Psychological Disorders as Depicted in Films: Literature Review

This report presents a literature review on the depiction of psychological disorders in films. It begins by defining delusional disorder, including its diagnostic criteria from the DSM-5, and differentiates between various types such as erotomanic, jealous, grandiose, persecutory, mixed, somatic, and unspecified types. The review emphasizes the importance of considering cultural and religious backgrounds in assessing potential disorders. It also discusses social anxiety disorder, its symptoms, and its impact on daily life. The report explores biological, psychological, and social factors associated with these disorders, covering potential causes and treatments, including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and medications like SSRIs. The assignment highlights the significance of understanding mental health representations in media and their potential impact on public perception, referencing the film "Lars and the Real Girl" as a case study for analysis.

Running Head: PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS AS DEPICTED IN FILMS
PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS AS DEPICTED IN FILMS
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS AS DEPICTED IN FILMS
Literature Review
Delusional disorder is a very rare type of mental illness, in which the patients present
delusions with specific symptoms of psychosis that has no prominent association of
hallucinations, thought or mood disorder. In this kind of a situation, the person suffering
from the same cannot distinguish the real from the imaginary (WebMD, 2019).
The paper aims to discuss about a specific type of disorder that is identified as the
DSM-5. It belongs to the disorder class of Schizophrenia Spectrum and Other Psychotic
Disorders (Nihgov, 2019). The symptoms includes the following:
 The existence of one or more delusions that persists for a period of one month
or more (WebMD, 2019).
 It is the first criterion for Schizophrenia, met with delusions (Bennett, 2019).
 Apart from the recurrence of delusion(s) direct effects, the remaining
functioning of the person is not impaired. Besides this, the behavior of the
person is not very strange.
 When compared to the delusional period, any kind of major depressive
episode or maniac has been there for a brief period (Bennett, 2019).
 Physiological effects, any other medical condition or mental disorder does not
serve as an attribute to this kind of a disturbance as in the delusional disorder
(Bennett, 2019).
Based on the severity of the delusions, it shall be identified whether the delusions peculiar
content or remain implausible. A few specific types of delusional themes are:
 Erotomanic type: This comprises of a situation of delusion where another person
is in love with the individual who is affected.

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 Jealous type: This comprises of a situation where the lover of the affected
individual is considered unfaithful.
 Grandiose type: This arises from a situation where the affected individuals believe
that they possess a great talent that is being unrecognized or that they have made a
very important or some great discovery.
 Persecutory type: This is a situation where the affected individual believes that
there is a conspiracy against him or her or any acts of spying, cheating, harassing,
poisoning or drugging that obstructs the pursuit of any long-term objective.
 Mixed type: In this kind of a situation, there is not just one but several delusional
themes that persists over the other.
 Somatic type: In this type of delusion, the individuals have delusions that involves
their sensations and/ or bodily functions.
 Unspecified type: The prevalent belief in delusional theory is that the delusional
belief is not clearly determined or is not explicable or falls in the established
descriptions of a typical type (Bennett, 2019).
The cultural as well as the religious background of an individual plays an important
role while considering the assessment of any potential delusional disorder of the type
DSM-5 297.1 (Bennett, 2019). Furthermore, a gender is usually not prone to developing
delusional disorders, however, the social treatments, habitual suppression and other
conditionings may develop this in one gender, more often. A substantial familial
relationship is the lone existential risk feature that comprises the presence of personality
disorders like schizotypal and schizophrenia (Bennett, 2019).
This consists of several symptoms of behavioral, physical and emotional nature. This,
as mentioned earlier, affects the daily tasks like one’s school or college life, work life and
similar other activities, wide out in the public (Garety & Freeman, 2013). The extreme

3PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS AS DEPICTED IN FILMS
situation of this may eventually lead to situations of schizophrenia, coupled with
paranoia (Nihgov, 2019). However, the symptoms or signs notices through emotions and
behaviors are as follows —
 Avoiding instances where a person feels that he or she might be the center of all
the attention
 Terror of being in conditions where they are with strangers
 Constant worry about their image or presentation before the others
 The fear of turning anxious, which makes the situation of anxiety even worse
 A sense of scare in meeting people who are at an authority
 An extreme amount of panic attack or anxiety when one experiences the fearful
situation
 Avoiding certain activities or resorting to conversations with people due to the
fear of embarrassment.
 Depiction of a blank mind reflecting anxiety in social situations and gatherings.
This works, not much differently for children, as they fear getting insulted before their peers
or at least, the adults of the family (Penn & Povinelli, 2013). This includes various physical
signs and symptoms like palpitations, abdominal pain, crying, blushing, clammy cold
hands, diarrhea, and dry mouth besides shaky voice while talking, shaking and
trembling and so on.
Bringing the situation under control is possible under the various factors of
stimulating positive thoughts prior to social engagements, reframing of the thought process
by eliminating the negative line of thoughts (Cipriani et al., 2014). No addition in the realm
of inclusion of relevance on alcohol or narcotics. Use of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT)
guides the patients throughout the reframing process. After diagnosis of such cases, a patient

4PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS AS DEPICTED IN FILMS
undergoes a psychotherapy, which includes cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT),
interpersonal therapy, psychodynamic theory and a family therapy (Timothy J. Legg,
2019). Coupled with this, Cognitive Delivered Exposure (CDE) allows a person to accept
and deal with this situation gradually and thereby, overcome it (Timothy, 2019).
Medications like Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) are common
medications for those who possess the social anxiety disorder. Paroxetine (Paxil CR, Paxil),
Fluvoxamine (Luvox CR, Luvox), Sertraline (Zoloft), Fluoxetine (Sarafem, Prozac) are a
few drugs which are found to be most effective and persistent (Timothy, 2019). However,
they may have side effects like nausea, headaches, insomnia and sexual dysfunction.
The causes of such situations are mostly genetic, besides the chemical or hormone
levels in the body, brain structure of a person owing to amygdala besides weather and
demographics. Thus, if left untreated, social anxiety disorders can affect a person for his
entire life and interfere with daily life, profession, relationships and happiness.

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References
Bennett, T. (2019). Delusional Disorder: Causes, Symptoms, Treatment DSM-5 297.1 (F22) -
Thriveworks. Retrieved 14 September 2019, from
https://thriveworks.com/blog/delusional-disorder/
Cipriani, G., Danti, S., Vedovello, M., Nuti, A., & Lucetti, C. (2014). Understanding delusion
in dementia: a review. Geriatrics & gerontology international, 14(1), 32-39.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23879399
Garety, P. A., & Freeman, D. (2013). The past and future of delusions research: from the
inexplicable to the treatable. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 203(5), 327-333.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24187067
Nihgov. (2019). Nihgov. Retrieved 14 September, 2019, from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK519704/table/ch3.t20/
Penn, D. C., & Povinelli, D. J. (2013). 3 The Comparative Delusion: The
“Behavioristic/Mentalistic” Dichotomy in Comparative Theory. Agency and joint
attention, 62.
https://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199988341.001.00
01/acprof-9780199988341-chapter-4
Timothy J. Legg, C. (2019). Social anxiety disorder: Causes, symptoms, and treatment.
Retrieved 12 August 2019, from
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/176891.php
WebMD. (2019). Delusional Disorder. Retrieved 14 September 2019, from
https://www.webmd.com/schizophrenia/guide/delusional-disorder#1-2