make the patient more anxious
and uncomfortable. Fourth, as Sullivan et al. (2015) argue, since CBT involves addressing only
the current state of mind and feelings of the client, it fails to acknowledge other underlying
issues such as events in the childhood.
Assessing the benefits and adverse effects of the CBT treatment, it could be advised that
Pat need to be referred to a psychiatrist to have a psychopharmacological treatment. The reason
is evident from the analysis of the client, which demonstrated that his behavior is controllable
and only needs proper addressing that could be given by an EBBP therapist (Mueser & Glynn,
2014). However, the movie showed that Pat declined taking any medication but that must not be
done in real life. A client like Pat must be encouraged to take medication in cases of
sleeplessness especially. According to Scott et al. (2013), the best medicine for bipolar disorder
is the medicine that works best for the specific client because the symptoms vary. Pat could be
advised to take medications that would control his mania and help him have a good sleep. The
psychiatrist could prescribe Divalporex SODIUM for Pat in order to control his manic phases.
The medication however, has some side effects as well. It might cause other illnesses such as
diarrhea, drowsiness, double or blurred vision, shakiness and so on (Brittain, 2013). Therefore, it
is advisable that the psychiatrist provides caution beforehand while prescribing this medication.
In the movie, the main character Pat receives counseling in very few instances and does
not take medications. In real life, this would have aggravated the patient’s condition but the film
depicted otherwise. It instead depicted that another character with similar conditions of bipolar
treats the character majorly. The treatment plan suggested in the paper, if given to the character
would have completely changed the outcome of the story especially for the other main character,

6
ANALYSIS OF MAJOR CHARACTERS IN SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK
Tiffany. The main character, if received the suggested treatment, would not have had frequent
encounters with Tiffany and the parallel love story between the two, would not have developed.
Further, looking at the negative effects of the treatment, if the character’s symptoms had
aggravated due to emotional outbursts, he would have to be admitted to the mental health
institution again and the story’s climax would have been entirely different. Further, the scene
where Pat loses his cool on not finding the wedding videotape would also have escalated due to
the negative effects of the treatment. In addition, since the treatment involves regular visits to the
CBT counselor, Pat would not have had the chance to meet Tiffany. The dance sessions, which
he had to attend with her, would also not have been possible considering the time he required to
attend the sessions. However, the benefits of the treatment could have had a positive effect on his
behavior especially with tiffany. One scene in particular, would have been different – the scene
where the two main characters engage in an interaction while having their respective milk and
tea. In the scene, Tiffany shares her secrets about being sexually engaged with all the employees
where she previously worked. Pat forms a judgment of her character that enrages Tiffany and she
bursts out of the café. With the treatment, Pat would have not made such judgments because it
would have given him a positive outlook about everything. Apart from that, he would have also
been able to help Tiffany with an alleviated outlook, feelings and behavior. It is therefore evident
that the successful application of the treatment suggested would have changed the story line in
various ways depending on the success or failure of the treatment.
Conclusion
The analysis thus concluded, brings to light the various aspects of the bipolar disorder
and the effectiveness of an EBBP treatment such as the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or CBT.
The analysis began with a short synopsis of the film Silver Linings Playbook (2012) starring

7
ANALYSIS OF MAJOR CHARACTERS IN SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK
Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence. Then, it provided the initial diagnoses of the main
character Pat Solitano (Bradley Cooper). After that, the analysis included the diagnose that
needed to be ruled out gradually as the character developed. It is however suggested that further
research into the bipolar disease be carried out since the film did not explicitly show what a
person with bipolar disorder could experience.

8
ANALYSIS OF MAJOR CHARACTERS IN SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK
References:
Allen, J. D., Hall, L. W., Collier, R. J., & Smith, J. F. (2015). Effect of core body temperature,
time of day, and climate conditions on behavioral patterns of lactating dairy cows
experiencing mild to moderate heat stress. Journal of dairy science, 98(1), 118-127.
Brittain, H. G. (2013). Pharmaceutical cocrystals: the coming wave of new drug substances.
Journal of pharmaceutical sciences, 102(2), 311-317.
Buscemi, J., & Spring, B. (2014). Evidence‐Based Practice in Psychology. The encyclopedia of
clinical psychology, 1-6.
Imdb.com. (2018). Silver Linings Playbook (2012). Retrieved from
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1045658/
Mueser, K. T., & Glynn, S. M. (2014). Have the potential benefits of CBT for severe mental
disorders been undersold?. World Psychiatry, 13(3), 253-256.
Nimh.nih.gov. (2018). NIMH » Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Retrieved from
https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/obsessive-compulsive-disorder-ocd/index.shtml
Scott, J., Leboyer, M., Hickie, I., Berk, M., Kapczinski, F., Frank, E., ... & McGorry, P. (2013).
Clinical staging in psychiatry: a cross-cutting model of diagnosis with heuristic and
practical value. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 202(4), 243-245.
Severus, E., & Bauer, M. (2013). Diagnosing bipolar disorders in DSM-5.

9
ANALYSIS OF MAJOR CHARACTERS IN SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK
Sullivan, P. J., Keller, M., Paternostro, J., & Friedberg, R. D. (2015). Treating emotionally
dysregulated and perfectionistic youth with transdiagnostic cognitive behavioral
procedures. Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy, 45(3), 151-158.
Vancampfort, D., Vansteelandt, K., Correll, C. U., Mitchell, A. J., De Herdt, A., Sienaert, P., ...
& De Hert, M. (2013). Metabolic syndrome and metabolic abnormalities in bipolar
disorder: a meta-analysis of prevalence rates and moderators. American Journal of
Psychiatry, 170(3), 265-274.