Review of Silver Linings Playbook (2012) by Ashley W — 11 Jul 2014

I don't have a lot of experience when it comes to mental illnesses. All I can judge this movies depiction of mental illness off is how realistic it seems to me, and in comparison to other media and films.

When it came to the depiction of bipolar disorder through Pat, I agree with other reviews, the film only showed one side of the two extreme ends of the mood scale. However, the side we did show did not seem unrealistic or over-the-top. It seemed out of the ordinary, but not impossible. In no way was it implied that this is what every individual with bipolar disorder acts like, instead Pat was made out to be very unique. I even started to think of his condition as something only he has. Which is probably partially true when it comes to such things.

Tiffany's mental health issues are never stated outright, however are obviously there. To me she's different, but not so much as Pat. I struggled to tell whether her issues were supposedly brought on by her loss, or had always been there and the loss simply added fuel to the fire. Tiffany's issues are also probably not quite as cleary cut as Pat's, and more of a mix of depression, brought on by grief, and possibly stress.

Other mental health issues are mostly shown far more subtly. Both Ronnie and Pat's Dad seem to experience some sort of anxiety disorder- the dad most likely OCD. Both of these came across a little odd to me, and I couldn't tell if that's because it's odd in reality, or the depiction was slightly off. This is the kind of thing I would need to get experience in before I could tell.

Overall I believe the mental illnesses in this movie were depicted well, showing a variety of different mental health issues, making what we would normally consider atypical the norm.