Film Paper

Select a film from the list below. Each of these movies portrays characters struggling with various forms of mental illness. Your task will be to choose one of the main characters in the film to “diagnose”. Using the film, your text, and the DSM criteria as your guides, generate and justify a comprehensive diagnosis.Fight ClubRequiem for a DreamBlack Swan

Please adhere to the following format:

Introduction: Briefly describe why you chose this character. Outline what your paper will illustrate about the character, their specific abnormal behavior, and the field of abnormal psychology, more generally.

Body (in paragraph form):

1 Describe in detail the character you chose (demographics: age, sex, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, profession, marital/relational status, etc).

2 List some of the specific symptoms they experience. Pay close attention to patterns of eating, sleeping, emotional behavior, interpersonal behavior, thought content, etc.

3 Identify the impact of their disordered behavior on functioning (social, occupational, academic, interaction with the legal justice system).

4 Reflect on possible causes of their abnormal behavior. Make a case for each of the five (5) major etiological theories: Psychodynamic, Biological, Cognitive, Behavioral, Sociocultural. (You can make assumptions here. Just back up whatever you propose with observations from the film.)

5 List the methods the character uses to cope with his or her mental disorder(s). These can be both adaptive (e.g. exercise) and maladaptive (e.g. drug/alcohol abuse).

6 Describe any mental health or psychiatric treatment the character has received or is receiving during the course of the film. Have these treatments been effective? If no treatments have been received or if the treatments have not been effective, what specific forms of treatment would you prescribe, given the character’s unique make-up?

7 Finally, you will provide a diagnosis for the character, based on all the data you’ve written in the preceding paragraphs. For example:

Clinical Disorders: Major Depressive Disorder, Recurrent

Personality Disorders: Borderline Personality Disorder

Medical disorders: None

Psychosocial Stressors: Recent divorce

Conclusions: Wrap up your paper by briefly summarizing your observations. Given the diagnosis and treatment that has been prescribed by you, offer a prognosis for future functioning—a brief narrative on how this character may end up. (You can be creative here, but be sure to keep your speculations grounded in the diagnosis and evidence from the film).

References: You should provide, on a separate page, a complete list of references used for the paper. In addition to your textbook, The DSM Manual, and the film, please use two “scholarly” resources. (These can be journal or newspaper articles, excerpts from related books, interviews of experts in the field, etc.) Wikipedia and other similar internet sites can be used to generate information for your paper, but will not count as one of the two additional “scholarly” resources. PLAGIARISM WILL NOT BE TOLERATED.

Note: The paper should be a minimum of five full pages from top to bottom (5) and maximum of seven full pages from top to bottom (7) typed, double-spaced pages (not including reference page). You will be graded primarily on the content of the paper: how strong and appropriate your evidence, diagnosis, and treatment recommendations are. However, spelling, grammar, neatness, and completeness will also be taken into consideration.